This information is designed to help individuals determine how the professional standards apply, including:
when they need to complete the financial adviser exam by
what the deadline is for meeting the qualifications standard, and
whether you need to complete a professional year to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products (referred to as ‘personal advice’ ).
It is important to note that how the professional standards apply to a person depends on their individual circumstances and whether they meet certain definitions.
Note: Industry sometimes uses the terms ‘relevant provider’ and ‘financial adviser’ interchangeably.
More detailed information, including information for Australian financial services (AFS) licensees, can be found under Background and resources.
Select a scenario below to see how the professional standards apply to you.
I am new to the financial advice industry and am not an existing provider
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam before you can become a relevant provider. You can sit the exam at any time, as there are no restrictions on who is eligible to sit the exam.
Yes, you must complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister, to be eligible to be a relevant provider. You do not have to complete the degree or qualification before sitting the exam.
You and your prospective or authorising AFS licensee are responsible for determining if your degree or qualification meets the qualifications standard.
Yes, you must complete a professional year to be eligible to provide unsupervised personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products.
You can commence the third quarter of the professional year once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the first and second quarters of the professional year, and
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice.
Your authorising AFS licensee should appoint you to the Financial Advisers Register as a ‘provisional financial adviser’ once you commence the third quarter of the professional year.
No, you can only provide unsupervised personal advice once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the professional year
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ASIC.
Note: Your ‘appointment type’ on the Financial Advisers Register must be changed from ‘provisional relevant provider’ to ‘relevant provider’ before you can be registered with ASIC. Your authorising AFS licensee can do this by lodging a ‘maintain’ transaction using ASIC’s online services.
I am an ‘existing provider’, and I passed the exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to me
Note: The exam cut-off day is either 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 for ‘existing providers’ who qualified for the exam extension because they sat the exam at least twice before 1 January 2022.
Yes, you have until 1 January 2026 to meet the qualifications standard.
You can meet the qualifications standard by:
completing a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
attaining qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard via an existing provider pathway, or
if you are eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway, relying on the experienced provider pathway without needing to undertake further education and training.
A degree or qualification will be considered to have been completed by 1 January 2026 if you complete all of the course requirements before this date, even if the degree or qualification is conferred on or after this date.
You and your authorising AFS licensee are responsible for determining if your degree or qualification meets the qualifications standard.
No, unless you have not met the qualifications standard by 1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before 1 January 2026 (i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before 31 December 2025).
Yes, provided you are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products and you are registered with ASIC.
If you have not met the qualifications standard by 1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before 1 January 2026 (i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before 31 December 2025), your authorisation as a relevant provider ceases by operation of law and you cannot provide personal advice from 1 January 2026.
I am an ‘existing provider’ but did not pass the exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to me, and I was a relevant provider immediately before that day
Note: The exam cut-off day is either 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 for ‘existing providers’ who qualified for the exam extension because they sat the exam at least twice before 1 January 2022.
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam. You can sit the exam at any time.
Yes, on the exam cut-off day that applies to you, your authorisation as a relevant provider ceased by operation of law.
You cannot be authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients until you have, among other things, completed a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister.
You and your authorising AFS licensee are responsible for determining if your degree or qualification meets the qualifications standard.
You cannot meet the qualifications standard by:
attaining qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard via an existing provider pathway, or
relying on the experienced provider pathway.
Yes, you cannot be authorised to provide personal advice until you have, among other things, completed the professional year.
You are not eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway as an alternative to completing the professional year.
You can commence the third quarter of the professional year once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the first and second quarters of the professional year, and
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice.
Your authorising AFS licensee should appoint you to the Financial Advisers Register as a ‘provisional financial adviser’ once you commence the third quarter of the professional year.
No, you can only provide unsupervised personal advice once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the professional year
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ASIC.
Note: Your ‘appointment type’ on the Financial Advisers Register must be changed from ‘provisional relevant provider’ to ‘relevant provider’ before you can be registered with ASIC. Your authorising AFS licensee can do this by lodging a ‘maintain’ transaction using ASIC’s online services.
I am an ‘existing provider’ who was not a relevant provider immediately before the exam cut-off day that applies to me (e.g. I was on a career break immediately before that day)
Note: The exam cut-off day is either 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 for existing providers who qualified for the exam extension because they sat the exam at least twice before 1 January 2022.
