A vote on a government motion that the Senate not insist on the amendment was narrowly defeated in the Senate this afternoon when the bill returned to the upper house for debate.
As the House of Representatives voted to reject the amendment yesterday, this means the bill is looking increasingly unlikely to pass Parliament.
More to come.




It breaks my heart and spirit reading some of the comments here about experienced advisers having to do this ridiculous exam just to keep their jobs after so long serving clients loyally and effectively. I’m one of those advisers. All I want to know is WHEN are the politicians sitting such an exam to prove THEY are ethical and THEY are qualified to run their portfolios or the country. Seems the only qualification needed is a nod from one of their mates high up in the party and the portfolio is theirs. Disgusting and disgusting how as thinking Australians we allow this absolute gravy train of a RORT to continue with our hard-earned tax payer dollars feeding to these UNQUALIFIED and UNETHICAL parasites! Makes my blood boil!
Hi, if you have been providing advice for years there is no need for extensive studying or even sitting practice exams. Just read the code of ethics and the explanatory guide and you should be good to go.
That is SO NOT TRUE – there is plenty of study involved – and if an adviser goes in with this attitude – they are almost certain to FAIL the exam.
That is more than ASIC and the Panel judging Financial Advisers are required to do.
Strange how these ASIC et al are not required to have the same qualification but now have the power of Judge and Jury – and in a first world country. Not good.
ProctorU I just sat the exam today, signed in and was locked out at 11.25, the exam started at 11.30. I then rang USA, on hold for 20 minutes and finally got through to someone. Sat the exam in not a good frame of mind. I’ve been told people have had to wait 2 hours to fix these problems
I did mine via ProctorU today and it was an absolute nightmare. Took over an hour to connect to someone, wasn’t sure if it was going to be too late. Other dramas as well, not a smooth process at all.
Yes, same
If historically the industry had continued to progressively adequately educate and acted in clients best interests you would not be in this situation
“you would not be in this situation”. Interesting. I’d have thought “we’d not be in this situation” would be more apt if you are in the industry. Go away troll.
Go away troll until you understand even a small bit of that which you speak. Don’t waste our time with your uninformed ‘opinions’ – retreat to your basement . . .
You clearly no nothing about this industry you moron.
For the people saying suck it up and sit the exam this is my story.
My wife and I had a baby girl in September 2019 – our daughter was born with a rare genetic syndrome and has spent majority of her life in the Royal Children’s Hospital. We have been told once we navigate the first 2 years, her life will become somewhat less medically involved.
An example of how quickly our circumstances change is we have only recently come back from a months stay of life saving medical treatment.
I currently can’t commit to the exam as I don’t if or when our daughter will have another health emergency and be rushed back to Melbourne.
It’s also near impossible to prepare when you have ongoing family emergencies and trying running a business.
I have 15 years experience and am about to become unemployed.
i feel very sorry for you – and yes, the system (FASEA) has not allowed for special situations.
additionally, don’t worry some lucky person will use your skills and employ you
Who gave Simon’s comment a thumbs down – seriously!
I also have been dealing with family health emergencies – a wife with Stage 4 Cancer, and three young children to look after.
Best to not judge everyone as “sitting on there hands”.
Anon I hope you’re wife pulls through. Listen up, make sure your wife goes on a strict Alkaline diet and cuts out as much processed food as possible, this will dramatically increase her chances of fighting the cancer.
good luck. Just do your best.
Sorry to hear about your situation Simon.
My advice with regard to the exam is to book it in and do it. Don’t worry about the study. I found it’s not really necessary. Plan to give up just the 4 hours for the exam only. You will likely pass considering your 15 years of experience.
I agree. Just sign up to do the exam by remote proctor so you can do it from home. I did it in April and it wasn’t too bad. Your experience will get you through.
The exam isn’t bad at all, I just did mine on Monday as part of the June 2020 intake.
In terms of study, I do suggest to study most definitely to feel comfortable at the end. However I would focus on some sort of condensed workshop. I did TAL 2 day (4hrs each day) workshop, read their workbook (90 of) and did the practice exam. Also brief overview of legislation. So basically you can get away with good 25-30hrs intense preparation in total and be comfortable. Although majority of the questions are based on experience.
Time to learn a lesson. I feel sorry for the people that will now be rushed to complete the exam, but the date it had to be completed by has never changed – so why count on the change? There was a proposal to change it but it was never set in stone.
