Australia’s Financial Adviser Shortage — and Why It’s Getting Worse
- Jun 3
- 9 min read
Written by Christopher Hall, AdvDipFP | Authorised Representative, AFSL 526688 | June 2026
Australia had 15,120 registered financial advisers as at 11 June 2026 — a net decline of 439 over the prior 12 months, according to Padua Wealth analysis of ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register (Padua Wealth / riskinfo, 2026). Numbers have been broadly flat since mid-January 2026, with a net movement of just 32 advisers over that period. The stabilisation, however, does not signal recovery. It reflects the near-complete collapse of one distinct advice segment, continued consolidation among smaller licensees, and a growing population of policyholders holding insurance policies without any active adviser oversight.
How many financial advisers are there in Australia right now?
As at 11 June 2026, 15,120 individuals were registered on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register, according to Padua Wealth analysis of ASIC data published through riskinfo (Padua Wealth / riskinfo, 2026). The financial year-to-date figure shows a net decline of 49 advisers since 1 July 2025. The register did, however, record 546 new entrants who commenced and remained registered over the period — a signal that the new-to-profession pipeline has not collapsed, even as net numbers remain at historical lows.
The longer-term trajectory remains the defining data point. Before the Hayne Royal Commission, ASIC’s register held approximately 33,000 advisers. By June 2026, that figure sits at 15,120 — a reduction of greater than 50% over fewer than ten years. The June 2026 data confirms the decline has substantially stabilised, but there is no evidence of a structural reversal.
What drove the June 2026 figures — and which segment collapsed?
The full-year decline of 439 advisers is not distributed evenly across the profession. A single segment — licensees providing limited or restricted SMSF advice, typically accounting practices operating under a limited Australian Financial Services Licence — accounts for 281 of those exits. That is approximately 63% of the total annual market decline, from a cohort that represented less than 3% of all registered advisers at the start of the measurement period (Padua Wealth / riskinfo, 2026).
At the start of the 12-month period, this accounting segment had 445 advisers on the register. By 11 June 2026, only 164 remained — a reduction of more than 60% in one year. The principal driver was new education requirements that took effect in December 2025. Between 15 December 2025 and 15 January 2026, the register recorded a net decline of 330 advisers, concentrated almost entirely within this cohort. Since mid-January 2026, the broader market has recorded a net gain of 32 advisers — the stabilisation signal that appears in the headline figures.
Licensee numbers also contracted: 100 new licensees were established during the period, while 120 ceased, producing a net reduction of 20 (Padua Wealth / riskinfo, 2026). Of the 100 new licensees, 61 were single-adviser practices. The pattern reflects consolidation among smaller advice businesses rather than expansion, with boutique practices either closing or being absorbed into larger groups.
Why have adviser numbers been falling since 2019?
The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) identified three structural forces driving the long-term contraction in its 2026 submission to Jobs and Skills Australia.
The regulatory and education requirements that followed the Hayne Royal Commission raised the minimum qualification bar significantly. Advisers who did not hold a degree-equivalent qualification were required to complete further education or exit the profession. Many chose to exit — particularly those within a decade of retirement who judged the requalification investment unfavourably against their remaining years of practice.
The Life Insurance Framework reforms, implemented from 2018, restructured adviser remuneration for life insurance from upfront commission-based models to hybrid models with clawback provisions. This change reduced the commercial viability of the life risk advice segment for many practices, accelerating exits among insurance-focused advisers specifically.
Rising compliance costs — regulatory reporting obligations, professional indemnity insurance premiums, and continuing professional development requirements — have also made small boutique practices increasingly difficult to sustain. Arrow Equities’ article on the financial adviser industry contraction in Australia provides additional context on the compliance deadlines that produced a further wave of exits since December 2025.
Why is the shortage structural — not a short-term dip?
The FAAA’s submission to JSA identified a specific reason why the shortage is unlikely to resolve quickly: a legislated 4-year structural lag in workforce supply (FAAA, 2026).
