Low adviser numbers to feature at jobs and skills summit

The advice community expects the jobs summit to play a key role in helping lay the foundations of a roadmap that will eventually yield a policy and regulatory framework that enables and feeds growth.

The government's jobs and skills summit, first announced in July, will convene in Canberra on 1 and 2 September, bringing together around 140 people from business, government, and unions.

Divulging his expectations earlier this week, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said: “We're just looking for those areas of broad common ground so that we can move forward together, whether it be on getting wages growing again after a decade of stagnation, whether it's boosting productivity by investing in our people and their skills, whether it's dealing with these skills and labour shortages.”

“We've been really energised and really enthused by the genuine spirit of collaboration and cooperation that has emerged in the lead-up to the summit. We're realistic about what it might agree on, but we are confident that by tapping this spirit that exists in the community that we can move forward together.”

Speaking to ifa, FINSIA CEO and managing director, Yasser El-Ansary, said the summit will “undoubtedly” be an important catalyst for a wide-ranging policy discussion about “how we position our economy for the future”.

“For too long now, we have generally failed to adequately prepare for the long-term structural changes that are already impacting our economy,” Mr El-Ansary said.

“We know that the skills which will propel the growth of our economy into the future will be significantly different from the skills we have relied on in the past – I hope and expect the summit will create a strong platform for the whole community to engage in this discussion over coming months. Everyone in the community has a stake in creating a strong economy that is supported by skills and capability building for the long-term.”

As for the advice industry specifically, Mr El-Ansary said he hopes the summit and the parallel process around the Quality of Advice Review will create “a clear roadmap for the policy and regulatory changes that need to be made to ensure we have a strong financial services industry for the future”.

“The policy framework around financial advice has not served Australia well over the past few years. We have to work with government to implement changes which address the gap in supply of financial advisers, which I think will be helped by ensuring we have a more balanced approach to the regulation of financial advice”.

Detrimental impact on economy

CPA Australia expects the jobs summit to make mention of the detrimental impact the shortage of accountants and advisers has had on the economy.

The association has been involved in lobbying the government on behalf of the advice industry and will engage, post-summit, with the Treasury's white paper which is expected to provide a “comprehensive blueprint” for the future of Australia’s skills and labour market.

Speaking to ifa, Dr Jane Rennie, the spokeswoman for CPA, said: “Increasing the number of advisers will be a long-term effort as education pathways need to be addressed.”

“The jobs and skills summit starts this week and consultation is underway about the education of advisers. The shortage of financial advisers is leading to wage pressure, which adds to the cost consumers pay for advice,” Dr Rennie highlighted.

CPA recently issued a skills shortage position paper arguing that the homegrown supply of accounting and finance professionals falls short of meeting a growing demand for their services. While conceding that there is no single solution to this complex issue, CPA raised several possible solutions including skilled migration, training and education, and small business support.