Now before people complain about politicians going against their word, if you are an adviser you would be aware every year the government releases a federal budget ‘proposal’. Surely you aren’t providing advice on all the proposals before they become legislation? You are familiar with this concept….
Now the extension for the exam hasn’t been passed, please do yourself a favour and not only pass the exam but start completing your bridging courses NOW so you don’t have heaps to do when you leave it all to 2023.
If you plan on leaving it all to the last minute, please do all the advisers who are actively completing or completed their study and leave the industry now and stop whinging about things that were only a ‘proposal’.
I have to agree. My time was stressed and stretched, but being from a regional center,did a one day preparation course travelling to the city, and then in December, did a intensive Ethics unit at Deakin over 3 days in Melbourne, and the following day did the FASEA exam which I found not that bad. On top of this I made a start with the study in early 2019 and have since completed 5 units. It is amazing how much with experience you already know. And I haven’t done a degree before and I am over 60. In other words…just do it.
Surely they are going to add a sitting in December?!
Pointless unless they can speed up the marking – takes at least 6 weeks
I’ve already passed the exam myself but I am saddened to see other advisers that have been impacted by Corvid19 suffer. Disappointed that the FPA, a body that is supposed to be representing advisers cannot even negotiate an extension to an exam in a Pandemic. It’s because of their relationship their Royal Commission mates that we have ineffective representation. Advisers can’t keep doing the same old thing, expecting a body that gets payments from the big end of town to represent you and your business. We need to do things differently. I hope this is the wake up call some advisers need to walk away from these associations.
the simple solution is to get proctored- easy- no interruptions – and if FASEA are smart, they can accommodate all before expiry. logistics suggest they won’t have the facilities to sit all before the deadline unless they use the SCG or MCG. seriously, the proctor approach is the most suitable
I gave myself a good proctoring last week, I’d be inclined to agree that it is a comfortable way to sit the exam. No large group, no external noise and you’re in your own space with your own computer etc. For any advisers that may feel a little intimidated in a big room sitting an exam I would certainly encourage you to sit it under these conditions. All that aside I do hope the extension is passed to give everyone ample time to sit the exam when it suits their diary and family life.
I’d agree. It wasn’t as daunting as expected yet due to work flow I couldn’t do any earlier. They need to work something out quick though.
I also did the exam via proctor last week. I was highly anxious about it, but didn’t need to be – it ran smoothly and as you say in your own space, own computer etc. I don’t know if I’ve passed, but I can’t blame the process on that.
I passed so do not really care.
I do care about how politicians treat this industry with total disrespect though.
Absolute gold! Unlucky to those who have been sitting on their hands for this long. Pull that finger out LOL 😉
So smugness rather than empathy. No doubt you’ve passed the ethics exam.
you are disgusting
Call Rex’s office tell them how you fell people 08 8232 1144
Waste of time. He will relish in then attention and then push on as he was always going to.
Now watch the number of exam enrolments for August 2020 (Sitting 7) go through the roof – and the failure rate climb – as well as a stack of retirements being brought forward to this year rather than next.
All pollies are mongrels.
retribution for the Daniel Andrews Fiasco. Its 100% linked
retribution to who ? The LNP are not exactly fans of the financial planning community . Correct me if I am wrong isn’t them who put us in this situation from the start . PS I am no fan of Daniel
The industry is at a reflection point. 1 sitting left in August in essence to remain an adviser and keep operating under the transitional arrangements, given the 3 month wait period before you can resit the exam. For those who fail, you either need to become a provisional adviser or go into management or other technical roles. The main question really, is there any alternative pathway for the Government to take, what is certain is no matter what is said, it is clear that we cant trust on face value statements made in public domains.
It’s an ‘inflection’ point.
Also, Exam Sittings 7 (August), 8 (October) and 9 (November) all remain. Book, sit and pass any one of those and you will be fine.
I have no major issue with the non extension for the exam. However, I do have an issue with not being able to reapply to sit for 3 months if you fail. If you fail in August you cannot sit the exam again this year unless they bring out an exam in December. Because you cannot apply to sit again until November but November registrations close in October.
I don’t care about the 12 month extension however I would like a 3 month Covid 19 extension, as I was unable to sit the April and June exams due to dodgy internet (and I’m sure I’m not the only one)
We need a crash course in branch stacking ethics to get better representation….
