Australian business is following a worldwide trend to overhaul internal governance, risk and compliance (GRC) to reduce both costs and risk in a recovering economy, a global report has found.

Undertaken by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of KPMG, the report found that 64 per cent of businesses worldwide now see GRC convergence as a key priority for their business.

Until recently, companies had responded to increased regulation or the call for a better approach to business by creating layers of compliance and process, said Sally Freeman, Australia’s advisory partner for KPMG.

The survey indicated that the cost of GRC activities is now a significant one for businesses. One out of every two estimated that the cost is as much as 5 per cent of their total annual revenues, while 11 per cent believe GRC costs more than 20 per cent of revenues while 8 per cent believe it costs nothing at all.

This article is available in full at Risk Management Magazine.