Shadow Minister for Financial Services Luke Howarth has hit out at the Albanese government over its advice reform agenda. 

Mr Howarth says the government is “moving at a snail’s pace” to adopt the quality of advice review recommendations made by Michelle Levy, who led the taskforce examining the regulatory landscape. 

He says the slow pace of reforms has hurt the advice profession and Australian consumers and that time is running out for the government, with an election fast approaching and three parliamentary sitting weeks remaining this year. 

“650 days have now passed since [Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones] was handed the quality of advice review’s final report and he has been on a go-slow ever since … the Coalition would implement the Levy review in full and, unlike the government, we won’t treat this as the end of the road for deregulation,” Mr Howarth said. 

“This is the beginning, not the end for cutting red tape for financial professionals.” 

The federal government has already implemented its first tranche of advice reforms this year, with legislation passed in July that includes keeping the commission model for provision of general advice. 

Mr Jones has previously said the second tranche of reforms will be developed over the second half of the year. 

But Mr Howarth says the absence of draft details to date is affecting advisers.