The turning of the new financial year is more than just a reset of budgets and strategic plans, it is the opening ceremony of a new campaign. For internal audit leaders and GRC professionals, navigating today’s complex risk landscape is much like competing in the World Cup. The stakes are immense, the environment is unpredictable, and past glory will not guarantee future success.

As we enter what the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) rightly calls the "reskilling era," high-performing audit functions are shifting toward skills-based talent models. To lift the trophy this year, your team needs a strategic playbook. Here is how you can take your internal audit function from the training ground all the way to the final.

Training: Building Your Core Skills

You cannot execute a world-class strategy without absolute mastery of the fundamentals. In internal audit, training is your core skill.

While emerging technologies dominate the headlines, advanced tools are only effective if they sit on a foundation of sound methodology. However, the definition of "core skills" is rapidly expanding. We are no longer just financial or operational auditors; we are technological assurance providers.

To ensure your team’s training is championship-ready:

Qualifying: Fit-for-Purpose Credentials and Certifications

No team gets to the World Cup without earning their spot. Qualifying represents your fit-for-purpose credentials and certifications, which form the core underlying progression of any internal auditor’s career.

Achieving the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA®) designation is the global gold standard, but qualification is gruelling. With published global pass rates averaging around 49%, it is glaringly obvious that professional experience alone does not guarantee success. Candidates must interpret complex scenarios, apply professional standards, and demonstrate professional judgement under pressure.

To help practitioners qualify for the main stage, structured preparation is critical:

When you earn these credentials, display them. Adding your IIA-Australia Professional Member badge to LinkedIn signals to boards, regulators, and employers that you are a highly credentialed player in a continuously developing profession.

The Group Stages: Assessing the Squad and Executing the Plan

Once you have qualified, the tournament begins. The Group Stages represent team assessment, skills audits, and formal training plans. This is where you figure out how your squad operates under live conditions.

Capability building cannot be left to chance or ad-hoc training. Best practice dictates that Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) conduct competency planning to map the team's baseline against the annual internal audit plan.

The Knockout Rounds: High-Stakes Assurance

Survive the group stages, and the pressure amplifies. The Knockout Rounds represent the complex, high-stakes environments of modern internal audit. There is no margin for error.

In this phase, expectations expand exponentially. Boards and senior leaders demand assurance over interconnected risks, technology, resilience, culture, regulation, and ESG mandates. This requires more than technical competence; it demands deep professional judgement, adaptability, and cross-functional influence.

The Red Card: A Breach of Professionalism

In any match, as a team, no one wants to get a red card. In the world of internal audit, a red card signals a lack of professionalism, a failure of fair process, and a breach of ethics.

Professional capability is not solely about technical prowess; it is grounded in unshakeable integrity. In our profession, trust is our capital. If ethical standards waver, technical skills are rendered meaningless.

Lifting the Trophy: Recognising Excellence

Capability building is a forward-looking journey, but you must pause to celebrate the victories. As we look toward the IIA-Australia Awards nominations opening in late July, it is time to champion the "legends" of our profession - those who exemplify advanced capabilities, maintain ethical lines under pressure, and drive innovation.