Treasury has released for consultation a draft Treasury Laws Amendment (Measures 3 for Future Bills) Bill 2023: Recognising experience in the financial advice industry.

The purpose of the Bill is to:

• amend the Corporations Act to better recognise the experience of existing financial advisers as equivalent to tertiary study; and
• address technical limitations in the current framework, relevant to both new entrants into the financial advice industry and tax agents providing a tax (financial) advice service.

The draft legislation would deem an adviser to have met the education requirements if they:

• have 10 years (cumulative) experience providing advice between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2021; and
• have not recorded any disciplinary action on the Financial Advisers Register before 31 December 2021.

To be considered an experienced adviser, the adviser must still pass the financial adviser exam.

The draft legislation also allows new entrants to apply to the Minister to have their degree recognised and for education providers to confirm that a person has completed the requirements of an approved degree.

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