The Australian Government has been urged to take action to address a shortage of financial advisers, which is leaving people nearing retirement at risk of seeking high returns through speculative investments.
The call from Australia’s largest accountancy body CPA Australia came as new research showed many super funds were not yet ready to effectively support members into retirement.
CPA Australia says unless urgent action was taken to reverse the increasing shortage of advisers, too many Australians would start their retirements without the professional advice they needed for a secure and reliable retirement income.
CPA Australia’s Superannuation Lead, Richard Webb said the numbers on the Financial Adviser Register have almost halved from 26,500 in 2019 to 15,300 in July 2025 as a mountain of red tape contributed to advisers quitting the profession.
Webb said that as CoreData and Conexus Financial noted in research this week, an increasing number of Australians nearing retirement plan to reinvest in speculative and potentially volatile investment options such as cryptocurrency, gold and property.
CPA Australia has urged the government to prioritise: a review of the regulations and costs and finalising the post-implementation review of the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort; updated financial advice education standards; changes to the financial advice best interest duty; and clarifying the role of the new class of adviser.
“The federal government must take action to help alleviate the burden of regulation and costs faced by advisers before the shortage becomes an irreversible crisis," Webb said in a media release.
Core Data surveyed 1000 Australians aged 45 years and over about their confidence and comfort around retirement, financial discipline and experience in retirement.
One of the findings published in Core Data’s Best Possible Retirement 2025 industry report was that retirement income was a top concern but planning support was lacking.
Although 48% were focused on saving for retirement and making their money last, only 33% felt connected to their retirement future and 41% understood how to reach their goals.
“The journey from accumulation system to decumulation continues to be an issue for many funds and is now in focus for the Government and the regulators, with the broad assessment being that many funds have failed to build appropriate systems and processes to succeed as retirement income providers and are yet to fully engage with the Retirement Income Covenant,” Core Data wrote.
