About

As Australia’s leading professional association for financial advice professionals, Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) advocates for the interests of financial advisers and their clients across the country.

The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) was formed in 2023 following the merger of the two leading financial planning bodies in Australia – the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA). With this merger, a new, united professional association that advocates for interests of financial advisers and their clients across the country was created. Today it is the largest association representing financial advisers in Australia.

We are committed to promoting the highest professional standards in the financial advice industry, advocating in the interests of both consumers and advisers, and helping all Australians achieve their financial goals. Our mission is to create a positive, professional, and collaborative home for our members that empowers them to build a better financial future for Australians.

Members of the FAAA can access a range of professional development opportunities, networking events, and resources that help them stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and regulations. They also have the opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals and contribute to the ongoing growth and development of the profession.

Our Vision

Through our members, we stand with Australians for a better financial future.

WE HAVE 5 key roles to play:

  1. Represent interests of the public: Our members represent best practice financial planning that puts the interest of the client first. We actively champion the need for a clear separation between product sales and advice, because Australians deserve trusted and transparent financial advice.
  2. Represent interests of members: Our strong ties with government and regulators in financial planning positions us as the collective voice of our members. We maintain strong relationships with all key stakeholders and fight for fair outcomes that advance our profession.
  3. Foster high professional standards: We create a professional culture of accountability and self-regulation, setting and enforcing professional and ethical standards that result in the highest quality financial advice.
  4. Facilitate world class education: We are the only Australian body licensed to administer and deliver the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation, the international gold standard and highest certification available to financial planners worldwide.
  5. Provide professional development: We support our members with a high calibre program of continued professional development designed to enhance their knowledge and skills, and support them in financial planning excellence.

Strategic priorities

Our MAC strategy stands for Members, Advocacy and Consumers. These pillars and the related strategic priorities guide our work from 2020 – 2025:

  • Members: FAAA to be the professional body of choice for the financial planning profession
    • Lead the profession on the financial planning/planner model of the future.
    • Uphold the CFP® designation as the number one choice for the profession.
    • Expand our education, CPD and specialisation offers for members.
  • Advocacy: FAAA to be the voice of the profession
    • Lead the policy and reform debate for the financial planning profession.
    • Implement a policy vision to ensure a growing and sustainable future for financial planning.
    • Be the voice and professional body for the financial planning profession.
  • Consumers: To showcase the value of financial advice among all Australians, increasing awareness and use of financial planners
    • Represent consumers in the development of public policy.
    • Increase consumer awareness and use of financial planning.
    • Elevate the financial planning profession’s role and contribution to the community.

History of the association

The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) was created in April 2023 following the merger of the Financial Planning Association of Australia Limited (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers Limited (AFA), two of Australia’s largest and longest standing associations of financial planners and advisers.

The FAAA unites the heritage of both associations and represents financial planners and advisers across Australia.

The FPA was formed in 1992 as a merger between The Australian Society of Investment and Financial Advisers and the International Association of Financial Planning. In 1999 it launched the CFP Professional Education Program, the international gold standard and highest certification available to financial planners worldwide. Leading into the merger with the AFA, the FPA represented over 10,000 members and worked towards changing the face of financial planning, from an industry to a profession that earned consumer confidence and trust, and advocated that better financial advice influenced the financial wellbeing of all Australians.

The AFA was a professional association for financial advisers that dated back to 1946 (existing in various forms and under various names). It had a long history of advocating for the best interests of financial advisers and their clients, through working with the government, regulators and other stakeholders. With a legacy of operating in the life insurance sector, it had substantially broadened its member base over a number of decades. The AFA’s focus was on promoting the value of advice and creating events and other opportunities to enable members to grow and share best practice.

These qualities of advocacy, education, and professionalism, from both the FPA and AFA, will continue to drive the work of the FAAA into the future.