From the outset, the Albanese government pledged to be consultative. And for much of its first term, it lived up to the promise, including on the thorny project to simplify the financial advice laws to boost access to advice.
In March last year, Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones even embarked on a roadshow along the eastern seaboard, hosted by Professional Planner and attended by a wide range of stakeholders.
But in these final, critical stages of the legislative reform process, with the clock ticking ahead of a federal election and the vast bulk of Quality of Advice Review recommendations still languishing on Treasury’s to-do list, these commitments to transparent process and inclusive policy design have fallen by the wayside.
Industry “roundtables” have now devolved into closed-door, invitation-only meetings attended exclusively by select industry associations and lobbyists, and a handful of particularly powerful organisations. Much of the advice ecosystem, including – and importantly – practicing financial advisers are left to glean what they can from official member communications from their association or excerpts leaked to the press.
This is in addition to the QAR submissions which have never been made public – most infamously that of ASIC, which has repeatedly refused to release its official advice to Treasury on the matter, including rejecting freedom of information requests or releasing documents so heavily redacted as to render them meaningless.
Worse still, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter tell Professional Planner that those chosen few invited to Treasury roundtables on advice reform are, more often than not in recent times, required to sign non-disclosure agreements or equivalent legal documentation preventing them from discussing the meeting’s contents.
Some stakeholders in the process have privately defended the approach, saying it maximises the chances of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes package getting a spot on the legislative agenda and the sufficient buy-in to get it passed. With just a handful of parliamentary sitting weeks left for the year, and uncertainty about how many there will be next year before the election, there is little time for lengthy debate that might scupper the bill’s chances.
Others worry that letting too many voices into the debate might risk damaging the façade of consensus that industry lobbyists are scrambling to present to government.
But just because it might be politically expedient to hold these consultations in private, doesn’t make it good government or democratic process. Irrespective of the ticking clock, a public policy project as important as advice reform deserves a transparent and inclusive process in which disagreement and debate are welcomed, not discouraged.
That is why Conexus Financial is launching the Professional Planner Advice Policy Summit, to be held on 10-11 February at Old Parliament House, Canberra.
The summit will be a rare opportunity for licensees, practice principals, practicing advisers and super fund advice executives to have their say in the process directly, and to engage in open discussion with other stakeholders including federal MPs, regulators, lawyers and industry associations.
Building on the success of the longstanding Professional Planner Licensee Summit, the event will also provide an opportunity for community and collaboration across factional and industry association membership lines, including a networking dinner at the Hotel Kurrajong – a storied venue in Australian political history.
Topics will include pathways to enter the profession; ethical and educational standards; the commercial and policy settings surrounding digital advice, life insurance and risk advice, and superannuation and retirement advice; alongside big picture debates about heightening and democratising the value of advice in society.
While the path to legislative and regulatory certainty around advice is still unclear, and the broad consensus in favour of widening access to advice possibly under some pressure, we believe there is merit in allowing all stakeholders to have their say in the future of a profession that performs an increasingly critical social role.
Register your interest in the inaugural Advice Policy Summit and secure early-bird tickets now.
