In its pre-Budget submission to the Federal Government the FAAA has outlined a range of measures designed to increase advisers numbers and cut red tape.
Its recommendations include:
- Increasing the supply advisers
- Providing ATO portal access to advisers
- Simplifying and enhancing the tax deductibility of advice
- Lowering the ASIC levy
- Making the CSLR sustainable
Sarah Abood, the organisation’s CEO, says the FAAA wants Government to “implement these crucial measures as soon as possible”.
“These steps are essential to ensure Australians are able to access the advice they need to achieve financial wellbeing,” she says.
“The challenge is that the advice gap has reached a critical point. The number of financial advisers has almost halved in the past seven years, while the number of Australians needing and wanting financial advice continues to climb.”
Abood says growing the number of professional advisers from the current 15,000 is a priority. There were 28,000 advisers in 2018 according to ASIC.
“The decline in the number of advisers has been an issue for some time, and the pipeline of new entrants is nowhere near sufficient to rebuild the profession,” she says.
“We have been in ongoing discussion with all sides of politics, and across the board there is agreement that we need more professional financial advisers in Australia.”
Abood says the FAAA’s recommendations to provide ATO portal access and simplify the tax deductibility of advice would help cut red tape and allow advisers to work more efficiently on behalf of their clients.
“The ASIC levy and CSLR are increasing cost burdens on the advice profession that both serve to drive up the cost of advice, and discourage more people from entering the profession,” she says.
The FAAA’s pre-budget document also states it supports a migration system that will help provide for the financial advice needs of Australians.
The date of the next Federal Budget is Tuesday 12 May 2026.
