AFA News 30 June 2021. On Thursday 24 June 2021, as part of the release of the Single Disciplinary Body legislation, Minister Hume announced that there would be an extension of up to nine months in 2022 for existing financial advisers to pass the FASEA Exam if they have had at least two attempts by 1 January 2022.
This is spelt out in the media release, where the Minister has said:
“The Bill will also give the Minister the power to extend the cut‑off date for certain existing financial advisers to pass the exam. The Government will use the power to extend the cut‑off date to 30 September 2022 for advisers who have attempted the exam twice prior to 1 January 2022.”
The Bill, which at this stage has only been tabled in the Parliament, and is yet to be debated and passed, will provide the power to the Minister to issue a regulation to enable this extension. During this extension period, qualifying financial advisers will be able to continue to practice.
Financial advisers who have not yet sat the exam and are not registered for the July 2021 exam will not qualify as they will be unable to make two attempts before 1 January 2022. For any adviser who has already unsuccessfully attempted the exam on one occasion, they will need to attempt the exam one more time at either the July, September or November sittings. This will be beneficial for hundreds of advisers, however, it does have limited application.
We continue to encourage members to seek to pass the exam before the end of this year and to be hesitant about overly relying upon this extension. At this point, there can be no certainty that the Bill will be passed. Importantly, regulations can also be disallowed.
For any questions on the proposed exam extension, please email policy@afa.asn.au.
Issued 30.06.2021. AFA Policy & Education Update
