Building a five-year strategy for a changing regulatory environment

How Davidson Strategy & Performance helped a major health and safety regulator establish a five-year strategic plan, redesigned risk framework and sustainable financial model for a changing operating environment. 



Regulation was changing around the organisation 

A major health and safety regulator was operating in an environment becoming more complex. 

Technology was advancing. Data volumes were increasing. Industry practices and business models were changing. Stakeholders were also expecting faster and clearer communication. 

For the regulator, these shifts raised practical questions about how it needed to operate in the future. 

Leaders wanted to modernise regulatory processes while reducing unnecessary burden on regulated organisations and industries. They also needed to maintain strong governance and respond to emerging risks.

The challenge was not simply to update the organisation’s corporate plan. It was to understand how its operating environment was changing and what that meant for its future priorities, risks and capabilities. 

Davidson Strategy & Performance partnered with the regulator to turn that understanding into a practical strategic direction. 

Looking beyond the existing corporate plan 

The engagement began as a review of the corporate plan. As the work progressed, the scope expanded into a broader assessment of the regulator’s strategic and operational environment. 

Davidson combined internal evidence with perspectives from employees and external stakeholders. 

Interviews, staff surveys and consultation activities explored how the organisation operated and where change was needed. Desktop research and operational analysis provided additional context. 

A contemporary environmental scan examined industry trends and emerging risks. Davidson also reviewed interstate and international regulatory approaches and assessed the organisation’s risk management capability. 

This broader evidence base brought several challenges into sharper focus. 

Industry and consumers were seeking faster, clearer communication. Technology change was creating new opportunities and demands. Regulatory complexity was increasing, while growing volumes of operational data were difficult to translate into meaningful business insight. 

Emerging business models and growth among cottage industry operators were also changing how the regulator needed to engage with industry and manage its compliance responsibilities. 

These issues meant the organisation needed more than a refreshed plan. It needed a strategy grounded in how its regulatory environment was actually changing. 

Turning insight into strategic priorities 

The findings informed three significant pieces of work:

• a new five-year strategic plan,
• a redesigned strategic risk framework and
• sustainable financial modelling to support long-term planning and investment decisions. 

The strategic planning process also considered the relevant Government Minister’s Statement of Expectations. This helped connect the regulator’s priorities with its broader public sector responsibilities. 

The five-year plan was co-designed with the CEO and Board. This brought senior leadership and governance perspectives directly into decisions about the organisation’s future direction. 

Alongside the strategy, the redesigned risk framework established a clearer structure for considering strategic risk and informing decisions. 

The regulator’s Audit and Risk Management Committee validated the redesigned framework, providing governance-level confirmation of the approach. 

Financial modelling added another dimension to the organisation’s forward planning. It provided a basis for considering the sustainability of future priorities and investment decisions alongside strategic ambition. 

Together, these elements connected strategy, risk and financial planning rather than treating them as separate exercises.