MenuIn the three years since the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) merged to become the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA), the FAAA has become the unified voice speaking for professional advisers in Australia, says FAAA Chair David Sharpe.
“This Friday (3 April 2026) marks the three-year anniversary of the FAAA, formed with the overwhelming support and votes of members of both heritage organisations. Together, we now have 10,799 members, and the future of the profession is bright,” Sharpe says.
“What I am most proud of is that the FAAA saw the coming together at the board, management and most importantly at the member level like we had always been one.
“The FAAA very quickly formed its own identity with members. Our communities have come together and created grassroots events and connections for members right across the country.
“The release of the 2030 Strategic vision and the Policy Platform at Congress 2024 consolidated what the FAAA stands for and what it hopes to achieve.
“With considerable challenges such as CSLR and confusion over AML – the benefit of a professional voice speaking for our members has never been more important,” Sharpe says.
Some key milestones for the FAAA since the merger include:
- The launch of the Advice Academy in November 2025 to help build and support a pipeline of new advisers entering the financial advice profession
- The announcement by the ATO in September 2024, after consistent lobbying from the FAAA, that greater deductions for upfront financial advice fees are now available
- The launch of the Advice Ambassadors program in February 2025, aiming to pair each member of parliament with a financial adviser in their electorate, ensuring their awareness of our issues and the value we add to local communities.
- The signing of a memorandum of understanding in November 2024 with FPSB India, a subsidiary of the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB), and the FAAA, to promote cross-border mobility and professional development for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP) aspirants and professionals.
- The November 2024 launch of a major consumer digital marketing campaign, promoting professional financial advice to consumers and explaining the value of obtaining advice from a member of the FAAA
- The September 2024 launch of an upgraded Find a Planner tool to help members connect with their ideal potential clients and grow their businesses
- The launch of the FAAA careers centre in June 2024 which features advice related roles at all stages, and which is actively promoted to student members and graduate members seeking employment in advisory firms.
Marisa Broome, FPA chair from October 2018 until May 2022, said the goal was to present a strong unified voice to stakeholders, and this has been achieved.
“It was very evident to then FPA CEO Dante de Gori, and me, that when the AFA and FPA joined together to meet with our politicians and regulators, we had a far greater impact,” Broome says.
“The AFA and the FPA were more similar than different – and in fact shared well over 1,000 members. It made sense to join resources and be able to represent the majority of the professional financial advice sector.
“It was fortunate that our work with previous AFA presidents had built a lot of trust. The openminded approach of then AFA president Sam Perera, and the trust we continued to build, provided the opportunity for the merger to be presented to the AFA and FPA boards.”
Sam Perera, AFA president from October 2021 until the time of the merger, said the AFA pursued the merger to ensure the success and longevity of the 77-year-old Association against the backdrop of a profession that desperately needed a strong, unified voice.
“We were convinced that coming together as the FAAA would enable us to be better resourced, more sophisticated, and a respected voice for the profession,” Perera says.
“It is clear that the FAAA has indeed risen to be the legitimate voice for the profession, advocating relentlessly for policy settings that enable financial advisers and their practices to thrive.
“Another important measure of success was our Association’s ability to keep members at the heart of everything it pursues. To that end, I congratulate David Sharpe, the FAAA Board and FAAA CEO Sarah Abood for their tireless work in translating the vision we had in 2023 into a reality.”
Sharpe also paid tribute to board members who recently stepped off the transitional FAAA board: Patricia Garcia and Katherine Hayes.
“The creation of the transitional FAAA board following the merger, comprising eight directors from the FPA and four from the AFA, and tasked with overseeing the transition and guiding the new association for three years, was extremely successful. I thank Patricia and Katherine for their service to the profession and their activity on the board over the past three years.”
FAAA CEO, Sarah Abood says the one constant for the financial advice profession is legislative change.
“The overwhelming vote to merge the two associations was a strong endorsement, with almost 97 per cent of members who voted, across both heritage associations, having voted to come together. It was a clear message that financial advisers wanted a unified membership body to represent them, support them and to navigate the ongoing legislative and regulatory change that faces the profession.
“While the FAAA has achieved much over the past three years, there is still work to be done and the policy and advocacy team’s work is continuing apace.”
“We are proud to represent professional financial advisers and the great work our members do every day, helping Australians become better off financially and achieve their goals and dreams.”