Government ploughs ahead with advice red tape cuts

Commenting on the budget announcement, FPA chief executive Dante De Gori said the government had demonstrated its progress around reducing the regulatory burden for financial planners.

“The FPA supports a commitment by the Government to reduce the number of regulators in financial advice by confirming the wind down of FASEA by 31 December 2021, and putting increased caps on ASIC’s spending,” Mr De Gori said.

The budget papers revealed that while FASEA was still listed as a “government priority” in the Treasury portfolio, the authority had been allocated a final $2.5 million in funding ahead of its winding down, which was listed for 31 December 2021.

The government had announced last month that FASEA would be wound up at the end of the year, as part of a range of new measures designed to streamline regulatory layers when the new disciplinary body inside ASIC is introduced.

The FPA also noted in its budget wrap that ASIC’s government funding had been cut from $772 million in the 2021 financial year to $717 million in the 2022 year, with staffing to be reduced from 2,096 to 1,878.

At the same time, Treasury’s budget would rise to $165 million in 2022 from $156 million in 2021, with staffing up from 1,135 to 1,325 as the government department assumed additional responsibilities around infrastructure finance and small businesses.

The TPB – which advisers will no longer be required to register for under the government’s draft disciplinary body proposals – also had its budget cut by $2.1 million for 2022.