{"id":831722,"date":"2026-03-17T12:21:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/831722\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T12:21:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:21:26","slug":"adviser-education-reform-consultation-launched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/831722\/","title":{"rendered":"Adviser education reform consultation launched"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just over a year after the measures were originally announced, the government has launched a consultation on\u00a0education requirements that would\u00a0expand the availability of\u00a0\u201chigh quality and safe financial advice for Australians\u201d.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 17 March, Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino announced that the government has launched a consultation on education reform for financial advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are starting consultation on the\u00a0government\u2019s reforms to the education standards for financial advisers which will create a sustainable and flexible pathway for new advisers to enter the profession, to help address the decline in the number of advisers over recent years,\u201d Mulino said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen consumers aren\u2019t able to access quality, trusted financial advice, they are more susceptible to predatory forms of lead generation and high-pressure sales tactics.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new consultation follows\u00a0former minister Stephen Jones first announcing the reforms in February last year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under the proposed reforms, prospective advisers would\u00a0be required\u00a0to hold a bachelor\u2019s degree or higher, however it would no longer need to be a prescribed financial advice degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u00a0will also need to meet minimum study requirements in relevant areas such as finance, economics or accounting, along with completing mandatory financial advice subjects covering ethics, legal and regulatory obligations, consumer behaviour and financial advice fundamentals,\u201d Mulino added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the minister, the new policy would complement the work already underway on managed investment schemes and the government\u2019s \u201cbroader work on consumer protection in the superannuation sector,\u00a0which we will begin consulting on soon\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAlongside consumers, Australians seeking to work in financial services will benefit by streamlining entry into the industry, while retaining the important role of tertiary education,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese reforms ensure continuing robust professional standards for advisers, including requirements for completing a professional year, passing the financial adviser exam and maintaining continuing professional development.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While there is still no further detail on the\u00a0Delivering Better Financial Outcomes\u00a0(DBFO) reforms, which have been languishing in Treasury, it is the first movement on advice legislation\u00a0since the federal election in May last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0government is committed to delivering a comprehensive package of financial advice reforms that will increase Australians\u2019 access to high-quality, safe and affordable advice,\u201d Mulino said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consultation\u00a0on the proposed education reforms\u00a0closes on 17 April 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Responding to the news, Financial Services Council chief executive, Blake Briggs, said: \u201cReforming the current education framework is an important step toward addressing the sharp decline in adviser numbers and improving access to trusted financial advice. Current education standards are unnecessarily restrictive, creating barriers for both aspiring advisers and existing professionals trying to meet the requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cImproving access to trusted, professional financial advice is critical to strengthening consumer protection. When consumers cannot access quality, trusted advice, they become more vulnerable to predatory lead generation and high-pressure sales tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking last year<\/a>, Jones said\u00a0the \u201ccost and time to meet the new standard will be halved for most students who are studying commerce, economics or finance degrees\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means you don\u2019t have to do two degrees,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said\u00a0at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMost kids leaving high school today \u2013 and I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0mean any offence \u2013 but\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0not saying to themselves \u2018I want to be a financial adviser\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge for us is to say how much of that undergraduate degree can articulate into the essential requirements of professional financial advisers, we think\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0got the balance right there. We\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0tell people\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0got to go and study another whole degree; we just pick the topics that they need to complement their undergraduate degree.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just over a year after the measures were originally announced, the government has launched a consultation on\u00a0education requirements…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,200425,2266,474,3467,20548,2499,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-831722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-daniel-mulino","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-financial-advice","13":"tag-fsc","14":"tag-personal-finance","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116244492125286834","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}