The professional year — a legislated requirement that new entrants must complete before operating as fully authorised financial advisers — means a decision to enter the profession today does not produce a working adviser for at least four years. Even a significant increase in applications to financial planning programmes would not resolve the supply shortfall before 2030 at the earliest.
The FAAA also raised a methodological concern about how the shortage is being measured: JSA’s methodology relies heavily on advertised job vacancies, which the FAAA argues does not adequately capture other indicators of shortage — including the volume of advice requests that practices are declining due to capacity constraints (FAAA, 2026). That volume is not recorded anywhere on the ASIC register or in JSA’s vacancy data.
How many Australians have unmet financial advice needs?
Investment Trends’ 2025 Financial Advice Report found that 15.9 million Australian adults have unmet financial advice or guidance needs — split 7.8 million men and 8.1 million women (Investment Trends, 2025). These figures reflect self-reported needs and guidance-seeking intent; the nature of advice sought and individual financial complexity vary significantly across this population.
Financial advisers collectively acquired approximately 300,000 new clients in 2025 — a rebound from 200,000 in 2024, but representing a fraction of the estimated unmet demand (Investment Trends, 2025). At that acquisition rate, current adviser capacity is absorbing roughly 2% of unmet need per year.
FAAA CEO Sarah Abood described the position directly: “The advice industry is struggling with a decline in adviser numbers which is not being offset by new entrants” (FAAA, 2026).
Why specialist life insurance advice is harder to find than ever
The declining total adviser count conceals a more concentrated shortage within life risk insurance specifically. Of Australia’s approximately 15,120 registered advisers, only around 7% focus primarily on life risk insurance (Adviser Ratings, 2023 Life Insurance Study). That represents roughly 1,060 specialist life risk advisers nationally.
Christopher Hall, AdvDipFP, Authorised Representative, AFSL 526688, has reviewed more than 500 life insurance policies for Australian families. A pattern Christopher Hall consistently identifies across the review base relates to what happens when an insurance adviser leaves the industry: policyholders holding policies without ongoing adviser oversight are the least likely to have had a premium or coverage review, regardless of how long the policy has been in force. The commission on those policies continues to flow to the licensee. The professional review does not follow.
As adviser numbers fall and the remaining pool concentrates increasingly in broader financial planning rather than insurance specialisation, access to specialist life risk insurance advice becomes more difficult — not less — for most Australian families.
The rise of AI-driven insurance information adds a further dimension to the access question. An Arrow Equities article examining where AI breaks down in life insurance covers the specific situations where the gap between AI-assisted research and professional advice is most material.
The insurance industry news and policyholder updates hub tracks the regulatory and market developments — insurer acquisitions, premium trends, and regulatory shifts — that affect policyholders navigating the market with less adviser access than a decade ago.
Frequently asked questions
How many financial advisers are there in Australia in 2026?
As at 11 June 2026, there were 15,120 individuals registered on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register, according to Padua Wealth analysis of ASIC data (Padua Wealth / riskinfo, 2026). Numbers have been broadly stable since mid-January 2026, recording a net movement of just 32 advisers over that period.
What caused the financial adviser shortage in Australia?
The primary structural drivers were the FASEA qualification requirements following the Hayne Royal Commission, the Life Insurance Framework remuneration changes introduced from 2018, and rising compliance costs for smaller advice practices. A more immediate factor was the introduction of new education requirements in December 2025, which produced a net decline of 330 advisers over six weeks — concentrated almost entirely in the limited-advice accounting segment. The cumulative result is a net exit of more than half the pre-Hayne adviser population — from approximately 33,000 to 15,120 by June 2026.
What drove the December 2025 adviser exits?
