Financial advisers have welcomed reforms to their education requirements proposed by the Australian Government as the nation deals with a severe shortage of advisers in the wake of an exodus over the last seven years.
The Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA) and Financial Services Council (FSC) backed consultation on the reforms announced by Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Daniel Mulino.
He said the proposed standard would require prospective advisers to hold any Bachelor’s degree or higher, meet minimum study requirements in finance, economics or accounting and complete mandatory financial advice subjects covering ethics, legal and regulatory obligations, consumer behaviour and financial advice fundamentals.
This compares with the current requirement to hold an approved financial advice Bachelor degree or higher covering 11 core knowledge areas including three bridging units and technical competency areas.
The current standard has been criticised as complex, lacking flexibility and ineffective in supporting a sustainable pipeline of new financial advisers entering the profession.
“These reforms ensure continuing robust professional standards for advisers, including requirements for completing a professional year, passing the financial adviser exam and maintaining continuing professional development,” Mulino said in a media release.
The FAAA said the number of financial advisers had plunged from a peak of almost 29,000 at the start of 2019 to 15,127 at 12 March 2026 at a time when 15.9 million Australians had unmet advice needs and only 1.3 million planned to see an adviser in the next two years.
“We know there is a large, and growing, advice gap in Australia. In the last seven years the number of financial advisers has almost halved, while at the same time, demand for financial advice has skyrocketed,” FAAA CEO Sarah Abood said in a media release.
One of the key barriers to substantially increasing the number of new entrants was the inflexible and highly prescriptive tertiary degree requirements.
Abood said the FAAA and its partners in the Joint Associations Working Group had long advocated for more flexible degree pathways, including recognising more relevant studies that may have been undertaken in related degrees.
“We are very pleased to see the Government has heard these concerns and is acting, with its consultation announced today on Education Reform for Financial Advisers,” she said.
FSC CEO Blake Briggs said the unnecessarily restrictive education standards created barriers for aspiring advisers and professionals trying to meet the requirements, contributing new entrants to the profession falling from almost 5,000 in 2018 to just over 550 in 2025.
He said the proposed reforms would create a more flexible pathway into the profession while maintaining strong professional safeguards.
“Improving access to trusted, professional financial advice is critical to strengthening consumer protection. When consumers cannot access quality, trusted advice, they become more vulnerable to predatory lead generation and high-pressure sales tactics,” Briggs said in a media release.
