Information on the Financial Advisers Register
The Financial Advisers Register contains information about financial advisers (also known as relevant providers). Financial advisers are individuals authorised to provide personal financial product advice to retail clients about relevant financial products, and may include provisional financial advisers and time-share advisers.
Australian financial services (AFS) licensees are responsible for appointing financial advisers they have authorised to the Financial Advisers Register. When they do this, AFS licensees must provide the following information about the financial adviser.
Note: On this webpage, the symbol * indicates mandatory information.
Financial adviser details
AFS licensees must provide the following information about the financial adviser:
- date of appointment to the AFS licence*
- representative number
- Australian Business Number (ABN)
- given name*
- other given names
- family name*
- date of birth*
- country of birth*
- state/territory of birth, if in Australia
- suburb/city of birth, if in Australia
- principal place of business:*
- country*
- building/property name
- floor/level
- unit/office
- street number*
- street name*
- street type*
- city/suburb*
- postcode*
- state/territory*
- email address* (not displayed on the public Financial Advisers Register)
- phone number (not displayed on the public Financial Advisers Register)
- adviser role type:*
- financial adviser (relevant provider)
- provisional financial adviser, or
- time-share adviser.
When any of this information changes in relation to a financial adviser, the AFS licensee who authorises the financial adviser must update the Register within 30 business days.
Definition of financial adviser
A financial adviser (relevant provider) is a person who is:
- an AFS licensee, an authorised representative, employee or director of an AFS licensee, or an employee or director of a related body corporate of an AFS licensee, and
- authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients, as the AFS licensee or on behalf of the AFS licensee, in relation to one or more relevant financial products.
A provisional financial adviser is a financial adviser (relevant provider) who:
- is undertaking work and training in accordance with s921B(4) of the Corporations Act 2001.
A time-share adviser is a person who is authorised to only provide advice on a time-sharing scheme. They cannot provide advice on any other relevant financial products.
Relevant financial products
When an AFS licensee appoints a financial adviser to the Financial Advisers Register, they must authorise them to provide advice to retail clients on at least one of the products on the list of ‘relevant financial products’: see Table 1 below.
Clients must be ‘retail only’ or ‘retail and wholesale’.
The relevant financial products that a financial adviser can provide advice on must not exceed those of the AFS licensee, or the organisation that the AFS licensee has authorised to provide advice – for example, a body corporate.
Relevant financial products are all financial products except:
- basic banking products (basic deposit products and a facility for making non-cash payments)
- general insurance products
- consumer credit insurance, or
- a combination of any of these products.
See Regulatory Guide 146 Licensing: Training of financial product advisers (RG 146).
| Category | Authorisation |
|---|---|
| Deposit and payment products |
Non-basic deposit products Non-cash payment facilities |
| Derivatives
If you select ‘All’, you cannot select one or more of the other derivatives. |
All Wool only Electricity only (leave blank if not applicable) Grain only |
| Foreign exchange contracts |
Foreign exchange products |
| Government debentures, stocks or bonds |
Government debentures, stocks or bonds |
| Life insurance products
If you select 'Life risk insurance', you cannot also select 'Consumer credit insurance only'. |
Investment life insurance products Life risk insurance products Consumer credit insurance only |
| Managed investment schemes
Any of the managed investment scheme options can be selected, with the exception of the following combinations:
|
Managed investment schemes excluding investor directed portfolio services (IDPS) Managed investment schemes including investor directed portfolio services (IDPS) IDPS only Own managed investment scheme only (leave blank if not applicable) Horse racing syndicate Time-sharing scheme Managed discretionary account (MDA) services |
| Retirement savings account products |
Retirement savings account products |
| Securities |
Securities |
| Superannuation
If you select ‘All’, you cannot select one or more of the other superannuation authorisations. |
All Self-managed superannuation fund A person's existing holding in a superannuation product |
|
Margin lending facilities
|
Standard margin lending facility (leave blank if not applicable) Non-standard margin lending facility (leave blank if not applicable) |
| Carbon credits |
Australian carbon credit unit Eligible international emissions unit |
| Miscellaneous financial facilities
|
Miscellaneous financial investment products — MDA services Miscellaneous financial risk products Miscellaneous financial investment products |
| Further restrictions on financial adviser authorisations
Include any caveats or restrictions on the financial products provided. |
Further restrictions |
Limited AFS licence
Limited AFS licensees who are appointing a financial adviser will only be provided with selections applicable to a limited AFS licence: see Limited financial services.
