Ethics and compliance,
advised by someone
who’s done the work.

Shane Stirling

I’ve spent the last 25 years across investigations, compliance, audit and ESG. I’m an APSCA-certified Social Compliance Auditor (CSCA), one of a small group of practitioners in Australia holding that credential. Founder of the verification-led practice model: advisory and accredited audit structurally separated, so independence is never in question.

Two decades as a regulated investigator working complex matters laid the foundation — interviewing, evidence handling, procedural fairness, written findings that hold up under scrutiny. Since 2012 I’ve worked operationally inside compliance: building and running integrated management systems for civil construction and demolition, leading HR and workforce systems through major regulatory transitions, and most recently designing and running a national ethical sourcing and modern slavery audit program with a team of 15 internal and external auditors across Australia.

Alongside that, I’ve conducted complex workplace and regulatory investigations — matters where procedural fairness, evidence handling and defensible findings decide the outcome. I designed and led the strategic pathway for JAS-ANZ accreditation under ISO/IEC 17021, opening certification services across ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001, and gained recognition for designing an Australian-specific framework that aligns with the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth), Fair Work Act and WHS legislation. Where a compliance engagement calls for it, Ethara can build or remediate the underlying management system — ISO 9001, 14001 or 45001 — in support of the social-compliance work rather than as a standalone offer.

Why Ethara

The Australian compliance landscape is changing faster than most internal compliance functions can absorb. The Modern Slavery Act is moving from a reporting obligation to a due diligence obligation, with civil penalties on the way. ESG expectations are no longer concentrated in listed companies. Workplace investigations need an independence and rigour that’s hard to source internally. And almost nobody is verifying — programs are mapped, documented and reported without anyone going to site. I started Ethara to do this work directly, without overhead.

How I work

Engagements are scoped to actual need. I don’t sell retainers for the sake of retainers, and I don’t sell systems where advice is enough. Most engagements run as one-off project work, with longer arrangements where they make sense. Many engagements use the Ethara CSR Suite — a productised SMETA 7 4-Pillar methodology I’ve built for Australian operating contexts. The free downloads on this site are extracts from that suite.