The 2022 year ended relatively quietly in a policy sense, with the Quality of Advice Review final report handed to the Minister on 16 December 2022, however not yet publicly released. The Minister confirmed that this report would be part of his Christmas holiday reading and that he would release it in 2023 when he had worked out his response.
We would like to thank Michelle Levy and her team from Treasury for all the work that they did seeking solutions to address the problems facing the financial advice profession and in their extensive efforts to consult broadly with a range of stakeholders. There is no question that they have been brave in seeking radical change, which I think we can all agree is necessary.
In December, Minister Jones also spoke about the progress with his commitment to provide an experienced adviser pathway for those advisers with 10 years’ experience. A consultation paper was released on this in August 2022, with submissions provided in September 2022. The Minister has committed to further consultation in early 2023 and then legislation by the middle of the year. We keenly look forward to the finalisation of this matter which will provide a greater level of certainty in terms of what study an adviser will be required to undertake.
December also saw no further progress with the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort legislation, that is part of a broader package of reforms and is currently in the Senate, however has not yet been debated. This is another matter that we can expect to see progress during the course of 2023.
