Internal Auditor

Internal Auditors examine whether an organisation is following its own policies, meeting legal obligations, and managing risk in a sensible way. They test financial records, interview staff, review internal controls, and write reports for senior management or audit committees. The work is investigative by nature. You are looking for gaps, weaknesses, or patterns that could expose the organisation to financial loss, fraud, or regulatory trouble. Unlike an external auditor who visits once a year, an internal auditor is embedded in the business and may run multiple reviews at once across different departments.

A typical day could include reviewing a sample of transactions to check they were approved correctly, meeting with a department head to understand a new process, drafting findings from a completed audit, or preparing a risk-based audit plan for the next quarter. There is a fair amount of report writing. Findings need to be clear enough for a board member to act on, but detailed enough to hold up to scrutiny. Internal auditors also track whether previous recommendations have been implemented, which involves follow-up conversations and checking updated records.

Most employers expect a bachelor degree in accounting, finance, or a related business discipline (JSA Occupation Profile). Beyond that, professional certification adds significant weight. The Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) credential, issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors, is widely recognised. Chartered Accountant (CA) status through Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand is another pathway. Some roles accept Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) status as an alternative. If you are considering formal study or retraining, yourcareer.gov.au lists accredited courses, and information on subsidised training options is available at dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe.

The hardest part of internal audit is not the technical work. It is the organisational politics. You are employed by the same business you are scrutinising, which creates real tension. Managers may be defensive when their processes are questioned, and findings that reflect poorly on a senior leader can be uncomfortable to deliver. Maintaining independence while staying cooperative takes careful judgement. There is also a risk of scope creep: audit committees sometimes want internal auditors to take on consulting or advisory work that blurs the line between reviewing controls and designing them. Keeping those roles separate is important for credibility, but it requires the confidence to push back.

In practice, internal audit roles tend to concentrate in cities where large corporations, government agencies, and financial institutions are headquartered.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 2212, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Accounting department processescore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
• Microsoft Excel Data Managementcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Process Improvement Identificationcore
• Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
• Record Managementcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Report Writingcore
• Research and Analysiscore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Verification and Authenticationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Active Listening
• Advise on financial matters
• Negotiation
• Policy Interpretation
• Power BI Reporting and Dashboards
• Problem Solving
• Process Documentation
• Reporting and Analytics
• Time Management and Prioritisation
• Verbal Communication

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Internal Auditor workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 10 October 2026