Professional year

This page is for individuals who plan to undertake, or are undertaking, the professional year.

It provides a snapshot of some key milestones that must be met as you progress to become a fully qualified relevant provider. Note that the list below is not an exhaustive list of the professional year requirements.

For a full understanding of the professional year, see:

Information Sheet 297 FAQs: Professional Year (INFO 297)
the Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018, and
the requirements relating to provisional relevant providers in the Corporations Act 2001.

Before commencing the professional year

Have you developed and agreed on a professional year plan with your supervisor and responsible licensee?

During Quarter 1

Are you keeping a logbook:

of the hours spent on work activities and structured training in Quarter 1
with details of the Quarter 1 work activities and structured training completed, including dates of completion, and
of any notifications given to retail clients by your responsible licensee that you are undertaking supervised work and training, and of the name and contact details of your supervisor?

Before progressing to Quarter 2

Have you completed the work activities and structured training for Quarter 1, in accordance with your professional year plan?
Has your supervisor given you a completion certificate for Quarter 1?

During Quarter 2

Are you keeping a logbook:

of the hours spent on work activities and structured training in Quarter 2
with details of the Quarter 2 work activities and structured training completed, including dates of completion, and
of any notifications given to retail clients by your responsible licensee that you are undertaking supervised work and training, and of the name and contact details of your supervisor?

Before progressing to Quarter 3

Have you completed the work activities and structured training for Quarter 2, in accordance with your professional year plan?
Has your supervisor given you a completion certificate for Quarter 2?
Have you met the qualifications standard?
Have you passed the financial adviser exam?
Has your responsible licensee authorised you to provide personal advice to retail clients in relation to relevant financial products on their behalf?

Note: Your responsible licensee should appoint you to the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) as a ‘provisional relevant provider’ within 30 business days of you being authorised to provide personal advice.

During Quarter 3

Are you keeping a logbook:

of the hours spent on work activities and structured training in Quarter 3
with details of the Quarter 3 work activities and structured training completed, including dates of completion, and
of any notifications given to retail clients by your responsible licensee that you are undertaking supervised work and training, and of the name and contact details of your supervisor?

Before progressing to Quarter 4

Have you completed the work activities and structured training for Quarter 3, in accordance with your professional year plan, including satisfactorily identifying and resolving at least two ethical dilemmas?
Has your supervisor given you a completion certificate for Quarter 3?

During Quarter 4

Are you keeping a logbook:

of the hours spent on work activities and structured training in Quarter 4
with details of the Quarter 4 work activities and structured training completed, including dates of completion, and
of any notifications given to retail clients by your responsible licensee that you are undertaking supervised work and training, and of the name and contact details of your supervisor?

By the end of Quarter 4

Have you completed the work activities and structured training for Quarter 4, in accordance with your professional year plan, including satisfactorily identifying and resolving at least two ethical dilemmas?
Have you completed at least 100 hours of structured training and 1,500 hours of work activities over a minimum one-year period in accordance with your professional year plan?
Have you received final completion certificates from both your supervisor and your responsible licensee?
Has your responsible licensee notified ASIC within 30 business days of when you completed your professional year, and updated your role type on the FAR from ‘provisional relevant provider’ to ‘relevant provider’?

Before providing unsupervised personal advice

Before you can provide unsupervised personal advice as a relevant provider, you must be:

authorised by an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensee to provide personal advice to retail clients in relation to relevant financial products,
appointed on the FAR as a ‘relevant provider’ (instead of a ‘provisional relevant provider’), and
registered with ASIC as a relevant provider: see Information sheet 276 Registration for relevant providers (INFO 276).