To meet the qualifications standard, a relevant provider must have completed an approved degree or an equivalent qualification approved by the Minister, or a foreign qualification approved by the Minister.
A list of approved degrees and qualifications is contained in the Corporations (Relevant Providers Degrees, Qualifications and Courses Standard) Determination 2021.
Relevant providers who are relying on the experienced provider pathway
A relevant provider can rely on the experienced provider pathway to meet the qualifications standard if they meet the criteria of an ‘experienced provider’ (see the definition of an experienced provider in ‘Who is a relevant provider?’ above). A relevant provider who did not pass the financial adviser exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to them, but was still authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products on their exam cut-off day cannot rely on the experienced provider pathway, even if they have subsequently passed the exam.
Note: The exam cut-off day is either 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 for relevant providers who qualified for the exam extension.
To access the experienced provider pathway, a relevant provider must make a written declaration confirming that they satisfy the definition of an experienced provider. The relevant provider should provide you as the authorising AFS licensee with a copy of their declaration.
If your application is for a relevant provider who is relying on the experienced provider pathway, you should only declare that the qualifications standard has been met if you have verified that the relevant provider is eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway by meeting the criteria in Table 1.
Table 1: How to verify that a person is eligible to access the experienced provider pathway
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Requirement
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How to verify
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The person was a relevant provider for at least 3,650 cumulative days during the period 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2021.
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You may wish to check the Financial Advisers Register or, for authorisations relating to non-employee representatives that pre-date the establishment of this register, the authorised representatives professional register. You may wish to seek appropriate documentation from the relevant provider and/or their previous employer(s) evidencing their previous authorisation(s) as a relevant provider as an alternative or in addition to checking these registers.
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As at 31 December 2021, the relevant provider has never been banned or disqualified by ASIC, or given a court enforceable undertaking to ASIC.
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The ASIC banned and disqualified register and enforceable undertakings register can be used to verify a relevant provider’s disciplinary record.
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The relevant provider:
- passed the exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to them, or
- if they did not pass the exam by their exam cut-off day – had their authorisation to provide personal advice ceased before their exam cut-off day, and passed the exam before being re-authorised to provide personal advice.
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See the definition of ‘exam cut-off day’ in the note above. You may wish to check the Financial Advisers Register to see whether the relevant provider’s authorisation to provide personal advice was ceased before their exam cut-off day.
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If you are not satisfied that the relevant provider is eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway, you must consider whether the relevant provider meets the qualifications standard on another basis. See the following sections for details about relevant providers who are not relying on the experienced provider pathway.
Note: From 1 July 2024, the authorising AFS licensee(s) of an experienced provider are required to separately notify ASIC via the appoint (add) and maintain (update) function on ASIC Connect that they have received a copy of a written declaration by lodging a notice, where the relevant provider from whom they have received the declaration is eligible to access the experienced provider pathway. See Information Sheet 281 Accessing the experienced provider pathway (INFO 281) for further guidance on this requirement.
Relevant providers who are not existing providers and are not relying on the experienced provider pathway
From 1 January 2019, all relevant providers who are not existing providers and are not relying on the experienced provider pathway are required to have complied with the qualifications standard before they can be authorised to provide personal advice. If the relevant provider has obtained an approved degree, you must declare that the qualifications standard has been met. If the relevant provider has not obtained an approved degree, you must declare that the qualifications standard has not been met and the registration application will not proceed.
Relevant providers who are existing providers but are not relying on the experienced provider pathway
If your application is for an existing provider who is not relying on the experienced provider pathway, you will need to consider how the professional standards apply to that person: see Table 2.
Table 2: How the qualifications standard applies to an existing provider who is not relying on the experienced provider pathway
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Condition
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Application of qualifications standard
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The existing provider passed the financial adviser exam before the exam cut-off day that applies to them.
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The qualifications standard does not apply until 1 January 2026 and until that date you may state that the qualifications standard does not apply.
If, before 1 January 2026, the existing provider has obtained an approved degree, you must declare that the qualifications standard has been met.
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The existing provider did not pass the financial adviser exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to them, and they remained authorised to provide personal advice at the start of that exam cut-off day.
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The qualifications standard applies to the existing provider and the existing provider must have obtained an approved degree before they can be registered.
If the existing provider has obtained an approved degree, you must declare that the qualifications standard has been met.
If the existing provider has not obtained an approved degree, you must declare that the qualifications standard has not been met and the registration application will not proceed.
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The existing provider was on a career break (i.e. they were not authorised to provide personal advice) immediately before the exam cut-off day that applies to them.
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The qualifications standard does not apply until 1 January 2026 and until that date you may state that the qualifications standard does not apply.
If, before 1 January 2026, the existing provider has obtained an approved degree, you must declare that the qualifications standard has been met.
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Note: For more information on how the professional standards apply to existing providers, see Information Sheet 260 Timeframe for passing the financial adviser exam (INFO 260) and Applying the professional standards.
Time-share advisers
Time-share advisers are not required to comply with the professional standards for relevant providers. As such, if the relevant provider you are applying to register is a time-share adviser, you must state that the qualifications standard does not apply.
