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How Much Does SOC 2 Certification Cost in Australia?

February 26, 2026

SOC 2 certification in Australia is one of the most common questions we get asked, and the most common answer businesses receive from providers is frustratingly vague: “it depends.” That is technically true, but it is not very useful if you are trying to build a budget or justify the investment to your board. This guide breaks down the real costs involved, explains what drives them up or down, and gives you a practical picture of what to expect.

 

What Are You Actually Paying For?

The total cost of a SOC 2 audit in Australia is not just the auditor’s fee. There are several distinct components that most businesses need to account for, and the audit fee itself is often not the largest one.

The main cost categories are:

• Readiness and gap assessment – understanding where your controls stand before an auditor sees them

• Consulting and implementation support – building or improving the policies, processes, and controls that SOC 2 requires

• Penetration testing – providing technical evidence that your security controls actually work https://siegecyber.com.au/services/penetration-testing/

• Compliance tooling – platforms to automate evidence collection and monitor controls year-round

• The formal audit itself – conducted by a licensed CPA firm (required for a valid SOC 2 report)

• Ongoing maintenance – annual surveillance and continuous compliance management

Businesses that budget only for the audit fee routinely underestimate the total investment. Understanding all of these components upfront leads to much better outcomes.

 

SOC 2 Cost in Australia: Realistic Figures

Australian businesses pursuing SOC 2 for the first time should generally plan for a total first-year investment in the range of AUD $30,000 to $150,000, depending on the size and complexity of the environment and the type of report being pursued.​

Here is a practical cost breakdown:

 

 

These figures are intended as a guide. Your actual costs will vary based on how many Trust Service Criteria you include, how complex your technology environment is, and how much preparation work your team can handle internally.

 

Siege Cyber’s CERTIFY package is designed to address that directly. For $4,750 per month on a 12-month subscription, you get a fully managed SOC 2 readiness service.

 

 

SOC 2 Type I vs Type II: What Is the Cost Difference?

This is one of the most important decisions you will make, and it has a direct impact on your SOC 2 cost and timeline.

A SOC 2 Type I report is a point-in-time assessment. It validates that your controls are suitably designed on a specific date. It is faster and less expensive, typically requiring two to four months to complete from a standing start. For businesses that need something to show enterprise clients quickly, it is a practical first step.​

A SOC 2 Type II report covers a defined observation period, usually six to twelve months, and verifies that your controls actually operated effectively throughout that period. It is what most serious enterprise and government customers want to see, and it provides significantly stronger assurance. Type II typically costs fifty to one hundred percent more than Type I, largely due to the extended auditor engagement and the evidence review involved.

The most sensible path for first-time SOC 2 certification in Australia is usually to achieve Type I first, then run your monitoring period and progress to Type II. Going straight to Type II without preparation is risky and rarely saves money in the end.

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If you are not sure which type of report your customers are asking for, or where your current controls stand, a gap assessment is the right place to start. Siege Cyber offers this as a standalone service, and it gives you a clear picture of your readiness before you commit to a full implementation programme. Learn more about our SOC 2 services here.

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What Drives SOC 2 Costs Up?

A few specific factors consistently push the SOC 2 cost of an engagement higher than anticipated.

The first is scope creep. Including more Trust Service Criteria than you actually need, or setting an overly broad system boundary, increases the number of controls that need to be implemented and evidenced. This adds consultant hours, tooling requirements, and audit time.

The second is poor control of maturity at the start of the engagement. If your organisation has minimal documented policies, no formal risk assessment process, and limited access controls in place, the implementation phase will take longer and cost more. A readiness assessment at the start helps you understand the gap before committing to a timeline and budget.

The third is using the wrong tooling or no tooling at all. Manually collecting evidence for a SOC 2 audit is time-consuming and error-prone. Compliance automation platforms like Vanta and Drata can significantly reduce the manual burden by integrating directly with your cloud infrastructure and continuously monitoring controls. Siege Cyber is an official partner of both platforms. If you have already invested in one of them and are not sure how to get from the platform to an actual audit report, that is exactly the kind of gap we help bridge.

 

 

How Siege Cyber Packages SOC 2 Support

One of the most common frustrations businesses have with compliance programmes is the unpredictability of costs. Hourly consulting rates are hard to budget for, and scope can grow quickly once an engagement is underway.

Siege Cyber’s CERTIFY package is designed to address that directly. For $4,750 per month on a 12-month subscription, you get a fully managed, single-framework compliance engagement that includes:

• Gap analysis and risk assessment

• Customised policy development

• Ongoing compliance support throughout the year

• Incident response planning

• Internal audit

• Management Committee meeting facilitation

• Quarterly external vulnerability scanning

Optional add-ons are available for penetration testing (at a discounted rate for CERTIFY clients), secure cloud review, employee phishing testing, security awareness training, and vCISO advisory support.

The subscription model means you know exactly what you are paying each month, there are no surprise invoices, and you have access to an Australia-based compliance team throughout the engagement, not just during the audit window.

You can view full pricing details here.

 

The Hidden Cost Nobody Talks About: Internal Team Time

This one is real and worth planning for. SOC 2 audit preparation requires input from your internal team regardless of how much you outsource. Someone needs to review and approve policies, participate in risk assessment workshops, respond to auditor questions, and make decisions about your control environment.

For most small to mid-sized Australian businesses, this typically represents 50 to 150 hours of internal time across the engagement. That is not a reason to avoid SOC 2 certification in Australia, but it is something to factor into your planning so you are not caught off-guard when the requests start coming through.

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Is SOC 2 Worth the Investment?

For Australian technology businesses, SaaS companies, and managed service providers selling to enterprise clients, the commercial return on SOC 2 is well-documented. Enterprise procurement teams regularly ask for a SOC 2 report before signing contracts, and not having one can stall or lose deals entirely. Many businesses that have gone through the process report that a single contract win more than covers the cost of the audit.

Beyond the commercial upside, a well-implemented SOC 2 programme improves your actual security posture, not just your ability to answer security questionnaires. That has value regardless of whether a customer ever reads your report. [INTERNAL LINK: “ISO 27001 certification” linking to https://siegecyber.com.au/services/iso-27001/ for businesses comparing SOC 2 to ISO 27001]

 

Ready to Get a Clear Picture of Your SOC 2 Cost?

Siege Cyber works with Australian businesses from initial gap assessment through to audit completion and ongoing compliance management. Whether you are budgeting for your first SOC 2 engagement, have an existing programme that has stalled, or want to understand how our CERTIFY package compares to going it alone, we are happy to have a straightforward conversation about what your situation actually requires.

Visit siegecyber.com.au/services/soc2/ to learn more about how we support SOC 2 readiness and audit preparation, or email us at [email protected] to book a free initial consultation. We will get back to you within one business day.