The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has reported a 60% rise in membership and is introducing a number of initiatives to support its growth.

Programs include the AFA Community of Practice Engagement Boot Camp, adviser-informed working groups on professional standards, policy and advocacy and life insurance quality advice, and a financial literacy committee.

About 50 practitioner members are expected at this month’s boot camp – a two-day leadership training and planning symposium to build the engagement strategy for AFA members.

AFA CEO Brad Fox says while most participants will be practising financial advisers, the association is also catering for members “at the coalface”.

The “pressure points” felt by these advisers “will be pivotal in the planning and development of future professional development and networking activities”, he says.

National and state leaders of the AFA’s five key communities of practice – GenXt, Inspire, the Leaders Forum, practitioners and the AFA Foundation – are also included in this group.

“Adaptive change is a framework that recognises the paradigm for providing financial advice has changed through legislative, political, societal, economic and technological forces,” Mr Fox said. “It shows developing the solutions for the future must come from the real-world experiences and experimentation of today’s advisers.

“As an advice community, we need to collaborate and share these experiences to speed up the evolution of existing practices, to stay ahead of new competitors and community expectations.”

Recruiting for some committees and working groups is still being finalised, Mr Fox says.