A national scheme of professional standards legislation will lower the cost of professional indemnity (PI) insurance and remove restrictions on the services offered by financial planners, according to theFinancial Planning Association(FPA).
The FPA comments follow an agreement by State ministers to endorse a national scheme for professional standards legislation at the Ministerial Meeting on Insurance Issues held in Adelaide last week and attended by ministers from each state.
Outgoing FPA chief executive Ken Breakspear says the decision by the States to adopt professional standards legislation as part of a consistent national model was positive and means the association would push ahead with a number of other moves.
The FPA is a member of Professions Australia and has been working with a number of other professional groups since February, as part of its Professional Partner program, to establish such professional standards legislation.
Under the moves flagged by Breakspear the FPA would tackle the issue of proportionate liability as part of the implementation of legislation and continue to work with Professions Australia to ensure the package of reforms were adopted
The Professional Standards model and proportional liability reforms proposed are the same solutions the FPA recommended to Federal Treasury in December 2002 as part of its response to Adequate Compensation Arrangements.
As such the FPA will work with Treasury to ensure the government’s response is consistent with the package of reforms agreed to by the States and work to ensure the Corporations Law and ASIC Act are part of the Federal laws referred to the jurisdiction of state-based Professional Standards legislation.
