Ensuring your business is compliant with current legislation can be time consuming and tricky. Its like driving a car. You know you need to drive within the law, but sometimes things come up and you have to navigate your way around it.
The ACCC suggests that businesses can 'run a compliance program as part of a legal undertaking or voluntarily.
Many businesses start out knowing they have to be registered within their industry and they know there are rules, though they often find it hard to maintain. They might pay someone to get them started but then lag behind the maintenance side of things - and come audit time, well we all know that its often left to the last minute.
So what is a compliance program?
A compliance program is an internal system or process employed by a business that is designed to:
identify and reduce the risk of breaching the Competition and Consumer Act (CCA)
remedy any breach that may occur
create a culture of compliance within the organisation. (1)
Benefits of a Compliance Program
Business.gov.au suggest that 'establishing your own compliance program can help you:
demonstrate your commitment to your compliance obligations
improve your customer relations by acting in accordance with your obligations under the CCA
enhance your reputation as a business who treats its consumers and competitors fairly
effectively assess and manage the risk of breaching the CCA
remedy any breach of the CCA that may occur and reduce the risk of legal proceedings increase your staff awareness about fair trading laws and obligations.' (2)
They also are used as a prevention tool. Often RTO's or NDIS providers will work with a compliance specialist or even hire someone internally to take care of the difficult bits to ensure that - come audit time, their business is up to date.
That's where ProActive can help. We work with you. We can assist with initial registration of your business, or work with you coming up to audit, to ensure your documentation is not only up to date with current legislation but also written in Plan, Simple language that your staff will read and follow.
So why not take a look at some of our plans.
In the meantime, download our quick Compliance Checklist and see where your business is at.
Comments