A notice arrives. It has a date on it. Somebody has to work out what is actually being alleged, what records exist, who needs to be told, what can be fixed immediately and what has to be answered formally — usually while running the business at the same time.
Connect Australia takes that coordination off the director’s desk. We establish the timeline, get control of the evidence, build the response plan and manage the specialists the matter needs.
Regulators and processes we work across
- Local councils: orders, notices, development and compliance matters.
- Environment agencies including the EPA: clean-up, prevention and information notices.
- Work health and safety regulators.
- Industry and sector regulators, licensing bodies and administrative decision-makers.
- Funders and government departments conducting acquittal, compliance or program reviews.
The first 72 hours
- Read the instrument properly. What is required, by when, under what power, and what the consequence of non-compliance actually is.
- Freeze and locate the records. Before anything is written, we work out what exists and where.
- Build the chronology. Almost every regulatory matter turns into a dispute about sequence. The organisation that already has the timeline is in a materially better position.
- Identify the qualified advice required. What needs a lawyer, what needs an engineer, what needs an environmental consultant — and get them briefed rather than merely appointed.
- Agree the response plan. Owners, dates, deliverables and what gets communicated to whom.
What you receive
- A documented chronology and evidence register.
- A response plan with named owners and dates.
- Drafted correspondence and submissions, reviewed by your lawyer where required.
- A remediation workstream where practical action is required, not just paperwork.
- Coordination of technical and legal specialists throughout.
Where our work stops
Connect Australia does not provide legal, tax or financial advice and is not a law practice, tax agent or financial adviser. We work with your preferred provider or, with prior disclosure, can introduce an independent partner for you to assess and choose. We do not provide legal advice on liability, penalties or defences, and we do not give regulated technical opinions. Formal certification and statutory sign-off come from an appropriately qualified or registered practitioner.
Common questions
We have a deadline this week. Is it too late to bring you in?
No, and late is when this work is often most valuable. Tell us the deadline in the first sentence. Where work has to start within 24 hours, an urgency loading applies and is confirmed before anything begins.
Should we just get a lawyer?
If liability, penalty or prosecution is genuinely in play, yes — and quickly. Our role sits alongside that, not instead of it. Lawyers work faster and cheaper when the chronology, the records and the technical material are already organised, which is exactly the work that usually is not getting done while everyone is busy.
What does it cost?
A regulatory response project starts from $12,500 + GST. Scope, authority boundaries and specialist costs are agreed before work begins.
Start with a confidential fit check
The first conversation is short and costs nothing. We want to understand the decision you are facing, the deadline attached to it and whether this is work we should be doing at all. You do not need to send documents at that stage.
If the matter is a fit, the next step is usually the $850 initial strategic consultation, which includes up to one hour of pre-reading and a one-hour meeting.