FAAA anticipates further adviser costs for expanded IDR reporting

The Financial Advice Association Australia has questioned the cost to advisers that publishing breach reporting and Internal Dispute Resolution data will have as the regulator consults the industry on plans to deliver public dashboards in the second half of the year.

ASIC announced the consultation in April, stating that published data will include firms’ names and licence numbers but will not include the names, licence numbers or other data of licensees who are individuals.

In a submission to the consultation, the FAAA said members were concerned about the lack of information on the initial and ongoing costs, noting this would need to be recouped via an ever-rising ASIC levy.

“Any spend on this functionality should be cognisant of the value that it will generate for users, and this is not particularly evident to us at this stage,” the submission authored by general manager for policy Phil Anderson said.

The association said what is proposed in CP 383 is “extremely unclear” and that the proposal for IDR and RS data publication isn’t ready for implementation without greater certainty.

“In the absence of an example that clearly demonstrates how the data will be presented, it is extremely difficult to appreciate what is being proposed,” the submission said.

“We recommend ASIC consider conducting roundtables with industry and potential end users with demonstrations of ‘mock’ publications, to seek further input to ensure the final product meets the needs of end users.”

The association said further consideration should be given for how people without a financial services compliance background may interpret and use this information, singling out media participants.

“Consumer needs and understanding must be the focus of any public-facing data publication, however it is unclear to us who ASIC considers as the target audience and what their information needs are,” the submission said.

“We are concerned that ASIC’s anticipated initial publication of dashboards providing firm-level [breach reporting] and IDR data is stated as September – December 2025 and suggest that ensuring any data publication is fit-for purpose must be the priority over and above meeting this proposed timeframe.”

Licensees are required to report compliances breaches, which was part of the so-called “Red October” suite of reforms that commenced in 2021 off the back of several Hayne royal commission recommendations.

ASIC is required to publish reports annually about compliance breaches and has been critical about the lack of participation from smaller licensees, although this has improved in recent reports.

The publication of firm-level IDR data in 2025 was confirmed in the regulator’s FY25 corporate plan.

A recent compliance report from financial services law firm Holley Nethercote found breach reporting is still among the highest compliance concerns for licensees.