Quality of Advice Review legislation hits a snag with unintended drafting oversight

​​​​NIBA is in contact with Treasury to ensure that the amended legislation accurately reflects the government’s intent

An unintended oversight in the drafting of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes legislation that was tabled in parliament last week would have inadvertently eliminated insurance commissions where brokers were providing general advice.  

In the proposed drafting, the current conflicted remuneration exemption for general insurance commissions had inadvertently been removed except where the broker was providing personal advice and had met the commission disclosure and consent obligations. 

Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones, clarified that the wording was not intentional, stating “The intent is to maintain the current exemptions for conflicted remuneration on insurance matters, except that advisers will now need to seek their client’s consent before accepting commissions if the adviser provided personal advice." 

Recognising the urgency of addressing these unintended consequences, the Minister affirmed the government's commitment to resolving the matter promptly. “These unintended consequences will be addressed so that the law reflects the government’s position. We will seek to resolve this as soon as possible.” 

NIBA is in contact with Treasury to ensure that the amended legislation accurately reflects the intent and does not result in further unintended consequences for members.  

The Bill is currently under review by the Senate Economics Legislation Committee. NIBA will be providing a submission to the committee, highlighting the need to address the drafting error and supporting the commission disclosure and consent obligations as they apply to personal advice.