The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) has launched a new hub that provides details of where each candidate in the upcoming federal election stands in relation to five advice sector reforms it wants an incoming government to address.
The Federal Election Hub allows members to search for their electorate and scout out the policy positions of their candidates for the advice sector ahead of the 3 May poll.
According to the hub, the FAAA has received support for its reforms from the Liberal Party and National Party, while the Labor Party has refused to commit fully to the measures, while the Greens have indicated they will not back them.
The professional body asked each candidate to indicate their support for a fix to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR), adviser access to the ATO portal, implementing the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) reforms, introducing measures to cut red tape and supporting new entrants to the profession.
FAAA chief executive Sarah Abood said it was encouraged by the candidate responses thus far.
“The coalition has already promised action on the FAAA’s five key asks and we urge the Labor government to do the same,” Abood noted.
In regard to fixing the CSLR, the coalition stated it would reduce the annual sector cap to $10 million and immediately halve the next industry levy to a capped maximum of around $600 per adviser.
It also promised to exclude ‘but for’ compensation for hypothetical capital gains, which made up around 80 per cent of CSLR complaints, and committed to not issuing any ‘special’ levies for 2025/26.
Furthermore, it pledged advisers would gain access to the ATO portal and it would implement the Quality of Advice Review recommendations with initial legislation in its first 100 days in power.
It would also establish a red-tape taskforce and set a numerical target to boost the financial advice industry to 30,000 advisers.
The FAAA launched the hub as part of a campaign to inform members and engage with candidates.
“Financial advisers need a commitment from political parties of all persuasions to provide immediate certainty for the advice profession and reduce costs,” Abood said.
“I encourage every member, and indeed every person who cares about advice policy reform, to go to the FAAA Federal Election Hub and carefully compare the candidates.
“It’s important to really get a sense for where each and every candidate stands on our key asks and the future of the profession.”