Election fever or just a headache? Advisers brace for more of the same

Australia is officially heading to the polls on 3 May, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling the election on Friday. And with the government now in caretaker mode, DBFO 1.5’s fate is officially on hold – waiting for the country to pick its next leader.

Three years ago, a lot was promised, yet little was delivered.

The hot mess – it’s become a cliché, but it’s only getting hotter. The cost of providing advice has skyrocketed with the CSLR, and as for the red tape? Well, it’s still very much alive and kicking.

While some may celebrate the momentum, those deeply entrenched in the advice profession are losing faith. They feel abandoned by both the previous government – the one they blame for creating the mess – and the current government, which promised to fix it but ultimately fell short.

There’s no denying that fixing this mess was always going to be complicated, and getting it right is absolutely crucial.

The industry has weathered numerous processes over the years – the FOFA and FSRA initiatives – and while some positive outcomes did emerge under the most recent process spearheaded by Labor, advisers are now left with only part of the picture. Without the full view, it’s difficult to see how the government can demonstrate real progress.

Ultimately, it’s taken far too long to reach this point, and as ifa continues to hear, there’s considerable dissatisfaction with the current situation.

It’s evident there’s still a tremendous amount of work ahead to meet the government’s goal of improving access to and affordability of financial advice, while making its delivery far more efficient.

And as we enter the official election campaign, there’s no doubt that promises will be plenty.

The silver lining, however, is the broader support for addressing the issues preventing Australians from accessing financial advice.

In fact, as FAAA’s Phil Anderson told ifa this week, there’s a more unified political commitment to tackle these challenges.

Whether Labor remains in power or Luke Howarth steps in as minister, the FAAA’s key priorities remain clear: fixing DBFO Tranche 2, addressing the CSLR, ensuring flexibility in the education standards, revisiting the Code of Ethics (as Stephen Jones promised back in August 2022), and improving access to the long-delayed ATO portal.

In short, the new minister will have a hefty to-do list, and, let’s not forget, DBFO tranche 3 still lingers on the horizon.