ASIC has today announced the outcome of a review of records on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) relating to compliance with the qualifications standard that took effect on 1 January 2026.

ASIC’s review commenced in late February 2026 and focussed on financial advisers (relevant providers) who did not have any qualifications or training courses marked as going toward meeting the qualifications standard.

The review identified that of the relevant providers who are ‘existing providers’ and remained on the FAR, 132 individuals did not have any qualifications or training courses marked. Some only marked the exam administered by the former Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) as going toward meeting the qualifications standard.

Following ASIC intervention with the 82 AFS licensees that authorised these relevant providers:

• 106 relevant provider records on the FAR have been updated to reflect that they meet the qualifications standard, and
• 26 relevant providers have had their authorisation to give personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products ceased.

In this review, it was noted that most AFS licensees updated the FAR to record that their relevant provider(s) had met the qualifications standard prior to 1 January 2026.

ASIC reminds AFS licensees that to meet the qualifications standard, existing providers must satisfy one of the following pathways:

• a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister (see Part 2 and Schedule 1 of the Corporations (Relevant Providers Degrees, Qualifications and Courses Standard) Determination 2021) (Determination)
• qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard as set out in one of the existing provider pathways in Part 3 of the Determination, or
• the existing provider is eligible to access the experienced provider pathway and has made the required declaration to their AFS licensee and ASIC has been notified.

ASIC may undertake a further review looking at the details of the qualifications and training courses that AFS licensees have marked on the FAR as going toward meeting the qualifications standard for their relevant provider(s).

AFS licensees and relevant providers should review the information recorded on the FAR and ensure it accurately reflects how each relevant provider meets the qualifications standard. In particular, AFS licensees and relevant providers should:

• check that the financial adviser exam, also referred to as the FASEA exam, has not been incorrectly marked as going toward meeting the qualifications standard
• check all qualifications or training courses that go toward the relevant provider meeting the qualifications standard have been marked as such (i.e. marking only an ethics course is insufficient), and
• ensuring the relevant provider is eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway before lodging an experienced provider notification with ASIC.

To assist AFS licensees and relevant providers, ASIC has made available a temporary dataset, which contains information about the qualifications and training courses that have been marked as going toward meeting the qualifications standard.

It is a serious offence to knowingly provide false or misleading information to ASIC, or to fail to take reasonable steps to ensure that information provided to ASIC is true and correct.

Background

Since 1 January 2019, specific professional standards have applied to relevant providers. One of these standards relates to the completion of an approved degree or qualification, with compliance requirements differing depending on an adviser’s personal circumstances.

It is vital that information about each relevant provider is accurately recorded on the FAR.

Approved degrees and equivalent qualifications are set by the Minister for Financial Services and are individually listed in the Corporations (Relevant Providers Degrees, Qualifications and Courses Standard) Determination 2021.

More information

• Maintain (update) or correct a relevant provider’s details
• Cease (remove) a relevant provider
• Updating the Financial Advisers Register – Qualifications and training details
• Qualifications standard: This includes a table that gives some examples of outcomes for existing providers related to meeting or not meeting the qualifications standard by 1 January 2026.
• Applying the professional standards: This includes scenarios to show how the professional standards apply to relevant providers, depending on an individual’s circumstances.
• Assessing relevant provider qualifications: For information on how AFS licensees should assess the qualifications of their relevant providers and input this information into the Financial Advisers Register.
• Information Sheet 281 Accessing the experienced provider pathway (INFO 281)