In today’s environment, where compliance, regulatory scrutiny and data security are more critical than ever, ensuring that your vendor operates with the highest level of integrity and compliance is essential.
As the Head of Quality Assurance and Compliance, I am passionate about quality and compliance because they are crucial for driving continual improvement and delivering an exceptional client and customer experience. We’ve seen the outcome when standards have not been met or followed, not only from legal risks and financial penalties, it also causes significant damage to reputation and brand.
I wanted to share with you some of the ways that we, here at Access, uphold our commitment to compliance, regulatory adherence and client standards.
Our compliance foundations lie in our commitment to best practice, as demonstrated in our ISO9001:2015 Quality Management System and ISO27001:2022 Information Security Management System certifications. These accreditations are more than just accolades—they reflect our pursuit of quality, security, and client satisfaction.
At Access, regulatory and compliance principles are deeply embedded within our business processes. These underpinning principles are governed by our Integrated Management System (IMS) through a structured quality management framework. Controls are supported by our Internal Quality Framework (IQF) established for each division of the business.
Our IMS drives our quality assurance accountability it helps safeguard that we are meeting all compliance obligations and provides for a continuous improvement cycle that is supported by our team. This is further policed by the quality assessment regime, which encompasses quarterly execution of internal audits and review by Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee. In addition, annual independent external audits are conducted by qualified ISO auditors.
Data security is paramount and our ISO 27001 certification underscores our dedication to protecting information across all forms—from storage to processing and transmission. Achieving certification in the latest 2022 standard (from the 2013 standard) is a testament to our proactive approach to cybersecurity. You can learn more about this achievement on our website.
Our highly skilled team abides by rigorous training and compliance guidelines to preserve our brand reputation as well as those of our clients. ACCC and ASIC Debt Collection Guidelines are core to our conduct. In turn, our IMS framework reinforces our ability to ensure all our staff are proficient at their job for compliance and performance. A prime example of our commitment to compliance is the rigorous training undertaken by every member of our team at Access. All employees complete external regulatory and compliance training as part of our induction program, with mandatory refresher every 12 months. This comprehensive training covers critical areas such as debt collection guidelines, Banking Code of Practice (BCP), National Consumer Credit Protection Act (NCCP), Australian Privacy Principles (APP), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF), consumer vulnerability, hardship, domestic and family violence and more.
At Access Mercantile, quality, integrity, and excellence are deeply ingrained in our operations, serving as the driving force behind our continued success and we are proud of our impeccable record of never experiencing any regulatory breach in our 30+ year history.