Enterprise Risk Management Services

Enterprise risk management (ERM) gives your board and executives one view of every material risk to the organisation’s objectives, and a consistent way to decide which risks to accept, reduce, transfer or avoid. Security Solution Consultants (SSC) provides enterprise risk management services to Australian and New Zealand organisations, designing and uplifting ERM frameworks from mid-sized businesses to APRA-regulated institutions and critical infrastructure operators, so that risk management informs strategy instead of sitting in a register nobody reads.

Our approach aligns with ISO 31000:2018 risk management guidelines and the COSO Enterprise Risk Management framework, and connects to the operational, cyber and compliance standards you already answer to, including ISO/IEC 27001, APRA CPS 220 and CPS 230, and the SOCI Act Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Program (CIRMP).

Our enterprise risk management services

• ERM framework design and review. Risk management policy, framework, roles and responsibilities, and a risk management strategy that explains how each material risk is identified, assessed and controlled.
• Risk appetite and tolerance statements. Board-approved statements that say how much risk the organisation will take in pursuit of its objectives, translated into measurable tolerances and key risk indicators (KRIs).
• Risk assessment and risk registers. Workshops with each business unit to identify strategic, operational, financial, compliance, people, technology and cyber risks, rated on one consistent likelihood and consequence scale.
• Cyber risk assessment. Information security and cyber risk assessments that feed directly into the enterprise register, so cyber is reported in business terms alongside every other risk.
• Controls assurance. Mapping each material risk to the controls that treat it, and testing whether those controls are designed and operating effectively.
• Board and committee reporting. Risk profiles, trend reporting and KRI dashboards for audit and risk committees, written for directors rather than specialists.
• CIRMP advisory for critical infrastructure. Building and assessing the risk management program required under the SOCI Act, and preparing evidence for the board-approved annual report.

How we run an ERM engagement

1. Understand context and objectives. We start with your strategy, obligations, operating model and the risk decisions the board actually has to make.
2. Assess current practice. We review existing policies, registers, reporting and culture against ISO 31000 and your regulatory obligations, and rate maturity across governance, process, people and data.
3. Design the framework. One risk taxonomy, one rating scale, clear ownership, escalation thresholds and reporting cycles that fit how your organisation already meets and decides.
4. Identify and assess risks. Facilitated workshops and interviews produce a register with causes, consequences, existing controls, residual ratings and owners.
5. Treat and monitor. Treatment plans with owners and dates, KRIs with thresholds, and a monitoring rhythm that keeps the register current between board meetings.
6. Embed and improve. Training for risk owners, a reporting pack for the board, and a review cycle so the framework matures each year.

For a step-by-step explanation of each stage, from risk identification to continuous improvement, read our guide to the enterprise risk management process.

The three lines of accountability

Effective risk management depends on everyone knowing their role. We design responsibilities around the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Three Lines Model:

• First line: management. Business owners own their risks and the controls that treat them, and report on them.
• Second line: risk and compliance functions. They set the framework, challenge risk ratings and monitor the risk profile. For APRA-regulated institutions, CPS 220 also requires a designated compliance function.
• Third line: internal audit. Independent assurance to the board that the framework is working as intended.

Getting this right avoids two common failures: a risk team that owns every risk on behalf of the business, and a business that treats risk management as someone else’s paperwork.

Risk appetite that guides real decisions

A risk appetite statement is only useful if managers can apply it. We write appetite statements by risk category, then translate each into tolerances and KRIs: for example, maximum tolerable outage for a critical service, the number of overdue high-risk audit findings, staff turnover in key roles, or the percentage of critical vulnerabilities fixed within agreed timeframes. When a KRI moves outside tolerance, the escalation path and decision owner are already agreed.

Regulatory alignment in Australia and New Zealand

Read more in our guide to the enterprise risk management framework for Australian organisations and our article on CPS 230 compliance after transition.

Cyber risk management as part of ERM

Cyber incidents now sit among the most significant risks for most boards, yet cyber is often reported in technical language that directors cannot compare with other risks. We connect your cyber and information security risk assessments to the enterprise register, express them in terms of impact on customers, operations, revenue and obligations, and report them with the same scale as every other risk. Our board cyber risk KRI guide shows the indicators we typically recommend.

For a deeper look at AI-related risk, see ISO 31000 vs ISO 23894 and risk appetite in the age of AI.

ERM supported by GRCLens

A risk framework stays alive when the register, controls, actions and KRIs live in one system. SSC builds GRCLens, a GRC platform that holds your risk register, control library, treatment actions, evidence and dashboards, and links risks to the compliance obligations they affect. Boards see the same numbers as risk owners, and reporting packs take hours instead of weeks. We also work with your existing GRC tool if you have one.

Signs your risk framework needs attention

• The risk register is updated once a year, just before the audit committee meets.
• Different teams rate the same risk differently because they use different scales.
• Cyber, compliance and operational risks are reported in separate packs that never meet.
• Risk appetite exists on paper but no one can say when a risk is outside it.
• Treatment actions are overdue with no escalation, and controls are assumed to work rather than tested.
• Regulators or auditors have raised findings about the risk management framework, risk culture or board oversight.

If several of these sound familiar, a short framework review is usually the fastest way to find the few changes that make the biggest difference.

What you receive

• A risk management policy and framework document, approved by the board
• Risk appetite and tolerance statements with key risk indicators and thresholds
• A consistent risk taxonomy, likelihood and consequence matrix, and rating guidance
• An enterprise risk register with owners, controls, residual ratings and treatment plans
• A board and committee reporting pack, with a quarterly reporting rhythm
• A maturity assessment of your current practice and a roadmap for the next twelve months

Measuring risk in numbers where it helps

Most risks are best rated with a clear qualitative scale. For a small number of high-impact risks, such as a major cyber incident, loss of a critical supplier or prolonged outage of a core system, a quantitative estimate of likely and worst-case financial impact helps the board compare the cost of treatment with the exposure it removes. We use scenario analysis and, where the data supports it, simple quantitative models to give a range rather than a false single number, and we explain the assumptions in plain language.

Who we work with

• APRA-regulated banks, insurers and superannuation funds
• Critical infrastructure operators in energy, water, transport and data storage
• Government agencies and their suppliers
• Technology, professional services and not-for-profit organisations building their first formal framework

Related services: compliance risk management, business continuity management and security certification and accreditation. To discuss your risk framework, contact our team.