Home / Jones grilled by Queensland advisers on QAR and skyrocketing advice levy

The minister was peppered with questions about phases 1 and 2 of the the government's advice review response, as well as specialist accreditation and data access during a series of events in the sunshine state.

Financial services minister Stephen Jones has faced a slew of questions from advisers on the state of the industry and its regulatory settings during a series of events in Queensland.

The minister met with advisers at open events in Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns last week after earlier sitting down with industry participants in Hobart.

The Quality of Advice Review was top-of-mind for attendees according to the Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA), which hosted the event alongside the Financial Services Council, the Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, CPA Australia and The Institute of Public Accountants.

After the government announced its 3-streamed response to the review, advisers in attendance were keen to understand how quickly the changes detailed in stream 1 – including consolidating fee consent forms, removing the safe harbour steps and abandoning statements of advice – would be implemented.

“Of the stream 1 measures, most questions were asked about the statement of advice proposals, and in particular how the industry could gain sufficient confidence in delivering more fit-for-purpose advice records for consumers,” said FAAA chief executive Sarah Abood.

Minister Jones said that his goal was to publish draft legislation for consultation before the end of the calender year, adding that he didn’t want the legislation to be “too prescriptive” and that stakeholders such as ASIC and licensees would be included in the process.

Advisers also pinged the minister with questions about the second stream of planned reforms, which involves giving superannuation funds more freedom in how they collectively charge members for intra-fund advice. In particular, advisers were keen to understand how the government would ensure there were appropriate safeguards against non-relevant providers delving into areas of complexity, and the impacts of extended collective charging.

Another source of angst from advisers was the experience pathway legislation sitting in parliament, and the government’s reluctance to further accommodate specialisation in advice accreditation.

“Members spoke to their own different pathways into the profession and the need for support for different types and stages of new entrant,” Abood said. “The government will commence another piece of work soon which will address these matters in more detail.”

Special attention was also given to the issue of adviser access on portals such as portals employed by the Australian Tax Office and Centrelink.

“Of course, facilitating this access would also reduce costs for government,” Abood said.

“Minister Jones has carriage of the Consumer Data Right and is known as the ‘digital minister’ for having moved to paperless in his own office. So he definitely has a strong understanding of the need in this area, and the potential benefits in efficiency and lower costs that could be achieved.”