New education requirements that came into force in December 2025 produced a net decline of 330 advisers between 15 December 2025 and 15 January 2026, concentrated almost entirely in licensees providing limited or restricted SMSF advice — typically accounting practices operating under a limited AFSL. This segment had 445 advisers at the start of the 12-month period and only 164 remaining by June 2026, representing a reduction of more than 60% in 12 months (Padua Wealth / riskinfo, 2026).
Why is the financial adviser shortage expected to continue?
A legislated professional year creates a four-year structural lag in supply — meaning even a significant increase in new entrants today would not produce working advisers until 2030 or later. The FAAA’s 2026 submission to Jobs and Skills Australia cited this lag as the key supply-side constraint (FAAA, 2026).
How many Australians have unmet financial advice needs?
Investment Trends’ 2025 Financial Advice Report estimated 15.9 million Australian adults have unmet financial advice or guidance needs (Investment Trends, 2025). These figures reflect self-reported needs and guidance-seeking intent across a broad population — individual circumstances vary significantly.
How many advisers focus specifically on life insurance?
Only approximately 7% of Australia’s registered financial advisers focus primarily on life risk insurance, according to Adviser Ratings’ 2023 Life Insurance Study. Applied to the June 2026 register count of 15,120, that represents roughly 1,060 specialist life risk advisers nationally.
What is an orphaned insurance policy?
An orphaned policy is a life insurance policy where the original advising financial adviser has since left the industry, retired, or ceased to hold an AFSL licence — leaving the policy without active professional oversight. In Christopher Hall’s experience across 500+ policy reviews, policyholders in this situation are among the least likely to have had a premium or coverage review, regardless of how long the policy has been held.
What does an insurance review and benchmarking assessment involve?
A professional insurance review assesses existing life insurance, income protection, and TPD cover against current market alternatives — examining premium levels, coverage gaps, policy ownership structure, and whether a loyalty tax gap has opened — across six to ten insurers. A review confirms whether existing cover is appropriately structured and competitively priced given current individual circumstances.
Is an insurance review worth considering in this market?
For eligible clients, an Arrow Equities insurance review is complimentary.
As specialist life risk advisers in a market where that specialisation is increasingly scarce, Arrow Equities reviews life insurance, income protection, and TPD cover across six to ten insurers — benchmarking existing policies against current market rates and identifying gaps in coverage structure, ownership, and policy features.
The number of Australian policyholders managing insurance policies without active adviser oversight continues to grow as the adviser pool contracts. A review confirms whether existing cover remains appropriately structured and competitively priced — or whether the years since it was last assessed have opened a gap that a professional review can address.
About the AuthorChristopher Hall, AdvDipFP, is the principal financial adviser at Arrow Equities and an Authorised Representative under AFSL 526688. He has completed more than 500 life insurance policy reviews for Australian families, with a specialisation in life risk insurance.
Bibliography
# | Source | Type | Date |
1 | Padua Wealth 2026, Analysis of ASIC Financial Advisers Register data to 11 June 2026, as reported in: riskinfo 2026, ‘Adviser Numbers Fall by 439 in 12 Months’, riskinfo, 12 June 2026, viewed June 2026, <https://riskinfo.com.au/news/2026/06/12/adviser-numbers-fall-by-439-in-12-months/> | Tier 2 — editorial / ASIC data analysis | 12 June 2026 |
2 | Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) 2026, Submission to Jobs and Skills Australia — 2026 Occupation Shortage List Stakeholder Survey, FAAA, Sydney, reported in Financial Standard, 7 April 2026 | Tier 2 — industry body submission | 2026 |
3 | Investment Trends 2025, 2025 Financial Advice Report, Investment Trends, Sydney, reported in Financial Standard, 20 April 2026 | Tier 2 — independent research | 2025 |
4 | ASIC 2026, Financial Advisers Register, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Canberra, viewed June 2026, data sourced via Padua Wealth analysis | Tier 1 — regulatory | June 2026 |
5 | Adviser Ratings 2023, 2023 Life Insurance Study, Adviser Ratings, Sydney | Tier 2 — independent research | 2023 |
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