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam before you can become a relevant provider again. You can sit the exam at any time.
Once you have passed the exam, you can be authorised to provide personal advice and you have until 1 January 2026 to meet the qualifications standard.
You can meet the qualifications standard by:
completing a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
attaining qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard via an existing provider pathway, or
if you are eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway, relying on the experienced provider pathway without needing to undertake further education and training.
A degree or qualification will be considered to have been completed by 1 January 2026 if you complete all of the course requirements before this date, even if the degree or qualification is conferred on or after this date.
You and your authorising AFS licensee are responsible for determining if your degree or qualification meets the qualifications standard.
No, unless you have not met the qualifications standard by 1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before 1 January 2026 (i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before 31 December 2025).
You can provide personal advice to retail clients once you:
pass the exam
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ASIC.
However, if you have not met the qualifications standard by 1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before 1 January 2026 (i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before 31 December 2025), your authorisation as a relevant provider ceases by operation of law and you cannot provide personal advice from 1 January 2026.
Note: You must be appointed to the Financial Advisers Register as a ‘financial adviser’ before you can be registered with ASIC.
I am an ‘existing provider’ who provided financial advice in a foreign country
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam before you can become a relevant provider in Australia. You can sit the exam at any time.
Once you have passed the exam, you can be authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients and you have until 1 January 2026 to meet the qualifications standard.
You can meet the qualifications standard by:
completing a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister, or
attaining qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard via an existing provider pathway.
A degree or qualification will be considered to have been completed by 1 January 2026 if you complete all of the course requirements before this date, even if the degree or qualification is conferred on or after this date.
You can apply to Treasury to have any foreign qualification you hold counted towards the qualifications standard.
You are not eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway to meet the qualifications standard.
No, unless you have not met the qualifications standard by 1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before 1 January 2026 (i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before 31 December 2025).
You are not eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway as an alternative to completing the professional year.
You can provide personal advice once you:
pass the exam
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ASIC.
However, if you have not met the qualifications standard by 1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before 1 January 2026 (i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before 31 December 2025), your authorisation as a relevant provider ceases by operation of law and you cannot provide personal advice from 1 January 2026.
Note: You must be appointed to the Financial Advisers Register by an AFS licensee as a ‘financial adviser’ before you can be registered with ASIC.
I am new to the financial advice industry in Australia and have foreign qualifications
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam before you can become a relevant provider in Australia. You can sit the exam at any time.
Yes, you must complete an approved degree or qualification to be eligible to be a relevant provider, but this does not have to be completed before sitting the exam.
You can apply to Treasury for your qualifications to be assessed, but the assessment will not change the requirement to complete an Australian bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister.
You can enrol in an approved Australian degree and have your qualifications assessed by your higher education provider for recognition of prior learning (advanced standing) as part of your enrolment.
Yes, you must complete a professional year to be eligible to provide unsupervised personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products.”
You can commence the third quarter of the professional year once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the first and second quarters of the professional year, and
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice.
Your authorising AFS licensee should appoint you to the Financial Advisers Register as a ‘provisional financial adviser’ once you commence the third quarter of the professional year.
No, you can only provide unsupervised personal advice once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the professional year
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ASIC.
Note: Your ‘appointment type’ on the Financial Advisers Register must be changed from ‘provisional relevant provider’ to ‘relevant provider’ before you can be registered with ASIC. Your authorising AFS licensee can do this by lodging a ‘maintain’ transaction using ASIC’s online services.
Background and resources
Professional standards apply to relevant providers who provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products. For an overview of how these standards apply to relevant providers and their authorising AFS licensee(s), see Professional standards.
This information supplements information ASIC has previously published on the professional standards for relevant providers – which includes information on the qualifications standard, the financial adviser exam and the professional year – and Information Sheet 260 Timeframe for passing the financial adviser exam (INFO 260).
Guidance for accessing the experienced provider pathway is available in Information Sheet 281 Accessing the experienced provider pathway (INFO 281).
For information on applications to assess foreign qualifications, see Foreign qualifications on the Treasury website.
Note: This guide was first issued in November 2022 and last updated in April 2025.
