Under the guise of ‘affordability’, the Morrison government was planning a new attack on consumer protections in the financial services sector.
The Coalition left office trying to do something it desperately wanted to when it entered office in 2013, yet failed to: repeal Labor’s Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms.
In a review announced by then superannuation minister Jane Hume as the election loomed, the then government announced a review to “ensure Australians have access to high quality, affordable financial advice”, which would examine “opportunities to streamline and simplify regulatory compliance”, “improve the clarity and availability of documents provided to consumers”, and check any “unintended consequences” of the regulatory framework.
Hume claimed the review was implementing one of Kenneth Hayne’s banking royal commission recommendations, for a review of “the effectiveness of measures that have been implemented by the government, regulators and financial services entities to improve the quality of financial advice”.