Go to secondary navigation

REGULATORY BURDEN 

THE IMPACT OF REGULATORY COMPLEXITY

THE GROWING ADVICE GAP

Professional accountants providing advisory services have faced increasing regulation and compliance requirements in recent years. This has increased both the cost and time burden associated with providing high-quality services to clients. These rising costs and complex regulations are driving advisers out of the sector at a time when the need for financial advice is growing.

In turn, seeking professional advice has become more difficult and costly, pushing it out of reach for many consumers. CPA Australia believes it’s time to review the many competing regulatory regimes. We need a framework that enables professional accountants to provide more affordable, independent quality advice – not less.

THE REGULATORY BURDEN REPORT

The Regulatory Burden Report (PDF), released on 1 October 2019, enables CPA Australia to collaborate with other professional bodies to present a united front to government to advocate for regulatory reform.

The report confirms our concerns that regulatory burden is having significant impact on both public practice and their clients. And it proposes five recommendations including:

  1. Review the definition of key terms
  2. Refine product advice and introduce strategic financial planning advice
  3. Individual licensing or registration of financial advisers
  4. Align codes of ethics and continuing professional development requirements
  5. Consider changes to the tax registration system

 Hear from Andrew Hunter, CEO CPA Australia, discuss the key report insights in this short highlights video


MEMBER VOICE

To capture the views of members, CPA Australia commissioned leading researcher CoreData to survey the impact of regulatory complexity, with over 600 responses from members in public practice. In addition, 60 members in public practice participated in 10 in-depth focus groups nationally and over 1000 consumers and SMEs contributed to a related survey. The outcome of this research is The Regulatory Burden Report.

We welcome further comments or member insights, please email regulatoryburden@cpaaustralia.com.au