The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services’ inquiry into proposals to lift the professional, ethical and education standards in the financial services industry (PJC) presented its recommendations to Government on 19 December 2014.

The PJC report outlines a comprehensive model to increase the professional standards of advisers, involving a co-regulatory approach where Government, professional associations, industry and academia all work in partnership.

The Government, on 25 March 2015, is undertaking a period of consultation to seek views on the core elements of the PJC model, importantly including how these elements could be implemented.

Assistant Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said it is “now time to put in place an enduring framework that raises the professional, ethical and education standards of advisers”. He said that “with the right model, improvements in the qualifications, competence and ethics of the financial advice industry will be a win-win”.

[Treasury Website; Asst Treas media release; LTN 58, 26/3/15]