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FAAA Professional Code
Our world class Professional Code is a key component of our Professional Framework, along with our Best Practice Standards and wider FAAA member guidance.
The Framework fosters both high professional standards and consumer protection. We are dedicated to helping FAAA members understand the Code and how best to provide professional services to their clients. Breaches of the FAAA Professional Code are taken seriously by the FAAA and may result in a member being subject to our Disciplinary Process.
FAAA members are bound by the FAAA Professional Code, which brings together a comprehensive set of ethical principles.
Professionalism for FAAA members
FAAA members are bound by the FAAA Professional Code which brings together a comprehensive set of ethical principles, practice standards and conduct rules.
The professional provision of financial planning or related services is a role imbued with trust and confidence in the Australian community. Financial planners are entrusted with their clients’ financial security and have the capacity, through their professional engagements to profoundly influence their clients’ financial future.
How an FAAA member manages his or her relationship with the client and conducts him or herself professionally during the course of a client engagement is of critical importance professionally.
All FAAA members must:
- Identify and act in accordance with their duties both to the profession and to the public interest the profession serves.
- Avoid situations and conduct which reflects adversely on their integrity or fitness as a financial planner, membership of the financial planning profession and the FAAA, or upon the FAAA.
FAAA Professional Code
FAAA members are bound by the FAAA Professional Code, which brings together a comprehensive set of ethical principles.
Download and print your copy of the FAAA Professional Code.
Code guidance
From time to time, the FAAA issues guidance in relation to the whole of any part of the FAAA Professional Code and may elaborate on its application. The Guidance is an enforceable component of the Code.
Breaches of the Code
Our members play an important role in ensuring we maintain high standards within the FAAA membership. If you suspect that another member may have breached the Code, we ask that you let us know by email to professional.standards@faaa.au.
FAAA Best Practice Standards
Download the FAAA Best Practice Standards document.
To support practitioner members in applying the Professional Code in practice, the FAAA provides the Best Practice Standards, which set out guidance as to how to provide the Code in day-to-day practice. As the financial planning landscape changes, we update the Best Practice Standards to ensure it remains relevant to the regulatory environment at the time.
FAAA Professional Code FAQs
Following the release of the FAAA Professional Code, we felt it would be helpful to provide answers to some of the questions we have received regarding the updated Code, and how it applied to our members.
If you have a question on the Professional Code please feel free to email the Professionalism Team’s dedicated inbox professional.standards@faaa.au.
The Professional Code applies to all FAAA Members.
The Best Practice Standards Guidance is non enforceable guidance issued to members to assist them in understanding their obligations under the Professional Code.
FAAA members are rightly proud of their membership and the high standards of conduct this implies. To ensure that the reputation of FAAA Members is not impacted by inappropriate conduct of any individual member, the FAAA maintains a dedicated Professional Standards Team to investigate and review member conduct. Where the FAAA has concerns regarding the conduct of one of its members (usually because of a referral from another FAAA member or because of a complaint from a consumer) the Professional Standards Team will contact the member in question, set out the reason for the concerns and the evidence we have received, to enable the member to set out their response to the issues raised. There then may be further questions and requests for evidence, drawn from a number of sources. The Professional Standards Team will then form a view as to whether the evidence shows that the member’s conduct breaches the FAAA Code. If a potential breach of the Code is identified the Professional Standards Team will prepare a report for the Conduct Review Commission.
The Chair of the Conduct Review Commission will decide whether to initiate formal disciplinary proceedings. In the event that these go forward the Conduct Review Commission will convene a disciplinary panel. This is comprised of one of either the Chair or Deputy Chairs of the Conduct Review Commission, and two practitioner members. This means that the Conduct of members is reviewed by members.
The FAAA has a range of resources available for members seeking support with ethical decisions:
- Members can contact Ethi-call, a free hotline to confidentially discuss ethical issues.
- To assist with ethical dilemmas the FAAA has developed the “CURSIVE” methodology with the accompanying guidance – view the fact sheet.
- FAAA members have access to a range of free and discounted ethics resources via the member portal, including a number of CPD eligible webinars on ethical topics.
- The FAAA’s Professional Standards Team are always happy to discuss ethical queries and dilemmas. Please email professional.standards@faaa.au.
- Please see our factsheet on obtaining support with ethical dilemmas for more information – view the fact sheet.
Please reach out to the FAAA Professionalism team via email at Professional.Standards@faaa.au, who will be happy to help.
FAAA Scoping Guidance
The FAAA Scoping Guidance is designed to support practitioners to use their professional judgement in delivering high quality advice to their clients.
Its focus is the process of identifying the advice the client needs and how best to ensure that advice obligations are met, highlighting key skills, ethical considerations and relevant regulatory and legislative sources.
FAAA Conduct & Integrity Regulations
FAAA Members hold themselves to a high standard of professional conduct. We consistently receive feedback from Members that they expect their association to ensure that those standards are met by their peers in the association. This is reflected in the very small proportion of FAAA members who are subject to ASIC enforcement and disciplinary action from year to year. Whilst the FAAA receives a very small number of reports of unethical or unprofessional conduct each year (involving less than 0.1% of our membership), a significant proportion of the reports we do received are referred by other FAAA members, who are concerned that a fellow member’s actions may not have met the duty to their client, or the wider duty to the profession or the public trust.
In order to ensure that Members continue to meet the high standards that they expect of each other, the FAAA maintains a Professional Standards function, as well as an independent conduct panel (the Conduct Review Commission – CRC) to oversee members actions and investigate concerns that conduct has fallen below the required standard.
Where a report or complaint is received, we follow a fair and robust process to investigate and – where necessary – take appropriate action. Details of this can be found here.
Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA) Constitution
The FAAA Constitution outlines how the FAAA, in conjunction with its member elected Board, should conduct its operations. The Constitution also imposes certain requirements on the FAAA in terms of the publication of reports and regulations.
Membership Regulation
The FAAA Membership Regulation, in conjunction with the FAAA Constitution, sets out the obligations and rights and privileges of each sub-category of membership, identifies eligibility criteria and elaborates on membership requirements.
Regulation 02/04 – use of the FAAA brand and CFP® marks
This regulation explains the use of the FAAA brand by members, including the use of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, CFP®, Financial Planner AFP® trademarks and associated logos.
