The Treasury Laws Amendment Bill will go back to the House of Representatives for more deliberation, further delaying a move that would have given financial advisers a one-year extension to complete a new exam requirement.

The delay was triggered after the Centre Alliance Party proposed an unrelated amendment calling for the removal of a grandfathering arrangement that exempts some large proprietary companies from providing annual financial statements to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

While the Senate passed the bill on Friday, the move by the Centre Alliance Party to include the unrelated amendment means the House of Representatives will have to debate the proposed change.

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has been pushing for the extension, which was delayed last month when the ALP decided to include an amendment to the Bill to ban stamping fees on listed investment companies.

“As the Government did not vote in favour of the Centre Alliance amendment in the Senate, it is unclear when the House of Representatives will consider this amendment and whether the Government will support it there,” the AFA says.

“If the House of Representatives rejects the Centre Alliance amendment, then we are potentially in a stalemate.

“We need the Parliamentary process to deliver this outcome as soon as possible.”

The Government announced last August it would grant a one-year extension to January 2022 for advisers to pass the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) exam, and a two-year extension until January 2026 for them to meet FASEA education requirements.