The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) has thrown its support behind proposed changes to the financial adviser exam.
FAAA chief executive Sarah Abood said the proposal to remove the requirement that only relevant providers can sit the exam, announced by Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones in December, will provide more flexibility for those seeking to transition into the profession.
“Exam infrequency and the time taken to receive results has meant the professional year could stretch well beyond 12 months for some students. This increased flexibility is very welcome and should reduce unnecessary delays for new entrants in starting their careers,” Abood noted.
“The proposed changes will also effectively allow anyone who wishes to do so to take the exam. This is a strongly positive move as there are many participants in financial services who have an interest in the content and in demonstrating mastery in this area, such as compliance staff and responsible managers, just to name a few.”
She stated eliminating the need for short written answers in the exam would make it more objective and potentially streamline the process of introducing new advisers to the industry.
“The FAAA is in favour of wholly multiple-choice examinations. Moving to this format rapidly speeds up the process of marking the exams and ensures consistency of assessment without lowering standards,” she said.
“Without a need for subjective marking of written answers, the marking process can be largely automated, removing the risk of human error and subjectivity and speeding up the provision of results to students.
“This method of assessment is also cheaper to run and we would expect to see a reduction in the cost of the exam as a result. The cost is now $1500 per attempt, almost three times higher than it was when the exam was first introduced in 2019.”
