“Our first public output for the unmet advice needs project is a consultation paper, which seeks to gather information from industry participants (licensees and individual advisers) to help us understand what impediments [or] issues exist in relation to them providing limited and affordable personal advice to consumers,” the regulator said.

“Our focus is on what practical steps ASIC or the industry could take to promote limited and affordable advice.”

ASIC said its unmet advice needs project was “specifically seeking to address the concern that consumers may find it difficult to access affordable personal advice”.

“Through previous consumer research ASIC has undertaken, we know that consumers want access to ‘limited’ (‘single-issue’) and affordable personal advice,” the regulator said.

ASIC said while the legislative settings around the sector were the responsibility of government, the regulator was focused on “whether it can assist the industry [to] overcome some of the barriers it faces in providing good-quality ‘limited’ and affordable personal advice through actions within its regulatory purview”.

“For example, we are currently exploring matters such as whether further guidance or guidance in a different form would help the industry,” ASIC stated.

The regulator added that as part of the unmet advice needs project, it was also undertaking research to ascertain “the true cost of providing advice”.