The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) is calling on Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) to include financial advisers and paraplanners on the 2026 Occupation Shortage List due to the long training gap for new entrants and high consumer demand and need for their services.
“Critically, the number of financial advisers and paraplanners continues to fall well short of demand, with increasing numbers of Australians seeking financial advice to improve household financial well-being, retirement outcomes and broader economic stability,” FAAA chief executive Sarah Abood said in a submission to the JSA Occupation Shortage List – Stakeholder Survey.
In particular, the industry body is concerned the Stakeholder Survey methodology is heavily reliant on advertised job vacancies and because it does not allow for data on other factors to be adequately considered, does not capture the ongoing shortage of advisers.
Along with the decline in adviser numbers, the FAAA cited the long training gap for new entrants, legislated education requirements, the rising demand for advice, the important role of paraplanners and the consumer consequences of unmet financial advice as reasons to make the inclusion it has recommended.
As well as highlighting the decline in qualified professional financial advisers on the ASIC Adviser Register from about 28,900 in late 2018 to the current 15,135, as of 12 March 2026, the FAAA pointed out in the submission that it can take new entrants to the profession at least four to five years from commencement of study to full registration. That period includes a professional year of 1500 hours, including 100 structured training hours.
The organisation highlighted the pipeline of new advisers remains small and below replacement levels, with 381 new professional advisers registered in 2023, 511 in 2024 and 569 in 2025. Further, there are an estimated 700 to 1000 advisers retiring each year.
“However, retiring adviser numbers will not be reflected in job vacancies as some may be sole traders or SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) that shut their doors or sell their business to another financial adviser or firm – rather than their exit a job creating an open position for someone else to fill,” Abood explained.
