The financial services sector’s peak education body, the Financial Services Education Agency Australia (FSEAA), says it is focusing its efforts on rebuilding consumer trust in the financial services industry after the introduction of the Financial Services Reform Act (FSRA).

Joint GM Deen Sanders told Sunrise Exchange News the process of working though the FSRA transition and licensing has led to some casualties in education platforms for the wider industry.

He says many licensees and authorised representatives shopped around for the cheapest and quickest solution to their licensing needs rather than automatically following their association alliances.

“While this has not been an acute issue in the insurance and risk environment as in some other sectors of financial services, it is still an unfortunate consequence of FSRA,” he said.

The FSEAA says compliance-driven training has created effective minimum benchmarks, but it has not translated into consumer trust and confidence in the industry.

It aims to promote “professionalisation” by providing an industry-regulated market of wider educational options and encouraging participants to look to their professional association for support and guidance on lifting their skills.