AU Standard Operating Procedures Program — Medium Business

01 — WHAT

What is it?

The SOP & Procedures Program — AU Medium is a ready-to-implement framework for building and maintaining a multi-department SOP library at scale. It gives senior leadership and department managers a structured way to document, govern, audit, and keep current the processes that run their business — with Australian regulatory compliance built into every layer.
It includes everything in the AU Small Business program, plus department-level SOP ownership, a formal change request process with AU compliance impact assessment, cross-training risk tracking with WHS priority view, structured compliance audit checklists, a quarterly management report retained as Corporations Act governance evidence, and a senior leadership guide covering director duties under the Corporations Act.
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02 — WHO

Who is it for?

• Australian business owners managing process documentation across multiple departments and managers
• Department managers who own SOPs for their area and need a clear framework for maintaining them — including WHS and Fair Work Act obligations
• Australian medium businesses (16–100 staff) that have crossed key Fair Work Act thresholds and need their SOP program to reflect those changes
• Organisations that need to demonstrate PCBU due diligence across multiple departments to a WHS regulator or court
• Directors who need reliable SOP compliance reports as part of their Corporations Act governance obligations
• Leadership teams where WHS SOPs, Fair Work Act training records, and ACL-consistent customer processes are not being consistently maintained across departments
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03 — WHY

Why does it matter?

At 16 to 100 Australian staff, regulatory complexity compounds across departments. You are no longer a small business employer under the Fair Work Act — which changes unfair dismissal rules, applies the right to disconnect in full, and means wage theft carries criminal liability from 1 January 2025. WHS obligations scale with your workforce across all departments. Directors who rely on compliance reports for governance decisions carry personal liability where those reports are unreliable.
Relevant considerations include:
• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) / state WHS Acts — PCBU obligations apply across all departments; WHS SOPs are mandatory for hazardous tasks; audit records are PCBU due diligence evidence; single-person WHS SOP dependencies are a PCBU liability risk
• Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) — at 16+ employees, no longer a small business employer under section 23; right to disconnect applies in full from 26 August 2024; wage theft is a criminal offence from 1 January 2025; multiple Modern Awards may apply across departments; training records retained 7 years
• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles — Notifiable Data Breach scheme applies; documented practices required under APP 1; APP 11 security safeguards must be evidenced
• Australian Consumer Law — ACL-inconsistent SOPs create direct liability across all customer-facing departments; ACCC inquiries escalate to senior leadership immediately
• Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) — directors who rely on SOP compliance reports for governance decisions carry personal liability where those reports are unreliable; the quarterly Management Report is part of the director governance evidence chain
Without an SOP program at this scale, businesses risk:
• WHS incidents occurring while SOPs are out of date — PCBU liability exposure across multiple departments
• Wage theft liability from pay and rostering SOPs not updated when Modern Award determinations take effect
• Fair Work Act evidence gaps in training records across multiple departments
• Directors making governance decisions on unreliable compliance data
• Different departments applying the same regulations differently — or not at all
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04 — WHEN

When do you need it?

• When the business crosses 15 staff and Fair Work Act obligations change materially
• When WHS SOPs are being maintained inconsistently across departments — or not maintained at all
• When the quarterly board or management meeting cannot produce a reliable SOP compliance report
• When a Fair Work Commission claim, WHS investigation, or ACCC inquiry reveals your documentation is not in order
• When department managers each need their own SOP accountability framework, not just one shared by the business
• When the business is preparing for growth, investment, or sale and needs demonstrable operational and compliance systems
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05 — WHERE

Where does it apply?

• WHS and safety-critical processes — safe work procedures for every hazardous task, across all departments with WHS exposure
• Finance and administration — invoicing, payroll and super guarantee (12% from 1 July 2025), BAS lodgement
• Customer service and sales — ACL-consistent complaint, refund, and warranty processes across all customer-facing departments
• Operations and delivery — core service or product delivery, quality checks, scheduling
• People and HR — Fair Work Act onboarding, Modern Award-compliant rostering, staff offboarding (final pay obligations)
• IT and systems — account setup, access removal (Privacy Act APP 11), data backup (APP 11), Notifiable Data Breach response
• Cross-department processes — end-to-end customer journeys, invoice-to-payment cycles, new staff induction (HR + IT + operations)
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06 — HOW

How does it work?

• Establish the two-layer structure — department managers own their SOPs monthly and confirm WHS SOP currency; Business Owner approves all SOPs and reviews quarterly
• Brief all managers on their AU regulatory obligations — the Manager Accountability Policy defines WHS PCBU, Fair Work Act, Modern Award, and ACL obligations explicitly
• Identify mandatory regulatory SOPs first — each manager completes the Gap Analysis Worksheet starting with WHS, ACL, Privacy Act, and Fair Work Act SOPs before any operational priorities
• Write SOPs with AU compliance built in — the Master Template includes a WHS Hazard Identification section; the Writing Procedure includes a WHS compliance step and ACL consistency check before approval
• Manage changes formally with AU compliance impact assessment — every process change goes through the Change Request Procedure, which includes WHS, ACL, Fair Work Act, and Privacy Act impact flags
• Audit WHS SOPs every 6 months — the Compliance Audit Checklist includes a dedicated WHS controls observation section and a classification for unsafe practices that requires immediate work stoppage
• Report monthly and quarterly — department managers submit the Department Monthly Checklist confirming WHS SOP currency; the Business Owner reviews the quarterly Management Report retained as Corporations Act evidence
• Review annually — full program review across all departments including all Australian regulatory compliance checks
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07 — INCLUDED

What is included?

• 1.0 Product Document Index
• 1.1 Welcome Pack
• 1.2 Quick Start Guide
• 1.3 45-Day Implementation Roadmap
• 1.4 Programme Navigation Guide
• 2.1 SOP Executive Summary
• 2.2 SOP Management Report Template
• 2.3 SOP Annual Review Guide
• 3.1 SOP Governance Policy
• 3.2 SOP Review and Update Policy
• 3.3 SOP Manager Accountability Policy
• 4.1 SOP Writing Procedure
• 4.2 SOP Audit Procedure
• 4.3 SOP Change Request Procedure
• 5.1 SOP Master Template
• 5.2 SOP Acknowledgement Form
• 5.3 SOP Gap Analysis Worksheet
• 5.4 SOP Change Request Form
• 5.5 SOP Compliance Audit Checklist
• 6.1 SOP Register
• 6.2 SOP Training Register
• 6.3 SOP Version Control Register
• 6.4 SOP Cross-Training Register
• 6.5 SOP Action Register
• 7.1 SOP Writing Guide
• 7.2 SOP Priority Process Guide
• 7.3 SOP Department Monthly Checklist
• 7.4 SOP Annual Review Checklist
• 8.1 SOP Staff Guide
• 8.2 SOP Manager Guide
• 8.3 SOP Senior Leadership Guide