PJC recommends raising educational standards
The Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) on Corporations and Financial Services has called for mandatory educational standards for financial advisers to tertiary degree level.
In its report the PJC on Corporations and Financial Services recommended the Finance Professionals’ Education Council (FPEC) oversee an Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) level seven degree and set the core subjects to be undertaken by all students.
It also recommended the FPEC, on the advice of professional associations, set subjects on specific sectors such as SMSFs, that students can choose to complete if they wish to become a member of a particular professional group.
The report suggested FPEC have sub-panels working on the educational requirements for professional streams including financial planning, SMSFs, insurance/risk and markets.
“The core and sector-specific subjects set by FPEC should cover both the AQF level seven educational standards and the professional year to be administered by the professional associations,” said the report.
The recommendations follow submissions by industry bodies, such as the SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA), to the PJC for education and training requirements for financial advisers to be “radically overhauled”.
SPAA said in its submission moving to an AQF level seven degree standard for financial advice training could “improve the quality of advice markedly”.
It argued in its submission that “the current education and training requirements for financial advisers have not been successful in improving the standard of financial advice or in promoting professionalism”.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
