IIA NZ Education Day 2026 - ONLINE

Theme: The Professional Auditor of the Future: Mindset, Mandate, and Meaning

Host Sponsor Acknowledgement:

IIA NZ thanks Deloitte for hosting Education Day 2026 in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and online, and for supporting this year's programme. Their partnership helps create an important forum for exploring the future of internal audit, professional capability, leadership, and impact. We look forward to welcoming you.

Event Summary

Join us for IIA NZ Education Day 2026, a future-focused programme designed to explore the evolving role of the internal auditor in an increasingly complex, fast-changing environment.

Under the theme The Professional Auditor of the Future: Mindset, Mandate, and Meaning, this year's event will examine the capabilities, perspectives, and strategic value internal auditors need to remain relevant, trusted, and impactful. Through practical insights, thought leadership, and shared discussion, attendees will be encouraged to reflect on how the profession is changing, what stakeholders will expect next, and how internal auditors can continue to lead with influence, integrity, and purpose.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the day, participants will:

1. Understand how ethics and professionalism are embedded in the Global Internal Audit Standards and why they are central to the future of the profession.
2. Explore how the IIA's Vision 2035 positions internal audit as indispensable to governance, resilience, and societal trust.
3. Develop the mindset, agility, and ethical courage required to lead in an era of disruption and transformation.
4. Strengthen their mandate as strategic influencers, moving beyond assurance to drive ethical, sustainable, and innovative outcomes.
5. Find meaning in linking personal purpose with professional impact, leaving with a clear call to action for shaping the future of internal audit.

1. Mindset - Adaptive, Ethical, and Future-Oriented

The mindset of the future-ready auditor is one of curiosity, agility, and ethical courage.

• Curiosity: A willingness to ask bold questions, challenge assumptions, and interrogate not just what is happening but why.
• Agility: The ability to pivot quickly as new risks emerge from AI and cyber disruption to shifting ESG expectations.
• Ethical Courage: Having the resilience to act in alignment with values, even when under pressure or facing opposition from powerful stakeholders.

This mindset is rooted in lifelong learning and a belief that internal audit is more than a compliance function, it is a force for strategic value, innovation, and integrity.

2. Mandate - From Assurance Provider to Strategic Influencer

The mandate of internal audit is expanding. No longer confined to validating controls or providing backward-looking assurance, auditors are being called to provide foresight, challenge, and governance advice in line with the Global Internal Audit Standards and Topical Requirements.

• Assurance plus Insight: Stakeholders now expect assurance on controls as well as insights that drive improvement.
• Governance Guardian: Internal audit holds the mirror up to boards and executives, identifying cultural risks, blind spots, and ethical lapses.
• Strategic Partner: By understanding the organisation's strategy, auditors can align assurance activities to where the greatest value is created, not just protecting against risk but enabling opportunity.

The future mandate positions auditors as influencers in shaping ethical, sustainable, and innovative organisations.

3. Meaning - Personal Purpose and Professional Impact

Finally, the professional auditor of the future is defined by the meaning they bring to their role.

• Personal Purpose: Connecting personal values and integrity to a profession that serves the public interest and long-term organisational sustainability.
• Professional Impact: Delivering outcomes that extend beyond compliance; trust, transparency, and resilience valued by boards, employees, communities, and society at large.

• Societal Relevance: In line with Vision 2035, auditors are not just "checking the box"; they are safeguarding democracy, ethical decision-making, and organisational accountability.

Why This Matters for Education Day 2026

Placing mindset, mandate, and meaning at the core of Education Day ensures that participants leave with:

• Clarity on what the Global Standards mean in practice.
• Confidence to evolve their role into one that leads change, not just monitors it.
• Connection to a profession with a bigger purpose, safeguarding ethics and trust in a volatile world.

This is more than a training day. It is a call to action: to embrace internal audit's evolving mandate, embody an adaptive and courageous mindset, and find personal and professional meaning in contributing to a future where internal audit is truly indispensable to good governance.