I am the Senate
Nice Work Pollies – [b]Go do an Ethics Course – ALL OF YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!![/b][b][/b]
Now you know where you stand. Do the exam and stop whinging – you’ve known about it for literally years. If you can’t hack it just do your clients a favour and leave the industry.
lol we are so scared of you! Oh you are making us so upset! Hahaha nice try mate.
What an absolutely horrible person you must be in real life.
I think with an attitude like yours, you would be doing your clients a favour if you left, because unless you are dealing with clients that are bitter, rude and inconsiderate like you are, I fathom to understand why they would deal with you. I am like you, I have passed the exam, but where we differ is that I do not choose to degrade my peers!
[size=20px]Where i[size=20px][/size]s the lie[/size]? Do you think Advisers who can’t pass a simple 78 question exam based on Corps Legislation, FASEA Ethics and Construction of Financial Advice should stay in this industry?
Anyone putting it off is doing themselves and their clients a disservice.
Stupid comment. I personally believe there are greater priorities (amending the unworkable Code of Ethics for example) and I would love to see all advisers enrol in August and get the exam done. But there is no need for that kind of abuse. If you are a financial planner, then you are the one who should leave the industry.
We may have known about it for years but have only been able to actually sit the exam over the last 11 months with limited initial exam guidance. The problem has always been the limited amount of time to pass the exam when you were actually able to sit it which is less than the initially flagged 2 years to pass. Further with only remote access to the exam and FASEA sticking with their original schedule of only allowing the exam every 2 months there is no way that all remaining authorised reps will be able to sit and pass the exam prior to the register 31/12/2020 deadline. The problem we have at the moment is logistical access to the exam, not advisers being unwilling to sit the exam.
Yes it has been known about for a long time, however the issue is that the Royal Commission stated that advisers would have 2 years to pass the exam. The first exam was offered in June 2019 (and only in very restricted numbers), which means advisers have only had less than 18 months to sit the exam, assuming there is a December exam. also, if you fail it, you can’t resit for at least 6 months. So anyone who fails the June sitting or any sitting from now on will be unable to resit the exam.
I’m not fussed as I have already passed, but what was promised by Hayne/FASEA was very different from what was delivered.
Advisers are able to register to re-sit the Examination as long as they have not sat the Examination within three months before registering.
I stand corrected, 3 months between resits, not 6. Still, the timeframe to complete the exam is not what Hayne/FASEA outlined.
4 months actually. The rule is a minimum of 3 months from sitting to next registration, but registration closes about a month before the exam.
There is no December exam anymore. It was brought forward to November as it takes 6 weeks to mark, so December results wouldn’t have been available before the deadline. Anyone failing June can resit in October or November. Every other sitting from now on is last chance saloon unless the rules are changed.
What a moronic thing to say. You passed and i congratulate you on that but maybe leave your ego behind and look at a system that is only not well delivered. Yes there has been years to complete it. some have had a few hard years. Some have system issues when proctoring. Its an extension not a stay of execution. Our industry needs a clean up but if people like you are the ones left then it doesn’t auger well for the future. Empathy is one of the values.
What a foolish comment. [b]Standard 12 of the FASEA code of ethics intends to uphold the industry in the public view by holding their peers accountable[/b][b][/b]. Advisers who cry and rant about wanting extensions DO NOT LOOK GOOD IN THE PUBLIC EYE. In fact they make the industry look like a pack of fools who can’t pass an exam.
Read and apply the code as a whole. You are taking one standard and also ignoring many of the values and other standards with your comment!
Me again. Standard 12 doesn’t discuss the public view. It does however discuss holding each other accountable for the protection of the public interest and uphold and promote ethical standards of a profession. Ethical standards also looks at Empathy for others. I agree that there are many that wont pass the exam. But the fact that there will not be more than 9 sittings of the exam in the 18 months period is not what was initially intended. I would be in favour of a six month extension and an increase in the number of exams during the period. During the last 18 month period the industry has gone through a lot of change. Perhaps people have not been sitting around idle but haven’t been able to complete due to circumstances. Your comments however, do not look good in the Public eye. Core Value – fairness. the FASEA timeline has not been fair. That’s not criticism, its a fact. You should be able to complete the Ethics and Professionalism course before you complete the FASEA exam as it is almost a pre requisite. This was rushed and ill considered. Fairness is all the industry is asking for.
Surely not an adviser, lacks emotional intelligence and empathy which any worthy adviser would have in spades