“We can disagree about what those [education standard] changes should be, but I do think that they had an impact and played a part in the decisions of some advisers who have left or might leave in 2026. But I don't think it's just the education standards that are behind that,” Ms Abood said.

“For many of the people I've spoken with, they're feeling that the way the Royal Commission was addressed and the impact and the outcomes of that, they feel as if they've been loaded up with all the blame for a lot of things that went wrong in the industry completely unfairly.

“They're running great, complying, client-focused practises, and yet they're carrying this burden.”

Last year it was reported that the number of advisers in Australia shrank below 19,000 and is predicted to reach 13,000 by the end of 2023.

Ms Abood said these factors, including the “damaging publicity” from the Royal Commission and “regulatory overreach”, has resulted in the decline of adviser numbers.

“… for many of them, that's a big factor in their decision to leave and I think that many have made that decision already,” she said.

“I don't think that changing the standards now will necessarily bring a huge number of advisers back to the industry. We need to do more than that.”

Listen to the full podcast with Ms Abood here.