Compliance professionals in NSW and WA are the nation’s highest paid, a recent survey has found.

Conducted by The Australasian Compliance Institute (ACI), the survey also found that the median salary range for compliance professionals is $125,000 to $149,999, while those who possess either the Certified Compliance Professional (CCP) or CCP Fellow qualification earn a salary of $150,000 or more.

The survey also found that there were a substantially greater proportion of compliance professionals who did not receive a bonus for last year, even though many were entitled to one.

However, where they were awarded, higher bonuses were reported in NSW as well as for those professionals with more than 11 years’ compliance related experience.

In regards to salary by gender, the survey found that a much larger proportion of females (12 per cent versus 4 per cent of males) were currently paid in the lower salary bracket of $50,000 to $74,999.

The ACI survey, which took in 450 compliance and risk professionals, also found that many plan to make career moves in the next 12 months, such as a compliance related role in another organisation (18 per cent) or a senior management role within their current organisation (14 per cent).

The three most important factors for compliance and risk professionals in determining whether or not to move employers were money, culture and being challenged, while the survey also revealed that 61 per cent of organisations intend to hire additional compliance and risk professionals.

Furthermore, 74 per cent of compliance and risk professionals felt that there had been a growth in the internal profile of compliance in their organisations within the last 12 months.

This increase was put down to: specific compliance/risk raising initiatives within the business (56 per cent); broader acknowledgment of the value add that compliance and risk brings to the organisation (46 per cent); increased regulation (42 per cent); and increased support from the Board (42 per cent).