With Australia’s cybersecurity regulations tightening and new obligations coming into effect in 2025, compliance is no longer a once-a-year exercise. It’s continuous. And if organisations want to stay ahead of legal requirements and avoid the stress, cost, and reputational damage of last-minute fixes, they need to embed a compliance strategy into the day-to-day fabric of their business.
In Episode 2 of the CheckITOut podcast, David Bingham, Security Sales Manager at The Missing Link, explores what it means to build a future-proof compliance strategy. In this blog, we will recap the conversation and offer practical steps for security, IT, risk, and compliance leaders to get started.
Why compliance can’t be a tick-the-box exercise
Regulatory mandates are becoming more complex and far-reaching. One of the biggest shifts organisations need to make is to treat compliance as an ongoing program, not a one-off annual project. Continuous improvement, through embedded processes, regular assessments, and consistent documentation, is key to staying resilient.
Choosing the right framework for your business
There are three common frameworks used by Australian organisations:
- ISO 27001: Flexible and risk-based, allowing you to tailor controls to your business
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Domain-based and maturity-focused
- ASD Essential Eight: A prescriptive baseline specifically aligned with Australian government expectations
The choice of framework depends on your industry, regions of operation, and even what your board is already familiar with. Many organisations begin with the Essential Eight for baseline coverage, then align to ISO or NIST for broader maturity.
Why compliance needs cross-functional buy-in
One of the most persistent challenges in cybersecurity programs today is compliance fatigue, when teams view risk and regulatory work as a distraction from “real” business priorities. As David pointed out in the podcast, this mindset often stems from compliance being treated as a function owned solely by IT or legal. But that approach no longer works in a modern risk environment.
To succeed, compliance needs to be a shared responsibility across the organisation, with top-down support from leadership and meaningful involvement from every department. It’s not about adding red tape, it’s about embedding security-aware thinking into everyday operations.
David shared examples of where this shows up in real business processes:
- Procurement teams can build security into vendor onboarding, requiring cyber risk assessments and controls before contracts are signed
- HR can factor cyber exposure into hiring processes, onboarding, and offboarding, ensuring user access is managed from day one to day zero
- Finance and operations can influence how customer data is stored, where it resides (including sovereignty concerns), and how it’s shared with third parties
- Business units can be empowered to identify data they own and ensure it's classified and secured appropriately
Cross-functional buy-in also improves speed and scalability. Instead of compliance bottlenecks or fire drills, you build a culture where security is normalised and sustainable.
The business case for continuous compliance
It’s easy to see compliance as a sunk cost and a box to tick to avoid fines. But as David noted, when done right, a strong compliance posture can become a competitive advantage that pays off across the business.
Here are just a few of the tangible benefits:
- Fewer fines and regulatory risks: Staying ahead of requirements lowers the chance of costly non-compliance or reactive remediation
- Stronger brand trust: Demonstrating visible, measurable controls builds confidence with customers, investors, and stakeholders
- Faster third-party onboarding: When you can quickly produce audit reports, certifications, and risk registers, it removes friction from partner and vendor assessments
- Lower cyber insurance premiums: Insurers are increasingly rewarding businesses that can show proactive controls and a mature risk management program
Investing in compliance isn’t just about avoiding penalties, it’s about creating operational leverage that improves how your business functions, scales, and builds resilience.
The danger of spreadsheet-based risk programs
One of the most common pitfalls David sees is organisations managing their entire risk program in a single spreadsheet owned by one person. This approach doesn’t scale, isn’t accessible, and lacks visibility for board members or auditors.
Instead, organisations are adopting Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) tools that provide dashboards, maturity tracking, and evidence management. This shift helps democratise compliance, reduce audit fatigue, and provide real-time insights across the business.
Lessons from the field: a real-world example
During the podcast, David Bingham shared a real-world example that highlights what can happen when compliance programs aren’t maintained over time, even if they start strong.
The organisation in question had previously achieved ISO 27001 certification and built a solid compliance foundation. But after initial success, they chose to step away from formal certification and instead “informally align” to ISO standards, assuming that was enough to maintain their posture.
For a while, it seemed to work. There were no immediate consequences. But when the business later entered into a third-party risk assessment with a prospective customer, the lack of formal evidence became a major roadblock.
The outcome? They had to start the ISO 27001 certification process all over again, a time-consuming and costly endeavour that could have been avoided with consistent oversight and documentation.
This story illustrates a common trap: treating compliance as something that can be paused and resumed at will. In reality, regulatory expectations and customer trust demand ongoing investment.
Final advice: Make it measurable and ongoing
Compliance isn’t a one-and-done project. To truly future-proof your strategy, it needs to be measurable, repeatable, and embedded into business operations.
That means moving beyond annual reviews or once-off audits. Instead, establish a regular cadence of compliance activity, such as:
- Monthly or quarterly governance and risk meetings
- Scheduled reviews of control effectiveness and open actions
- Updates to policies based on business or regulatory changes
- Cross-functional check-ins with IT, risk, legal, and exec teams
Crucially, track what you said you’d do, and ensure there’s evidence to show you did it. This includes audit trails, documented decisions, risk assessments, and remediation logs. These records aren’t just useful for passing audits, they demonstrate maturity, accountability, and readiness to both regulators and customers.
Ongoing compliance isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress with proof. The businesses that build this into their operations will be far better prepared for changing regulations, third-party scrutiny, and growing customer expectations.
Want to take the next step?
At The Missing Link, we help businesses build practical, scalable, and future-proof compliance strategies, whether you're preparing for new legislation, aligning to ISO 27001, or improving your third-party risk posture.
Talk to our team about building a future-proof cyber compliance strategy tailored to your business, aligned with ISO 27001, Essential Eight, and NIST CSF.
