The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA)’s specialist designations are designed for financial planners looking to master and enhance their offering in speciality areas of advice and to maintain these skills on an ongoing basis.

Members of the FAAA can apply to the FAAA for this designation if they:

• Are a CFP® professional or Financial Planner AFP member
• Have completed the Aged Care Steps Accredited Aged Care Professional^TM program or refresh, subject to additional requirements based on completion date as shown in table below.

¹ The completion date appears on the certificate issued by Aged Care Steps.

² If the certificate date is more than two years before application for the FAAA designation, evidence of nine (9) hours of CPD in an aged care related area in either the current or previous CPD year must be provided to the FAAA.

An application form for the FAAA Aged Care Specialist TM designation is available here.  The completed form should be returned to the FAAA along with the Accredited Aged Care Professional TM certificate provided by Aged Care Steps, showing a date from 1 January 2022. If the refresh requirements are met a new certificate is issued by Aged Care Steps.

The FAAA does not charge any application fees or increased membership fees for financial planners who hold this designation.

The Accredited Aged Care Professional ^TM is a training program offered by Aged Care Steps (ACS) to equip financial planners with the knowledge and skills required to give advice on aged care.

It is run as either face-to-face workshops or interactive online workshops in small groups. The full structure of the program is currently:

• Five pre-reading modules and CPD quiz assessment (multiple choice and online)
• Two days face-to-face workshop or four 4-hour live webinars
• Activities and supplementary readings and videos (optional, but recommended)
• Workshop folder with workshop materials and other advice tools
• Assignment based on case studies
• Online final assessment (2-hour, multiple choice and open book)
• Post-workshop 10 week email series to reinforce learning and provide practical business building tips (optional).

The program uses case studies to demonstrate the rules and follows the ACS unique 9-step advice process ^TM.

The full program is approved for 30 CPD hours, across all four legislated CPD categories. Registration is through Aged Care Steps with details available at https://agedcaresteps.com.au/accreditation  

No. Anyone can attend the program, but only eligible FAAA members will be able to apply for the FAAA Aged Care Specialist ^TM designation.

The accreditation program is designed for financial planners, as it takes attendees through a 9-step advice process that is mapped to the financial planning process. However, other advice professionals or those working for aged care providers may also benefit attending the workshops.

The Aged Care Steps Accredited Aged Care Professional ^TM program is an educational program, aimed at providing financial planners and other advice professionals with an understanding of the aged care rules and the practicalities of how to implement aged care advice into their own businesses. This program is the pathway to eligibility for the FAAA’s specialist designation.

Upon successful completion of the Accreditation program, an accreditation certificate and logo will be provided to help with marketing activities and to create client awareness of this advice capability. However, Accreditation itself does not confer authorisation to give aged care advice to clients, as requirements under the Corporations Act and licensing rules (including particular AFSL compliance

policies) need to be complied with. Many AFSLs have included the requirement to complete the Aged Care Steps Accreditation program in compliance policies for aged care advice authorisation.

The FAAA Aged Care Specialist ^TM designation provides professional recognition of expertise in aged care advice, with credibility provided through recognition by the professional body.

Financial planners who completed the Aged Care Steps Accreditation or the Aged Care Steps Accreditation Refresh before 1 January 2022 can still apply for the FAAA designation but additional requirements may be needed.

The course was improved from 1 January 2020 and assessment components of the accreditation program changed again on 1 January 2022. Financial planners who completed the accreditation (or refresh):

• Between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 need to complete the assessment components – assignment and final online exam. They may also choose to attend a Refresh workshop to update knowledge.
• Before 1 January 2020 need to either complete the Accreditation Refresh (workshop, assignment and final online exam) or redo the full Accreditation program with Aged Care Steps.

To ensure knowledge is current and that financial planners are actively working in aged care advice, financial planners who completed the Aged Care Steps Accredited Aged Care Professional ^TM program or the Aged Care Steps accreditation refresh more than two years before application to the FAAA for the FAAA Aged Care Specialist ^TM designation , will be required to provide the FAAA with evidence of at least nine (9) hours of CPD in an aged care related field within the current or previous CPD year.

Details on the Accreditation Refresh workshop are available at https://agedcaresteps.com.au/cpd-and-workshops

The Accreditation Refresh workshop is a shorter workshop program run by Aged Care Steps. It involves an online interactive workshop, with additional supporting videos. This is aimed at financial planners who have already completed the Aged Care Steps Accredited Aged Care Professional ^TM program and need to update or deepen their knowledge and skills.

The case-study assignment and an online assessment must be successfully completed after attending the workshop and an overall 70% pass mark is required.

Once successfully completed, an updated accreditation certificate will be provided by Aged Care Steps. This certificate (showing a date from 1 January 2022) can be submitted to the FAAA with an application for the FAAA Aged Care Specialist ^TM designation.

The Accreditation Program offered by Aged Care Steps is unique due to the practical approach it takes to helping financial planners understand how to implement advice. It is the only course that qualifies a financial planner for the FAAA Aged Care Specialist designation.

If you have completed an aged care subject as part of a Bachelor (AQF7), Advanced Graduate Diploma (AQF8) or Masters (AQF9) qualification with an Australian tertiary institution, you can apply to Aged Care Steps for a partial Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) on course requirements.

If RPL is approved, a discount on the Accreditation program fee will be offered and exemption from the pre-reading component is allowed. Attendees will still receive the pre-reading materials and can choose to complete the assessment to earn the attached CPD hours for that component.

Requests for RPL should be made via email to Aged Care Steps at [email protected] with a copy of academic transcript provided.

The Aged Care Steps Accredited Aged Care Professional™ program costs $2,300 (plus GST). 

You can find the cost of the Aged Care Steps Accredited Aged Care Professional ^TM program on the Aged Care Steps website at https://agedcaresteps.com.au/accreditation. There is no further cost for FAAA members to apply and receive recognition as an FAAA Aged Care Specialist.

If you completed the full program before 1 January 2019 you will need to complete the Aged Care Steps Accreditation Refresh workshop and assessment. Contact Aged Care Steps on 1300 226816 or visit www.agedcaresteps.com.au/training for further details.

Email [email protected] or contact the FAAA member services team on 1300 337 301.