This information is designed to help individuals determine how the professional standards apply, including:
when they need to complete the financial adviser exam by
what the deadline is for meeting the qualifications standard, and
whether you need to complete a professional year to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products (referred to as 鈥榩ersonal advice鈥� ).
It is important to note that how the professional standards apply to a person depends on their individual circumstances and whether they meet certain definitions.
Note: Industry sometimes uses the terms 鈥榬elevant provider鈥� and 鈥榝inancial adviser鈥� interchangeably.聽
More detailed information, including information for Australian financial services (AFS) licensees, can be found under Background and resources.
Select a scenario below to see how the professional standards apply to you.
I am new to the financial advice industry and am not an existing provider
Do I need to sit the financial adviser exam?
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam before you can become a relevant provider. You can sit the exam at any time, as there are no restrictions on who is eligible to sit the exam.
Do I need to meet the qualifications standard?
Yes, you must complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister, to be eligible to be a relevant provider. You do not have to complete the degree or qualification before sitting the exam.
You and your prospective or authorising AFS licensee are responsible for determining if your degree or qualification meets the qualifications standard.
Do I need to complete a professional year?
Yes, you must complete a professional year to be eligible to provide unsupervised personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products.
You can commence the third quarter of the professional year once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the first and second quarters of the professional year, and
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice.
Your authorising AFS licensee should appoint you to the Financial Advisers Register as a 鈥榩rovisional financial adviser鈥� once you commence the third quarter of the professional year.
Can I provide unsupervised personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products?
No, you can only provide unsupervised personal advice once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the professional year
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ob体育.
Note: Your 鈥榓ppointment type鈥� on the Financial Advisers Register must be changed from 鈥榩rovisional relevant provider鈥� to 鈥榬elevant provider鈥� before you can be registered with ob体育. Your authorising AFS licensee can do this by lodging a 鈥榤aintain鈥� transaction using ob体育鈥檚 online services.
I am an 鈥榚xisting provider鈥�, and I passed the exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to me
Note: The exam cut-off day is either 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 for 鈥榚xisting providers鈥� who qualified for the exam extension because they sat the exam at least twice before 1 January 2022.
Do I need to meet the qualifications standard?
Yes, you have until聽1 January 2026聽to meet the qualifications standard.
You can meet the qualifications standard by:
completing a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
attaining qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard via an existing provider pathway, or
if you are eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway, relying on the experienced provider pathway without needing to undertake further education and training.
A degree or qualification will be considered to have been completed by 1 January 2026 if you complete all of the course requirements before聽this date, even if the degree or qualification is conferred on or after this date.
You and your authorising AFS licensee are responsible for determining if your degree or qualification meets the qualifications standard.
Do I need to complete a professional year?
No, unless you have not met the qualifications standard by聽1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before聽1 January 2026听(i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before聽31 December 2025).
Can I provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products?
Yes, provided you are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products and you are registered with ob体育.
If you have not met the qualifications standard by聽1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before聽1 January 2026听(i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before聽31 December 2025), your authorisation as a relevant provider ceases by operation of law and you cannot provide personal advice from聽1 January 2026.
I am an 鈥榚xisting provider鈥� but did not pass the exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to me, and I was a relevant provider immediately before that day
Note: The exam cut-off day is either 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 for 鈥榚xisting providers鈥� who qualified for the exam extension because they sat the exam at least twice before 1 January 2022.
Do I need to sit the financial adviser exam?
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam. You can sit the exam at any time.
Do I need to meet the qualifications standard?
Yes, on the exam cut-off day that applies to you, your authorisation as a relevant provider ceased by operation of law.
You cannot be authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients until you have, among other things, completed a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister.
You and your authorising AFS licensee are responsible for determining if your degree or qualification meets the qualifications standard.
You cannot meet the qualifications standard by:
attaining qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard via an existing provider pathway, or
relying on the experienced provider pathway.
Do I need to complete a professional year?
Yes, you cannot be authorised to provide personal advice until you have, among other things, completed the professional year.
You are not eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway as an alternative to completing the professional year.
You can commence the third quarter of the professional year once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the first and second quarters of the professional year, and
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice.
Your authorising AFS licensee should appoint you to the Financial Advisers Register as a 鈥榩rovisional financial adviser鈥� once you commence the third quarter of the professional year.
Can I provide unsupervised personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products?
No, you can only provide unsupervised personal advice once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the professional year
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ob体育.
Note: Your 鈥榓ppointment type鈥� on the Financial Advisers Register must be changed from 鈥榩rovisional relevant provider鈥� to 鈥榬elevant provider鈥� before you can be registered with ob体育. Your authorising AFS licensee can do this by lodging a 鈥榤aintain鈥� transaction using ob体育鈥檚 online services.
I am an 鈥榚xisting provider鈥� who was not a relevant provider immediately before the exam cut-off day that applies to me (e.g. I was on a career break immediately before that day)
Note: The exam cut-off day is either 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 for existing providers who qualified for the exam extension because they sat the exam at least twice before 1 January 2022.
