The Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) has approved additional coursework that will now be acknowledged as satisfying some of the new professional education requirements applicable to the financial planning industry.
Firstly, FASEA has confirmed advisers who completed the Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning from University of Canberra between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2005 will now only need to complete the authority’s ethics bridging course to satisfy the educational standard.
The Master of Financial Planning and Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning courses from RMIT University are now also FASEA approved, meaning any individuals who have achieved either qualification will be deemed to have satisfied the education standard.
Three bridging courses from RMIT University have also been given FASEA approval as allowing financial planners to meet the enforced education standard. Those courses are Professional Ethics, Financial Planning Regulatory Obligations and Behavioural Finance Advice.
The coursework approvals resulted from applications for review lodged by the respective learning institutions. The approved courses will be added to a future degree, qualifications and courses legislative instrument.
“The approval of these additional courses builds on the body of courses approved by FASEA and provides additional choice to advisers seeking to meet the education standard,” FASEA chief executive Stephen Glenfield said.
Approved educational standard content now consists of 73 historical courses, 55 current bachelor or higher degrees and 33 bridging courses, with a similar announcement having been made about University of Technology Sydney and other institutions back in February.
FASEA today also granted recognised prior learning (RPL) status for coursework completed to obtain professional designations from the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and CPA Australia.
One credit RPL will now be awarded to advisers who have completed coursework to attain the FPA’s life risk specialist professional designation between 2009 and 2018 or coursework to attain its accredited estate planning strategist professional designation between 2010 and 2013.
The same treatment will be given to practitioners who have completed coursework to attain the CPA associate designation between 1985 and 1988.
“The awarding of credits for coursework to attain the FPA and CPA designations provides appropriate recognition to existing advisers who have undertaken these further studies,” Glenfield said.
Coursework completed to achieve certain professional designations offered by the Association of Financial Advisers were also given one RPL credit earlier this year.
