FAAA's "freeze" demand is much too little, much too late.

FPA should have been aggressively lobbying for the last 5 years to remove ASIC "cost recovery" altogether. Consumer protection should be funded by consumer taxes and fines levied against wrongdoers.

Although ASIC cost recovery fees are ultimately passed on to consumers, it is only to that tiny cohort of consumers who use licensed providers. Most financial advice, and most consumer harm, comes from unlicensed providers who don't pay any sort of regulatory fees. All consumers deserve protection, and all consumers should be funding it.

Treasury argues that licensed providers should pay the costs, because they're the ones who ultimately benefit from greater regulation. But that is baloney. ASIC actively persecutes licensed providers, and dissuades consumers from using them. ASIC largely ignores the harmful behaviour of unlicensed providers, and ultimately encourages more consumers and more advisers down that path.