This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Budget, tax & economy
Financial advisers would have to give every client a short written engagement letter before advice, setting out exactly what advice the client wants and agrees to receive.
Statements of Advice are burdensome, repetitive and rarely read, which creates extra administrative work and pushes up the cost of financial advice for clients. The billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. replaces them with a short engagement letter and streamlined Records of Advice, and requires clearer upfront disclosure about scope, pay and conflicts.
Financial advisers were already required to give retail clients Statements of Advice, but the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed.’s backers argued those documents had become long, repetitive and rarely read, adding red tape that made advice more expensive and harder to access. After Michelle Levy’s 2022 Quality of Advice ReviewThe earlier government review that recommended simpler advice documents and helped shape this bill. recommended replacing Statements of Advice with a simpler approach tied to a good advice dutyThe proposed standard from the review that says advice should fit the client’s request, scope and circumstances., this private member’s bill was introduced in November 2024 to use engagement letters and streamlined Records of Advice, but it lapsed when Parliament was dissolved in March 2025.
No significant public case against the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. is recorded so far, with the available debate material focused on reducing paperwork and making financial advice documents easier and cheaper to provide. No party represented in the debate material opposed the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed., and no concrete criticism about consumer protection, conflicts disclosure or implementation risks is identified here.
Bert Van Manen MP introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from Liberal Party.
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
No final passage
The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.
Time before failure
144 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
Financial advisers would have to give every client a short written engagement letter before advice, setting out exactly what advice the client wants and agrees to receive.
Financial advisers would stop using long Statements of Advice and use Records of Advice instead, aiming to make advice papers easier to read and cheaper to produce.
Each Record of AdviceA shorter advice record that this bill would have used instead of a full Statement of Advice. would have to explain why the recommendation fits the advice the client asked for and the client’s personal circumstances.
Before any advice is given, clients would also have to receive a written document disclosing adviserA person or firm that gives personal financial advice to a client on investments, insurance or other money matters. pay, commissions and other conflicts that could affect the advice.
The billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. would not change the current rules requiring advisers to disclose their fees to clients.
This new Division will require a financial adviser (providing entity) to provide a Letter of Engagement and a Record of Advice (ROA) for any client seeking advice.Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Advice Process) explanatory memorandum
This Bill proposes to replace SOA’s with ROA’s solely, meaning advice documents are streamlined and easier to digest for clients, while reducing the administrative burden on businesses and costs to clients.Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Advice Process) explanatory memorandum
The Bill will introduce the requirement that the ROA outline why the advice is ‘directly relevant’ to the agreed scope of the advice sought and the client’s personal circumstances.Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Advice Process) explanatory memorandum
944B Obligation to prepare and keep a letter of engagement, a record of advice and a document about conflicts of interestCorporations Amendment (Streamlining Advice Process) introduced bill text
Fee disclosure requirements will remain unchanged.Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Advice Process) explanatory memorandum
Context
Financial advisers were already required to give retail clients Statements of Advice, but the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed.’s backers argued those documents had become long, repetitive and rarely read, adding red tape that made advice more expensive and harder to access. After Michelle Levy’s 2022 Quality of Advice ReviewThe earlier government review that recommended simpler advice documents and helped shape this bill. recommended replacing Statements of Advice with a simpler approach tied to a good advice dutyThe proposed standard from the review that says advice should fit the client’s request, scope and circumstances., this private member’s bill was introduced in November 2024 to use engagement letters and streamlined Records of Advice, but it lapsed when Parliament was dissolved in March 2025.
Quality of Advice ReviewThe earlier government review that recommended simpler advice documents and helped shape this bill. recommends replacing Statements of Advice
Michelle Levy’s Quality of Advice ReviewThe earlier government review that recommended simpler advice documents and helped shape this bill. proposed changes including Recommendation 9 on Statements of Advice and the good advice dutyThe proposed standard from the review that says advice should fit the client’s request, scope and circumstances. that later shaped this bill.
Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Advice Process) explanatory memorandum ↗Private member's bill is introduced to cut advice paperwork
The billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. was introduced to replace burdensome Statements of Advice with engagement letters and streamlined Records of Advice, while keeping existing fee disclosureThe existing rule that advisers must tell clients what fees they charge; this bill would not change that rule. rules unchanged.
Australian Parliament House ↗Supporters say red tape has made financial advice too costly
During the second reading debate, supporters argued years of added regulation had made advice too expensive and left many Australians underadvised as advisers struggled to take new clients.
Hansard ↗Bill lapses when Parliament is dissolved
The proposal did not pass before the dissolution of Parliament, so the planned shift away from Statements of Advice did not take effect through this bill.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed.'s purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Key criticism
No significant public case against the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. is recorded so far, with the available debate material focused on reducing paperwork and making financial advice documents easier and cheaper to provide. No party represented in the debate material opposed the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed., and no concrete criticism about consumer protection, conflicts disclosure or implementation risks is identified here.
No significant public case against the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. is recorded so far.
Votes
No recorded votes were found before this bill stopped proceeding.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Van Manen supports the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. because he says it will cut red tape, reduce the cost and time of financial advice, and make advice more clear and relevant to what clients actually ask for.
Read in Hansard ↗Howarth supports the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. and says it is a smart way to cut red tape in financial advice, lower the time and cost of preparing statements of advice, and help Australians get advice more easily.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
2 speakers · 2 support
“And that is the whole intention of this bill. Yes, he might become a longer term client, where you talk about superannuation and a whole range of other issues, but at that point in time that is the piece of advice that he needs, and that is exactly what this bill is trying to achieve—simplify the process, reduce the paperwork and ensure there is something that is relevant to the client that they're going to read and understand. But, at the same time, it makes clear the adviser's obligations to ensure that the advice that they provide is directly relevant to the scope of advice agreed to in the letter of engagement. That is what we are trying to get to with this bill. I am going to hand my remaining time to the shadow assistant minister for financial services.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The bill that the member for Forde has put forward can cut that advice by perhaps up to 12 hours. So all of a sudden, you have a bill that goes down from $3½ thousand to $500. That's smart work from the member for Forde.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed.'s purpose and principles.
House · Lapsed at dissolution
Lapsed at dissolution
The billThis is the proposed law that would have changed how financial advice is documented and disclosed. reached this recorded parliamentary step.
