Financial advisers (also known as relevant providers) should immediately review the accuracy of their information on the Financial Advisers Register if they intend to continue providing personal advice to retail clients from 1 January 2026.
ASIC is concerned that, based on current information, at least 3,459 relevant providers may be unable to provide advice after 31 December 2025.
Relevant providers who are also existing providers generally have until 1 January 2026 to meet the qualifications standard under section 921B(2) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) to continue providing personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products from that date.
Further, unless exempt, existing providers have until 31 December 2025 to complete specified courses in commercial law and taxation law to be able to provide tax (financial) advice services to retail clients for relevant financial products from 1 January 2026. Once these courses are completed, AFS licensees must update the Financial Advisers Register.
A review of the information on the Financial Advisers Register shows:
- As of 16 September 2025, of the 15,432 relevant providers on the Financial Advisers Register, AFS licensees have notified ASIC that 7,081 relevant providers hold an approved degree or qualification, 3,966 are relying on the experienced provider pathway and 926 are recorded as holding both an approved degree or qualification and relying on the experienced provider pathway.
- The remaining 3,459 relevant providers have yet to meet the qualifications standard according to the information currently recorded on the Financial Advisers Register and of this cohort, 1,371 may be eligible for the experienced provider pathway, but their AFS licensees are yet to notify ASIC of this.
- 1,143 existing providers, unless exempt, will need to complete the specified courses in commercial law and taxation law to continue to provide tax (financial) advice services from 1 January 2026.
Updating the Financial Advisers Register
Relevant providers cannot update that Financial Advisers Register themselves and should speak to their AFS licensees urgently to ensure this happens. To help AFS licensees and relevant providers determine whether incorrect and/or outdated information is recorded on the Financial Advisers Register, ASIC has updated the one-off, point-in-time dataset.
The dataset includes information on the date each relevant provider passed the exam, which qualifications have been marked as going towards the relevant provider meeting the qualifications standard, and whether the AFS licensee has notified ASIC that the relevant provider is relying on the experienced provider pathway to meet the qualifications standard.
AFS licensees must ensure the information recorded on the Financial Advisers Register is correct for the relevant providers they authorise.
Where the information is incorrect or out of date, AFS licensees must notify ASIC of the change within 30 business days of the change occurring to avoid a late fee.
Some common errors we have identified include:
- the relevant provider has been incorrectly marked as relying on the experienced provider pathway when they are not eligible,
- the relevant provider’s qualifications and training courses have been marked as going toward meeting the qualifications standard, but the course(s) have not been completed or are not an approved course of study, or
- the relevant provider has met the qualifications standard, but their relevant qualifications and training courses have not been recorded as ‘going towards meeting the qualifications standard’ on the Financial Advisers Register.
AFS licensees can update the Financial Advisers Register by lodging a Maintain (Update) transaction via ASIC Connect.
It is a serious offence to knowingly provide false or misleading information to ASIC or to fail to take reasonable steps to ensure the information provided is true and correct. It is also an offence not to update the Financial Advisers Register within 30 business days of a change to a relevant provider’s details.
ASIC will continue monitoring information on the Financial Advisers Register in the lead up to January 2026 and will consider further regulatory responses if required.
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 Financial Advisers Register.
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
- 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.
- INFO 281: Accessing the experienced provider pathway: For information on the experienced provider pathway.
- Providing tax (financial) advice services: For information on providing tax (financial) advice services.
- ASIC renews warning for AFS licensees ahead of deadline for financial advisers