Who Should Attend

• Students, graduates, emerging auditors, and future leaders seeking to understand the future of internal audit
• Internal auditors at all levels across the profession
• Risk, compliance, and assurance professionals
• Governance and organisational leaders interested in strengthening trust, oversight, and impact

Event Details:

• Date: Thursday 28 May 2026
• Time: 8.30 am - 3.30pm
• Venue Host Sponsor: Deloitte
• Event MC: David Sinkins, Deloitte | Partner - Controls Assurance
• Format: Hybrid and face-to-face in the main centres.

Agenda:

• 8.30 - 9.00 am: Registrations and Networking
• 9:00 am - 9:15 am: Karakia, Welcome and Opening Remarks
• 9:15 am - 10:00 am: Session 1 topic: Ethics as the Cornerstone: Internal Audit's Role in Building Trust
• 10:00 am - 10:45 am: Session 2 topic: From Standards to Strategy: Embedding Ethics and Professionalism in Practice
• 10.45 am - 11.00 am: Morning Tea & Networking
• 11:00 am - 12.00 pm: Session 3 topic: Interactive Session - Mindset and Mandate: The Future-Ready Auditor
• 12:00 pm - 12:45 pm: Lunch Break
• 12:45 am - 1.30 pm: Session 4 topic: Auditing with Purpose: Ethical Courage in Action
• 1:30 pm - 2:15 pm: Session 5 topic: Innovation, Integrity, and Influence: Preparing for 2035 and Beyond
• 2:15 pm - 3.00 pm: Session 6 topic: IIA NZ Education Day Panel Discussion: Walking the Talk: Ethics in Practice
• 3:00 pm: MC and IIA NZ CE: Closing Remarks
• 3:00 - 3:30 pm: Event Concludes

This is a Hybrid event.

Participants will leave with:

• Clarity on how the 2026 Global Internal Audit Standards embed ethics and professionalism, and how these connect to the Topical Requirements, including third-party, organisational resilience, behaviour and culture, and cyber.
• Confidence to act with ethical courage and influence, demonstrating audit's indispensable role in governance, resilience, and trust.
• Practical approaches for integrating topical requirements into audit plans and reporting, ensuring assurance is future-focused and globally aligned.
• Insight into how disruption, including fraud, digital transformation, and stakeholder expectations can be navigated with integrity and foresight.
• A roadmap linking personal purpose to organisational value and the profession's future, aligned with the IIA's Vision 2035.

By attending this event, internal auditors will not only strengthen their own capabilities but also elevate the overall impact and value of the internal audit profession in their organisations.

Event Registration Fees:

• IIA NZ Members: $525.00
• *Key Stakeholders: $525.00
• Non-Members: $699.00

The above fees are on a per person basis and are exclusive of GST.

*Key stakeholders: ISACA, IoD, TINZ, Risk NZ, ACFE and CA ANZ are warmly invited to attend the IIA NZ Education Day 2026 at the exclusive IIA NZ member registration rate.

If you are unable to attend, please submit a written notification to events@iianz.org.nz cancelling your registration before the registration closing date. Failure to do so will obligate you to fulfil the registration fee for this event.

Registrations for this event are through IIA NZ National Office.

Registrations are now open and will close on 19 May 2026.

The IIA NZ Education Day 2026 will be held in three locations** and online.

• For those attending an event face to face, the ticket price includes morning tea, a light luncheon, subject matter expert speakers, AV and event management.
• If you are attending the event online, the ticket price includes subject matter expert speakers, AV, online video conference connectivity and event management.

If you require assistance with registering, please contact events@iianz.org.nz

** Please note: This event will proceed at each location subject to minimum attendance numbers being met. Where minimum numbers are not achieved, IIA NZ reserves the right to cancel or adjust the delivery format for that location.

The IIA NZ Education Day 2026 is held in three locations and online. To register at a location near you please see below:

• Auckland: https://iianz.org.nz/tools/events/details.aspx?SECT=events&ID=25752
• Wellington: https://iianz.org.nz/tools/events/details.aspx?SECT=events&ID=25753
• Christchurch: https://iianz.org.nz/tools/events/details.aspx?SECT=events&ID=25754

IIA NZ Event Overview and Refund Policy: https://iianz.org.nz/Site/terms-and-conditions.aspx