Financial advisers providing personal advice to retail clients in relation to ‘relevant financial products’ are required to meet a range of education and training standards:
Complete an approved qualification as listed in the legislative instrument.
Meet with the criteria to qualify as an Experienced Provider.
Undertake a professional year of work and training that meets the requirements set by the Treasury (new financial advisers only).
Note: ‘relevant financial products’ are financial products other than basic banking products, general insurance products, and consumer credit insurance: see section 910A of the Corporations Act 2001.
Existing financial advisers (any person who provided personal advice to retail clients between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2019 and is not banned or disqualified by ASIC) are required to hold:
by 1 January 2026.
A list of approved tertiary qualifications is available in Schedule 1 of the legislative instrument. Depending on an adviser’s current qualification, they may only be required to complete a bridging course.
New financial advisers are required to either:
AFS licensees must ensure the Financial Advisers Register includes all relevant qualifications held by the financial adviser. Further information is available at the Treasury’s Financial Adviser Standard website.
The “Experienced Provider Pathway” has been put in place to reshape the qualification requirements for existing financial advisers. The pathway removes the tertiary education requirement for existing financial advisers with a decade or more of experience and a clean disciplinary record.
To qualify as an Experienced Provider, an adviser:
Advisers must have met conditions 1 and 2 for a total cumulative period of 10 years between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2021.
Further information about how to qualify for the Experienced Provider Pathway can be found in ASIC’s Info Sheet 281.
Since January 2019, all new advisers have been required to undertake a professional year of 1600 hours, including 100 hours of structured training. The professional year must be supervised by an adviser with at least 2 years’ experience working as an adviser. The supervisor is responsible for ensuring appropriate supervision is provided and making various resources and opportunities available to the new adviser.
The professional year is divided into quarters:
Quarter 1 | Client Observations and support to Supervisor/Experienced Adviser |
Quarter 2 | Supervised Client Engagement and Advice Preparation |
Quarter 3 and 4 | Indirect Supervision of Client Engagement and Advice Preparation |
Structured training can include formal study that is undertaken by the new adviser – for instance a bridging course in relation to the Code of Ethics. Other structured training can include education for the purposes of:
Previously, AFS Licensees were required to notify the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority within thirty (30) days of a new adviser commencing their professional year. ASIC has assumed oversight of and responsibility for the financial adviser standards, however, new advisers are not required to advise ASIC of their professional year arrangements.
AFS Licensees are still required to notify ASIC if the Licensee grants a new adviser an accelerated procession through quarter 1 and 2 or when issuing a final completion certificate of a new adviser’s professional year. Licensees can notify ASIC when appointing a new financial adviser to the Financial Advisers Register via ASIC Connect.
New advisers and their supervisors are required to keep a logbook of work activities and structured training completed over the course of the professional year. Further information is available on the Treasury’s website.
All new and existing financial advisers must pass an exam. The exam tests three competency areas:
Existing advisers must have passed the exam by:
Further information can be found in ASIC’s Financial Adviser Quick Reference Guide.
New advisers must ensure they pass the exam:
ASIC is responsible for administering the exam and will continue to assess the eligibility of new and foreign advisers before sitting the exam. This is completed via the ASIC Regulatory Portal by submitting an “assessment of eligibility to sit exam”. Further information can be found on ASIC’s website. AFS licensees must ensure the Financial Advisers Register is updated upon the financial adviser completing the exam.
Since January 2019, financial advisers have been required to complete 40 hours of CPD per year in order to maintain and extend their knowledge and skills. 70% of these hours must be approved by the AFS licensee. Minimum hours of certain categories are also mandated under the CPD Determination, as outlined below.
Category | Mandated Hours | Purpose |
Technical competence | 5 hours | Designed to enhance an adviser’s technical proficiency and ability to develop and provide advice strategies that are appropriate to the objectives, financial situations and needs of various retail clients |
Client Care and Practice | 5 hours | Designed to enhance an adviser’s ability to act as a client-centric practitioner |
Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection | 5 hours | Designed to enhance an adviser’s understanding of applicable legal obligations and how to comply with them |
Professionalism and Ethics | 9 hours | Designed to enhance an adviser’s capacity to act as an ethical professional |
Qualified tax providers must also complete an additional 5 CPD hours per year to maintain their capabilities to provide tax (financial) advice services.
The CPD Determination also requires advisers to maintain appropriate records of the training they have completed, as directed by their AFS licensee.
The Financial Planners and Advisers Code of Ethics 2019 was developed to ensure higher standards of behaviour and professionalism and includes 12 ethical standards for advisers to meet, including:
In order to ensure compliance with the regime, all AFS licensees that provide personal advice to retail clients should:
Sophie Grace can assist you with implementing plans to comply with the new regime, as well as developing a compliance framework which captures the key components professional standards regime.
Financial advisers, except provisional advisers, who provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products must be registered with ASIC. The requirement to be registered is a new obligation and is not the same as (but is in addition to) financial advisers being listed on the Financial Advisers Register.
A new financial adviser must be registered prior to providing any personal advice to retail clients. Existing financial advisers must have been registered from 16 February 2024 to legally continue providing personal advice to retail clients.
Further information can be found in ASIC’s Info Sheet 276.
This template is a complete CPD Policy that is easily customisable to your business. It outlines measures to ensure ongoing compliance with the monitoring, supervision, knowledge and training requirements outlined in Treasury’s Financial Adviser Standards.
This Policy has been developed in accordance with ASIC and Treasury’s Guidelines and can be customised to your business’s specific training requirements.
All Sophie Grace Template Documents are available for instant download.
In 2017, the Corporations Amendment (Professional Standards of Financial Advisers) Act 2017 introduced a range of reforms in relation to the education, training and ethical standards of financial advisers. Since 1 January 2019, the professional standards and training obligations have applied to financial advisers who provide personal advice to retail clients.
In 2021, the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response – Better Advice) Act 2021 transferred the oversight and implementation of functions relating to the reforms to the Minister and ASIC.
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