Do I need to sit the financial adviser exam?
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam before you can become a relevant provider again. You can sit the exam at any time.
Do I need to meet the qualifications standard?
Once you have passed the exam, you can be authorised to provide personal advice and you have until聽1 January 2026聽to meet the qualifications standard.
You can meet the qualifications standard by:
completing a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
attaining qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard via an existing provider pathway, or
if you are eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway, relying on the experienced provider pathway without needing to undertake further education and training.
A degree or qualification will be considered to have been completed by 1 January 2026 if you complete all of the course requirements before this date, even if the degree or qualification is conferred on or after this date.
You and your authorising AFS licensee are responsible for determining if your degree or qualification meets the qualifications standard.
Do I need to complete a professional year?
No, unless you have not met the qualifications standard by聽1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before聽1 January 2026听(i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before聽31 December 2025).
Can I provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products?
You can provide personal advice to retail clients once you:
pass the exam
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ob体育.
However, if you have not met the qualifications standard by聽1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before聽1 January 2026听(i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before聽31 December 2025), your authorisation as a relevant provider ceases by operation of law and you cannot provide personal advice from聽1 January 2026.
Note: You must be appointed to the Financial Advisers Register as a 鈥榝inancial adviser鈥� before you can be registered with ob体育.
I am an 鈥榚xisting provider鈥� who provided financial advice in a foreign country
Do I need to sit the financial adviser exam?
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam before you can become a relevant provider in Australia. You can sit the exam at any time.
Do I need to meet the qualifications standard?
Once you have passed the exam, you can be authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients and you have until聽1 January 2026聽to meet the qualifications standard.
You can meet the qualifications standard by:
completing a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister, or
attaining qualifications that are equivalent to the education and training standard via an existing provider pathway.
A degree or qualification will be considered to have been completed by 1 January 2026 if you complete all of the course requirements before this date, even if the degree or qualification is conferred on or after this date.
You can apply to Treasury to have any foreign qualification you hold counted towards the qualifications standard.
You are not eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway to meet the qualifications standard.
Do I need to complete a professional year?
No, unless you have not met the qualifications standard by聽1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before聽1 January 2026听(i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before聽31 December 2025).
You are not eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway as an alternative to completing the professional year.
Can I provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products?
You can provide personal advice once you:
pass the exam
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ob体育.
However, if you have not met the qualifications standard 聽by聽1 January 2026, and you are a relevant provider immediately before聽1 January 2026听(i.e. your authorisation to provide personal advice did not cease on or before聽31 December 2025), your authorisation as a relevant provider ceases by operation of law and you cannot provide personal advice from聽1 January 2026.
Note: You must be appointed to the Financial Advisers Register by an AFS licensee as a 鈥榝inancial adviser鈥� before you can be registered with ob体育.
I am new to the financial advice industry in Australia and have foreign qualifications
Do I need to sit the financial adviser exam?
Yes, you must sit and pass the exam before you can become a relevant provider in Australia. You can sit the exam at any time.
Do I need to meet the qualifications standard?
Yes, you must complete an approved degree or qualification to be eligible to be a relevant provider, but this does not have to be completed before sitting the exam.
You can apply to Treasury for your qualifications to be assessed, but the assessment will not change the requirement to complete an Australian bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister.
You can enrol in an approved Australian degree and have your qualifications assessed by your higher education provider for recognition of prior learning (advanced standing) as part of your enrolment.
Do I need to complete a professional year?
Yes,聽you must complete a professional year to be eligible to provide unsupervised personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products.鈥�
You can commence the third quarter of the professional year once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the first and second quarters of the professional year, and
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice.
Your authorising AFS licensee should appoint you to the Financial Advisers Register as a 鈥榩rovisional financial adviser鈥� once you commence the third quarter of the professional year.
Can I provide unsupervised personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products?
No, you can only provide unsupervised personal advice once you:
complete a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister
pass the exam
complete the professional year
are authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice, and
are registered with ob体育.
Note: Your 鈥榓ppointment type鈥� on the Financial Advisers Register must be changed from 鈥榩rovisional relevant provider鈥� to 鈥榬elevant provider鈥� before you can be registered with ob体育. Your authorising AFS licensee can do this by lodging a 鈥榤aintain鈥� transaction using .
Background and resources
Professional standards聽apply to relevant providers who provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products. For an overview of how these standards apply to relevant providers and their authorising AFS licensee(s), see Professional standards.
This information supplements information ob体育 has previously published on the professional standards for relevant providers 鈥� which includes information on the qualifications standard, the financial adviser exam and the professional year 鈥� and Information Sheet 260聽Timeframe for passing the financial adviser exam听(INFO 260).
Guidance for accessing the experienced provider pathway is available in Information Sheet 281聽Accessing the experienced provider pathway听(INFO 281).
For information on applications to assess foreign qualifications, see聽聽on the Treasury website.
Note: This guide was first issued in November 2022 and last updated in April 2025.
