Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank Senator Brockman for his question and for his enduring commitment to quality, accessible and affordable professional financial advice. This government has taken significant action to professionalise the financial advice industry. We've put in place renewed professional standards for those who work in the advice industry, including an exam, degree requirements, a code of ethics and continuing education requirements. These standards have helped ensure Australians can be confident that, when they need guidance on their personal finances, they are receiving high-quality and professional financial advice. I would like to congratulate the nearly 12,000 now financial advisers, stockbrokers, planners and people in the life insurance industry who have taken and already passed the financial adviser standards exam so far. The average pass rate for that exam is 90 per cent, and that's a testament to their hard work, to their skill, and to their dedication to the profession, as well as to their commitment to making high-quality financial advice available to every Australian household. Even over the summer break, a further 1,200 advisers sat the exam across 14 Australian cities and online. They are now awaiting those results, ready to demonstrate to their clients that they are the committed professionals that their clients expect.

I would like to encourage practising financial advisers, stockbrokers and insurance advisers who have not yet taken the exam or passed the exam to take advantage of the remaining sittings left in 2021 before the deadline ends at the end of this year. I ask you to work with us to make the Australian advice industry the best it can possibly be, because together we can achieve our goal of creating a world-class industry that offers affordable, accessible and high-quality financial advice for all Australians.