Respected financial services consumer advocate Peter Kell has been promoted to head up a new division of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The office of consumer protection director will head up the new division, to be called the Consumer Protection National Directorate and will take a seat on ASIC's executive committee.

Kell has been in his current position since early 1999 and will take on the role of national director Consumer Protection when the new structure kicks off on July 1. He says the existing office will become part of the new directorate.

"The Office of Consumer Protection is a small unit and will be folded into the larger structure of the directorate," Kell says.

Under the new national directorate, Kell's role will focus on ensuring ASIC carries out high profile and effective consumer protection work.

"The consumer protection role is important, the new directorate will make sure ASIC is getting it right and that there are good consumer protection outcomes in areas such as enforcement, policies and consumer education," Kell says.

"We will also ensure that external stakeholders in the industry and the wider consumer community understand what we are doing," he says.

The Consumer Protection National Directorate is one of the changes to come through with Chairman David Knott's ASIC structural review since his appointment last November, and takes the total number of directorates to seven. Other national directorates include; enforcement, financial services regulation, infrastructure and strategic planning, markets and policy, public and commercial services, and regional coordination and international relations.