Work and Training (Professional Year) Standard commenced 1 January 2019

The Professional Year standard commenced on 1 January 2019. It is a requirement of the Corporations Act 2001 that all new industry entrants are required to undertake before they are qualified as a Financial Adviser to provide personal financial advice to retail clients in respect of retail financial products.

A New Entrant is required to undertake a Professional Year of one year full-time equivalent comprising 1600 hours, of which at least 100 hours is to be structured training.

FASEA’s Professional year standard specifies a quarterly framework detailing key activities to be undertaken and competencies to be acquired and demonstrated. This approach enables an individual to transition from a directly supervised approach to an indirect supervision approach as follows:

1. Quarter 1 – Client Observations and support to Supervisor/Experienced Adviser
2. Quarter 2 – Supervised Client Engagement and Advice Preparation
3. Quarter 3 and 4 – Indirect Supervision of Client Engagement and Advice Preparation.

New Entrants will engage with their Supervisor and Licensee to establish a professional year plan which is aimed at developing the following competencies:

1. Technical competence;
2. Client care and practice;
3. Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection and;4. Professionalism and Ethics.

Provisional Relevant Provider Term

Mid-way through the Professional Year and after passing the exam, the new entrant may use the terms Provisional Financial Adviser or Provisional Financial Planner as defined in the Corporations (Provisional Relevant Provider – Expressions) Determination 2018.

In conjunction with their Supervisor and Licensee, the New Entrant will need to disclose to the client that they are a Provisional Financial Adviser or Provisional Financial Planner during the Professional Year and disclose the name of their supervisor who is accountable for the advice they give during their professional year.

New Entrant Registration
The Licensee will be required to notify FASEA of a new entrant at the commencement of the Professional Year. This will be used to validate a new entrant when registering for the exam.