Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy Minister Jane Hume has confirmed the federal government’s commitment to reducing the level of red tape in the financial advice sector through initiatives such as the quality of advice review to be conducted in 2022.
“Our main focus [with this review] is going to be looking at the regulatory settings to ensure that they support Australians getting access to affordable and high-quality advice. So a large part of that will be looking at addressing the levels of red tape where we can shed unnecessary regulatory burdens and make advisers’ lives easier,” Hume told delegates at the AFA (Association of Financial Advisers) Hybrid Conference 2021 today.
“It will also look at how we might facilitate the development in the uptake of digital advice and whether there are regulatory barriers that are there right now that are stopping people adopting those improved technologies either within their business or as an adjunct to their business.”
In addition to this area of focus, the review will be one of the few processes to incorporate the attitudes of consumers toward financial advice, she noted.
“We often hear the voices of financial advisers and the providers of the advice, but we don’t often hear the voices of the advised and I think that that’s a really important thing, so the quality of advice review will take that into account,” she said.
According to Hume, the process will also examine the extent to which legislative and regulatory measures and industry practices are contributing to the cost of providing financial advice.
“With so many layers in the industry – you’ve got legislation, you’ve got regulators, [and] you’ve got licensees – each one of them has different impositions that are put upon the adviser at the end of the chain [and] we want to make sure that is looked at in an all-encompassing way,” she said.
Finally, the structural issues of the industry will also be considered during the review in light of developments such as the exit of the major banks, she said.
