PwC’s Global Compliance Survey 2025 - Australian Insights

The compliance landscape is getting more complex, and Australia’s organisations are feeling it.  Our data shows that over half of executives report negative impacts across all growth drivers, highlighting the challenge this poses to company growth ambitions.

Better coordination and tentative technology investment is starting to help, but it’s not enough. Australia’s organisations are trailing their global counterparts. None consider themselves to be leading in compliance (compared to 7% globally). This is a central finding from this year’s Global Compliance Survey 2025, which includes responses from 73 executives in Australia as part of a global survey. 

This highlights an opportunity to accelerate transformation and pioneer new approaches. ‘Compliance by design’ – building compliance into a company’s operations from the start, rather than reacting to issues after they arise – is needed. This approach integrates compliance into business processes using technology, skilled talent, and a strategic mindset. Done well, such a design can enable companies to ‘see around corners’ to predict threats and equip the business with the confidence to swiftly navigate the compliance risk landscape, avoid hazards, and maintain trust. 

The compliance ecosystem is more complex and connected than ever before, driven in part by transformation, cross-industry reinvention and new business models. This evolving landscape is reflected in PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey - Australian insights which found pioneering CEOs taking bold steps to reinvent their businesses in response to megatrends such as technological disruption and climate change.  

Understanding complexity is important, but it’s just the first step. The real challenge – and priority – is mitigating its negative impact.

To what extent, if it all, has the increasing complexity of compliance requirements negatively impacted the following in your organisation:

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

Over half (56%) of executives report a negative impact across each key growth driver, underscoring the need to refine compliance strategies to reduce risks and unlock value. The primary area affected is technology, as with global counterparts, at 93% of respondents. As companies gain unprecedented access to powerful technology – reshaping customer interactions, product development and operations – stricter regulation on areas such as cybersecurity, AI, cloud and data privacy have followed.

Concerningly, 94% of respondents report that compliance complexity has negatively affected senior leadership focus. The impact on leadership is arguably more pervasive, and important, to an organisation as it can impact confidence and decision-making that drive growth and strategy. Businesses need to transform faster, yet 82% saw increasing compliance complexity negatively impacting their transformation and change activities to some or a large extent.

Which of the following areas of compliance have been identified as key priorities for your organisation? (Top 3 shown):

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

Technology compliance risks top the risk priorities for executives, with cybersecurity in the lead followed by data protection and privacy. This echoes PwC’s 27th Global Digital Trust Insights Survey. It found that even Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), who are on the cybersecurity front line, feel less confident than CEOs about cyber compliance.

This suggests there’s a need for better C-suite collaboration and strategic investment to strengthen cyber resilience.

What benefits have you seen from effective coordination of compliance activities in your organisation (Rank up to 3, where 1 is the main benefit)

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

While some companies still struggle with fragmented and siloed compliance activities, others have established a centralised compliance function or embedded compliance teams within different functions.‘Connected compliance’ enables better decision-making (69%) and transparency (53%), to a greater extent than found by global counterparts, while also improving awareness and culture (64%).

To what extent does your organisation rely on external providers and advisors in relation to the following compliance activities?

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

70% of Australia’s organisations use external advisors or third-party providers to support their compliance activities. They are relying on ad hoc or regular support from external providers and advisors, across all areas of their compliance activity, with little entirely outsourced. 

Specialist advice on laws and regulations is the most frequently sought support (90%), while technology/AI design and implementation is the most commonly outsourced activity (13%). The clear message here is that organisations recognise the pressing importance of compliance, know they have in-house skill/capacity gaps and are willing to invest in expertise to address that. Some are starting to embrace technology as a solution – but at 13% there’s room for growth.

As a result of your organisation’s investments in technology, what are the main benefits you have experienced in relation to your compliance activities?

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

Compliance technology is helping companies move faster, navigate complexity and avoid hazards. However, there is inconsistent benefit realisation. A significant almost 40% report increased productivity, efficiencies and cost savings through the use of technology, but this also means 60% are missing out. This presents a clear opportunity for companies to reassess their strategies to fully capitalise on their technology investments.

What are the main challenges your organisations faces, if any, when using data to support your compliance activities?

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

To fully harness the benefits of technology, many organisations must overcome a common challenge: data. While technology infrastructure and applications provide the compliance ecosystem backbone, it relies on the flow of accurate, timely and consistent data to function effectively. However, nearly 70% of respondents said that the reliability and quality of data made compliance more difficult. Respondents also cited the complexity and disaggregated nature of data across the organisation as key obstacles (60%), along with a lack of employee skills and experience (53%) to manage and use the data.

Is your organisation planning on using, or already using, (AI) in any of the following areas?

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

AI is driving changes to business models, increasing competition and creating demand for new skills from the workforce. PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey - Australian insights found that a comprehensive nine in ten CEOs say AI adoption is important to achieving their company’s business strategy in the next three to five years. CEOs intend to embed AI (including GenAI) into technology platforms (42%), business processes and workflows (41%), workforce and skills (27%), and new products and services development (24%).

This brings new opportunities for compliance too. Our survey found that 73% of respondents in Australia believe that AI will have a positive impact overall on compliance. However, there are several areas of activity where the majority plan to not use AI at all. One example is for the identification/interpretation of regulations at 58% (compared to 44% globally). While AI in compliance is still in its early stages, there are a growing number of AI use cases for such insight. PwC’s Regulatory Pathfinder, for example, has been developed with AI technology to map the compliance landscape, flag potential gaps where they exist and propose targeted actions to enhance compliance outcomes and reduce risk. This is helping to cut through complexity, speed up response to regulation and tackle costs.

In relation to the adoption and use of AI for compliance activities, how concerned are you about each of the following risks?

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

Interestingly, a significant (63%) of respondents report that they are not at all concerned about job displacement due to AI – more optimistic than global at 46%. 

This echoes the findings of our last PwC Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey where employees largely viewed AI as a beneficial addition to their roles rather than a threat. 

1. Which of the following best describes the overall current level of maturity of your organisation’s compliance capabilities?
2. Which of the following best describes your organisation’s target level of maturity in the next 3 years?

^{Source: PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025: Australian territory data}

No organisation in Australia considers themselves to be leading in compliance (compared to 7% globally) – yet 92% aim to be leading or mature within three years. This highlights both a sense of urgency and an opportunity to accelerate transformation and pioneer new approaches.