Hume ‘really proud’ of commissioning QAR

Speaking at the Australian Wealth Management Summit in Sydney on Wednesday, Senator Jane Hume argued in favour of implementing the full scope of the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) final report handed down by lead reviewer Michelle Levy.

“I’ve seen the industry develop over so many years. It had a really tough time. I think in the last, probably, 15 years, there was just so much reform, with good intentions, but sometimes with very difficult outcomes,” Hume said.

“But I do feel that we’re now poised to be able to create a thriving financial advice system in Australia that is far more ubiquitous.”

The senator said that she was “really proud” of commissioning the QAR near the end of her tenure as financial services minister on the back of the Hayne royal commission.

“[Commissioner Kenneth Hayne] suggested that we do a review into quality of advice. To be honest with you, I don’t think by the time we got to it, the quality of advice was really the problem,” Hume said.

“The problem was more the accessibility and the affordability of advice, which is why we expanded the remit of that Hayne royal commission recommendation to include accessibility and affordability, and why we appointed somebody with the big brain and the good intentions of Michelle Levy to run that review.”

Commenting on the final report that Levy delivered to the government at the end on 2022, she said it was a “breath of fresh air” that would “allow the industry to expand and to innovate”.

“It would allow, most importantly, for more Australians to get the opportunity to receive financial advice, because we know that there’s a demand out there,” Hume added.

“The Coalition still stands by its position to adopt the recommendations of the Levy review in full. In full and with the intentions with which those recommendations were made.”

She also echoed comments from shadow treasurer Angus Taylor that the Labor government has erred in its reforms by not adopting the full report.

“My concern is that this government hasn’t really shown an appetite to do that. Instead, it has tended to go back to its safe space and play in the area of big superannuation funds, particularly the industry funds.

“I think that there’s so much more that we can do here that will be so good for not just the economy and not just the financial services sector, but for individuals, for the little guy. So, I’d like to see the levy recommendations adopted in full.”

Hume’s comments are right in line with those of shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, who has been consistent that a Coalition government would seek to implement the QAR recommendations in full.

Speaking on a recent episode of the ifa Show, Taylor said he saw Levy’s recommendations as an opportunity to improve the advice sector and Australians’ access to it, however, the government’s response has fallen short and created further confusion and driven the cost up.

“We’ve got many Australians that are under-advised now, and we want to get this sector really firing again. I saw Levy as a chance to do that,” he said.

“It was, I think, a good report. You might not agree with all of it, but I think it was absolutely heading in the right direction, and we wanted it implemented in full as quickly as possible.”