The FPA wants FPEC seat at Treasury’s FASEA table

The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has sought to gain a seat at the table with respect to Treasury’s handling of the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) regime via the Financial Planning Education Council (FPEC)

The FPA has told the Treasury that it “recommends the FPEC can play a significant role in providing the necessary analysis, expertise and advice to support Treasury” in fulfilling its responsibilities with respect to the transfer of FASEA’s standard setting and course approval functions.

FPEC was established by the FPA in 2011 to be an independent boy chartered with raising the standard of financial planning education and promoting financial planning as a distinct learning area and career choice.

While independent, and containing a number of academics, the FPEC members include three people holding the FPA’s Certified Financial Planner designation including the current chief executive of the FPA, Dante De Gori with the chair of FPEC, Marc Olynyk being an AFP.

In a submission filed with the Treasury, the FPA said it welcomed the wind up of FASEA and the transfer of the standard setting and course approval functions to the minister, supported by the Treasury.

“The FPA recommends the Financial Planning Education Council (FPEC) can play a significant role in providing the necessary analysis, expertise, and advice to support Treasury in fulfilling these responsibilities,’

“The FPEC has appropriate expert skills, experience and knowledge in the financial advice and education fields.”

The FPEC has already played a role in the FASEA regime with the FPA in 2018 “gifting” its approved degrees list to FASEA, and a letter from the FPA to Treasury states that “FPEC has continued to play a significant role in supporting both FASEA and TEQSA in the accreditation of education courses and institutions and driving the development of higher education-level financial planning programs and research. This includes the influence of the FPEC national Accreditation and Curriculum Framework on the FASEA degree accreditation process”.

“Over the years, FPEC has built up a considerable wealth of expertise and experience in financial planning education.”

“FPEC would welcome the opportunity to support and advise Treasury on the development and implementation of financial planning education standards. This could include:

• accrediting education programs and undertaking annual reviews against education standards and accreditation policy
• liaising and supporting TEQSA on matters relating to the quality and regulation of higher education providers
• mapping courses to the learning outcomes and assessment requirements set out in the education standard • reviewing and assessing application of RPL policy
• mapping and assessing foreign qualifications against the education standard, and
• supporting Treasury in the ongoing development of the financial planning curriculum through expert critical analysis of education programs, consumer protection issues, and changes in the financial advice regulatory environment.

“To facilitate such a role FPEC would be open to expanding its membership base to include greater representation from other independent parties with an interest in financial planning education. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with representatives from Treasury to discuss the ongoing role that FPEC could play as an independent education advisory panel,” the letter to Treasury said.