New research reveals high cost of regulatory burden for public practitioners

This article was current at the time of publication.

Robust regulations are vital ingredients of market efficiency and consumer protection. However, the complex, multilayered nature of Australia's current regulatory environment is alienating many of the consumers it aims to serve. It is also placing significant strain on public practitioners, and new research has finally put a dollar figure on the burden.

Soon-to-be released research commissioned by CPA Australia shows that, on average, 5 to 10 per cent of a practitioner's annual turnover is consumed as a result of regulatory conflicts. In New South Wales alone, the direct cost of regulatory burden per business was $58,000 in 2016, and this created a direct cost of about $10.6 billion to the New South Wales economy.

Keddie Waller, CPA Australia's head of Public Practice, says much of the cost comes down to the fragmented nature of regulations.

Australia has had over a decade of siloed regulations.

“Australia has had over a decade of siloed regulations.

“There's the Corporations Act, the Taxation Services Act, the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, plus there are obligations around the ASIC Act, amongst others. Often there is no harmonisation between these regulatory frameworks or even within a single regulatory framework.

“Depending on how the licensing and registration system is set up, a practitioner could need to hold multiple licences and/or registrations to be able to provide one piece of advice.”

Shouldering the regulatory burden

Practices with a limited Australian Financial Services licence (AFSL) are required to pay a $1500 annual fee to ASIC for holding their licence, and a graduated levy of $934 for each person authorised under the same licence.

The ASIC registration fee for self-managed super fund (SMSF) auditors has been increased from $107 to $1,927, and ASIC imposes an $899 charge to cancel an SMSF auditor registration.
In addition to registration fees, there are higher compliance costs for firms offering financial advice, including high educational costs associated with the new Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) regime, as well as ongoing expenses for bridging course requirements and continuing professional development (CPD), which can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Waller stresses that while CPA Australia is a strong supporter of appropriate regulation, the current siloed model creates costly duplication and requires practitioners to bear a disproportionate share of the burden.

“A lot of advisers are small business owners trying to run their own business and service their clients while also navigating regulatory complexity,” she says.

Industry voices

CPA Australia's research finds that almost 90 per cent of public practitioners believe the compliance burden is an issue, and less than a quarter say they have a clear understanding of obligations. Practitioners also want to change the tax registration system to avoid duplications.

CPA Australia also conducted 10 focus groups with members across the country in July this year into the regulatory burden.

One practitioner from Melbourne says that streamlining regulations would improve their effectiveness.

“If you simplified it all and didn't have all these layers, the regulator could get on with their job of actually trying to push out the rotten eggs, and it'd make people that do the right thing have less cost, less time, less effort to stay compliant, because that's [what] most of us try and do.”

Another practitioner in a Sydney focus group expressed concerns that regulatory complexity was making the industry a less attractive career.

"I've noticed now fewer and fewer young people want to get involved in our profession because it has become so complicated. A very big barrier. I cannot stress it any more than that."

“I've noticed now fewer and fewer young people want to get involved in our profession because it has become so complicated. A very big barrier. I cannot stress it any more than that.”

A Canberra-based practitioner notes: “The problem with everything at the moment is that, if you want to be multifaceted and you want to provide multi-services, you've got to be licensed by everybody and I think I've got to do 60 hours [of CPD per annum].”

Counting the cost of regulatory burden

CPA Australia’s research also found complex regulations may be preventing many consumers from accessing advice. It shows that almost 50 per cent of practitioners have increased their fees in the past year to cover increasing compliance costs.

“The cost of complying with all the regulations makes providing advice more expensive and limits the number of people who can access it,” says Waller.

“Clients are just looking for simple answers, but they are often not simple because of the layers of legislative requirements.”

Rebuilding the framework

For regulations to be effective, they must be fit-for-purpose and meet policy intent, Waller says.

“There's a habit that when something goes wrong, we have an inquiry and a new piece of legislation emerges that adds a layer to existing regulatory requirements.

“The end objective for us is improving the accessibility of affordable, quality advice for consumers from their choice of trusted adviser.

“We need a holistic review of the regulatory framework or look at what we really want to achieve through regulation, determine how we get there, and start again.”