Across Australia’s increasingly complex industrial relations system, payroll compliance has moved well beyond a routine back-office task; it’s now a central part of how organisations manage risk and governance. The Fair Work Ombudsman recovered more than A$500 million in unpaid wages in 2024, its highest figure on record, and from January 2025, intentional wage underpayment became a criminal offence. These developments have forced employers, particularly large corporations, to rethink how they validate their payroll systems.
Traditionally, many organisations have relied on external auditors to review payroll accuracy once or twice a year. But that model has become ill-suited to an environment defined by weekly award changes, intricate enterprise agreements, and heightened director liability. It is here that WageSafe, a Sydney-based compliance technology company, has gained traction by offering real-time, automated monitoring of every pay cycle.
“Annual audits might uncover an issue that’s been repeating for months,” said Mark Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of WageSafe. “By then, the exposure is already substantial. Our goal was to give enterprises the ability to identify discrepancies before they occur, not months later.”
Why External Audits Fall Short
External payroll audits have long provided assurance to boards and regulators, but their limitations are visible. Auditors typically review a small sample of pay records, often long after the pay runs occur, which means systemic errors can go unnoticed until penalties or back payments surface.
According to Fair Work data, more than 70 per cent of businesses inspected in 2024 were found to have some level of non-compliance, most linked to misinterpreted awards or allowance miscalculations. For companies employing tens of thousands of casual and shift workers, such as those in retail or hospitality, even minor rule misapplications can compound into millions in liabilities.
Auditors also face structural constraints. They depend on the same data that payroll systems produce, rather than independent real-time feeds. And while audit reports provide retrospective clarity, they rarely offer predictive insights or continuous feedback loops for payroll teams to self-correct.
“The issue isn’t the auditors’ competence, it’s timing,” Jenkins explained. “Payroll doesn’t wait six months. When you’re processing hundreds of thousands of hours a week, compliance has to move at the same pace.”
The Case for Continuous Payroll Compliance
WageSafe’s model flips the sequence. Instead of waiting for an external review, its software integrates with existing payroll and time-and-attendance systems via API, validating each pay run against relevant awards and agreements before payments are processed.
The platform’s award interpretation engine automatically converts Fair Work rules such as overtime rates, penalty rates, and allowances into algorithmic computations. This allows companies to detect under- or over-payments instantly. Since launching, WageSafe has reportedly analysed over one million wage records and processed billions of dollars in payroll, serving more than 1,200 businesses across Australia.
Its dashboard ranks compliance status using a colour-coded scale: red for urgent action, amber for watchlist, and green for compliant—making it easier for HR and finance teams to interpret risk without external assistance. The technology also flags both underpaid and overpaid wages, addressing a problem few manual audits catch.
Industry analysts point out that such systems not only reduce exposure but also cut administrative costs. Continuous monitoring removes the need for recurring audit engagements while freeing internal payroll staff from routine manual checks.
Accountability at Board Level
With wage underpayment now a criminal offence, boards are demanding more than annual sign-offs from auditors. Directors want evidence-based assurance that compliance controls operate continuously. This demand aligns with WageSafe’s model: automated logs, immutable audit trails, and data-backed compliance reports that can be reviewed at any time.
Executives say this form of “always-on” verification aligns more closely with broader corporate-governance trends. Just as cybersecurity and financial controls are monitored in real time, payroll compliance is expected to meet similar standards of transparency.
“There’s been a fundamental change in accountability,” Jenkins noted. “Directors can no longer say, ‘We thought it was fine.’ They need ongoing visibility, and that’s what real-time systems provide.”
For many organisations, external audits remain a requirement under governance or certification frameworks, but they are no longer sufficient on their own. Instead, enterprises increasingly pair external reviews with continuous internal validation – a hybrid model where technology fills the gaps left by traditional oversight.
The Emerging Standard
Australia’s shift toward continuous payroll compliance reflects a broader movement toward preventive governance – identifying risks as they form rather than after the fact. For large employers, the choice is less about replacing auditors and more about modernising assurance.
WageSafe’s rise shows how automation and data integrity are redefining compliance as an ongoing process rather than a periodic report. The company’s experience mirrors a wider recalibration of responsibility: from external consultants to internal systems that run every hour of every pay cycle.
As Jenkins summarised, “Compliance shouldn’t be an annual event. It should be a daily condition of doing business.”
