Industry lists priority areas for new Financial Services Minister

Peak bodies for financial planners and advisers have listed the areas they hope the Federal Labor Government will focus on following the swearing-in of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his cabinet.

Education standards and Treasury’s review of the industry funding model for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are among the pressing items flagged. The review was announced in August last year by Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones’s predecessor, Jane Hume.

“Minister Jones is an excellent appointment to the Financial Services portfolio and we are looking forward to working closely with him to address the wider range of issues affecting the financial planning profession,” Financial Planning Association CEO Sarah Abood said.

“We are expecting the new Albanese Labor government to quickly deliver on its election commitment to provide much-needed certainty to the profession on education standards, including providing for a framework to better recognise relevant experience.

“We have already had good engagement with Minister Jones on this and other issues in the past and we look forward to working further with the new Government.”

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) says Mr Jones developed a sound understanding of the challenges facing the advice sector when he was shadow minister for financial services in the past few years.

AFA says in the lead-up to the May 21 election, Mr Jones indicated his willingness to work with the sector on challenges relating to advice accessibility and affordability.

“The AFA looks forward to working with Minister Jones to achieve policy settings that enable better outcomes for consumers and to enable financial advisers to thrive,” CEO Phil Anderson said.

“The Quality of Advice Review presents a significant opportunity to achieve a quantum leap in the state of the market.

“There are other important financial advice regulatory issues that we will seek to address with the Minister and his team.”

The Treasury-led Quality of Advice Review expects to provide its report to the Federal Government by December 16.

Financial Services Council CEO Blake Briggs says the peak body has worked closely with Mr Jones in his previous role before Labor won the election.

“We look forward to maintaining a good working relationship with the Minister as the new government implements its priorities,” Mr Briggs said.