Advice community looks to Jones’ successor for ‘decisive action’

The advice community has reacted to the re-election of the Labor Party for a second term.

Last weekend, Anthony Albanese was re-elected to lead Australia as Prime Minister for a second term, defeating Peter Dutton of the Coalition party.

While it will be maintained as a Labor government, there will be a new Minister for Financial Services as Stephen Jones has now retired from politics following this federal election. It is not yet known who will take over from him, but possible candidates include Andrew Charlton, Andrew Leigh and Daniel Mulino. 

Jones was first elected to Parliament in 2010 and was appointed as shadow financial services minister and shadow assistant treasurer in June 2019 before taking on the minister role following Labor’s victory at the 2022 election.

Policies proposed by Labor during the campaign include: 

• Continue implementing the DBFO reforms, potentially with adjustments based on industry feedback and the preferences of a new Financial Services Minister, given the retirement of Stephen Jones from Parliament.
• Address the CSLR sustainability issues, though specific solutions remain unclear.
• Proceed cautiously with the new class of adviser framework.
• Maintain the current trajectory of regulatory oversight.

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Commenting, the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) chief executive Sarah Abood, said: “We congratulate the returning government and look forward to working closely with them to deliver meaningful reforms that support professional financial advice.

“Australians are increasingly recognising the vital role that quality advice plays in achieving financial wellbeing. This is a time for genuine policy progress, and we are ready to assist the government in delivering it.

“We continue to urge the government to fix the CSLR so that financial advisers are not unfairly burdened by the cost of product failures. A cap on the advice levy and a more equitable funding model are essential.” 

Blake Briggs, Financial Services Council (FSC) chief executive, also congratulated the Albanese government on its re-election and welcomed the opportunity to continue working collaboratively on key financial services policies.

"Finalising the reforms to financial advice, which begun under the first term of the Albanese government, remains an industry priority. The FSC will work closely to support the government as it finalises the remaining details of its advice reform package to ensure more Australians can get access to affordable advice," Briggs said.

Meanwhile, Judith Fox, chief executive of the Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association (SIAA), said: “While we do not yet know who the Minister for our sector will be, we do know that the Labor government recognises that the education standard for the new entrant pathway into financial advice needs to become far more flexible so that we can rebuild the pipeline. 

“The former Minister released the proposed reform of the education requirements in February this year. We will be pushing for a bill to be introduced as soon as possible to implement this much-needed reform. With the policy work done, this could be a quick win for the new government and we will be pushing for it to go through quickly.”

Both SIAA and the FAAA flagged the second tranche of DBFO reforms and the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort as areas that demand the incoming minister's attention going forward.

Alex Euvrard, director at My Dealer Services, said: “With the outgoing Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, admitting he failed to achieve key goals such as removing band-aid solutions and stemming the loss of adviser numbers to the current 15,000, now is the time for decisive action from the new Minister of Financial Services, not continuous promises and inaction.

“We have heard a lot about how growth will come through efficiencies, technology and outsourcing. Our view is that we have missed the mark on this. The biggest challenge facing advice practices that we see and hear about every day is the lack of advisers to help grow and support these businesses. Unless we get people into the industry, talking about the efficiencies, the technology, the outsourcing is all just noise. It all comes back to making the profession attractive to new entrants and making it achievable to enter.”