A limited AFS licensee can only be authorised to give personal advice to retail clients about:
- self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs)
- a client’s existing superannuation holdings in certain circumstances, and
- ‘class of product’ advice about securities, simple managed investment schemes, life risk insurance products and superannuation products.
A limited AFS licensee can only authorise a financial adviser to give advice about these products.
Employment history
Provide the financial adviser’s employment history for the last five years. This does not include their current employment. Only previous appointments as a financial adviser are considered employment history.
If the financial adviser has been employed by the current AFS licensee for more than five years, you do not need to provide any further employment history. If the financial adviser has been employed by more than one licensee during the past five years, provide details for all licensees.
The details for employment history are:
- employer’s AFS licence number*
- representative number
- employment start date*
- employment end date*
- year the financial adviser first provided personal advice on relevant financial products to retail clients*.
The Financial Advisers Register displays the current AFS licensee name. If an AFS licensee has changed its name since the employment period in the history, you can search for the licensee using its AFS licence number, which stays the same.
Qualifications and training courses
Provide information on the qualifications and training courses that a financial adviser has completed relevant to providing financial services.
The Minister is implementing and overseeing the education, exam and training standards for financial advisers as part of the professional standards for financial advisers. For more information, see qualification, exam and professional development.
You can include up to five qualifications and training courses. If there are more than five, you need to determine which are the most relevant.
This information is displayed on the public Financial Advisers Register.
The details for qualifications and training courses are:
- name of course*
- provider/institution*
- year attained*
- the type of course (AQF level)*
- doctoral degree (AQF10)
- master’s degree (AQF9)
- bachelor’s honours degree (AQF8)
- graduate diploma (AQF8)
- graduate certificate (AQF8)
- bachelor’s degree (AQF7)
- advanced diploma (AQF6)
- diploma (AQF5)
- certificate (AQF1–4)
- bridging course – ethics
- bridging course – regulation and legal obligations
- bridging course – behavioural finance
- professional designation
- other
- whether the qualification is approved.
Note: Existing qualifications that are approved cannot be edited on the Financial Advisers Register. They must be deleted and re‑added with the AQF level and approved check box.
Ability to provide tax (financial) advice services
Provide information on whether the adviser can provide tax (financial) advice services, including the capacity in which they can do so.
This option is not available for time-share advisers.
Note: From 1 January 2022, to provide tax (financial) advice services to a retail client, an adviser must (a) be permitted by their AFS licensee to provide tax (financial) advice services and, (b) satisfy any requirements made by the Minister. See Information Sheet 268 FAQs: Relevant providers who provide tax (financial) advice services (INFO 276) for further information.
Continuing professional development (CPD) requirements
Provide information on a financial adviser's CPD requirements:
- CPD year start date,* or
- date when a financial adviser failed to meet their CPD requirements.
The CPD year start date is reported once for an AFS licensee, not per individual financial adviser. The date is not displayed on the public Financial Advisers Register. An AFS licensee can change their CPD year start date, but not in the 12‑month period after their original decision about the start date.
Failure to meet CPD requirements displays on the Financial Advisers Register as:
[DD/MM/YYYY] – failure to meet annual requirements for continuing professional development was notified.
Note: Between 15 November and 31 December 2019, AFS licensees will need to provide CPD information by submitting Form FS20 Change of details for an Australian Financial Services licence (Form FS20).
Professional memberships
Provide information on the financial adviser’s membership of any professional bodies relevant to providing financial services.
You can choose up to five professional bodies from the options listed on the Financial Advisers Register.
If the professional body is not listed, you can add the name to the Financial Advisers Register.
Updating information on the Register
Make sure that all your financial adviser qualifications, training and professional memberships are correct, and that you update them as they change.
When a financial adviser's details change, the AFS licensee must update their information on the Financial Advisers Register within 30 business days. See Maintain (update) or correct a financial adviser's details.
If you have concerns about information for a financial adviser authorised under another AFS licence, see what you should do.
Note: In this webpage, the symbol * indicates mandatory information.