Status at a glance
| Measure | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DBFO tranche 1 | Law. Passed and in force. | Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Act 2024 (No. 67 of 2024) |
| Replace the SOA with a client advice record | Exposure draft only. Released 21 March 2025, consultation closed 2 May 2025. We found no bill carrying it on Parliament's bills list on 6 October 2026. | Exposure draft Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2025: Delivering Better Financial Outcomes, Schedule 3 |
| 'Streamlined statements of advice' | Announced. The Government says it will proceed 'as soon as possible'. No bill text and no date published. | Minister's National Press Club address and Treasury fact sheet, 19 August 2026 |
| Move the record-keeping rule into the Act, with a penalty | Exposure draft only. Part of the March 2025 draft. | Exposure draft explanatory materials, paras 1.125 to 1.131 |
| Best interests duty and safe harbour | Announced. Keep the duty and the safe harbour steps, removing 'only the broadest safe-harbour step'. No draft legislation published. | Treasury fact sheet, 19 August 2026, item 5.3 |
| New class of adviser | Announced. Limited at first to APRA-regulated super funds and life insurers, with a review after three years. | Treasury fact sheet, item 5.2 |
| Review of the Code of Ethics | Announced. | Treasury fact sheet, item 5.4 |
What has actually passed
Tranche 1 is the only part of DBFO that is law. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Act 2024 is Act No. 67 of 2024. Treasury's explanatory materials for the 2025 draft say it gave legal certainty for paying adviser fees from a member's superannuation account, removed red tape that adds to the cost of advice with no consumer benefit, and improved consent requirements for certain insurance commissions. The fee and consent changes are covered in ongoing fee arrangements and fee disclosure statements.
Tranche 1 did not touch the SOA. Sections 946A to 947D of the Corporations Act still set when an SOA must be given and what it must contain. The Record of Advice rules for further advice are unchanged too.
What the March 2025 draft says about the client advice record
On 21 March 2025 the then Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, released draft legislation that would 'replace the statement of advice with a more fit-for-purpose client advice record'. Schedule 3 of the exposure draft, and its explanatory materials, describe the proposal this way. Everything in this section is draft.
- Same trigger as an SOA. The circumstances in which a client advice record must be provided would stay the same as for an SOA. It would still be given to the client, and failing to give one would still attract a civil penalty.
- A new content list. The words 'Client Advice Record' featured prominently, the scope of the advice, the advice, the reasons for the advice including how it meets the client's objectives, financial situation and needs, the cost of the advice to the client and benefits received by the provider, and the provider's name and contact details.
- A presentation test. The contents must be expressed and presented in a way that, having regard to clarity, conciseness and effectiveness, is fit for the purpose of helping the client decide whether to act on the advice.
- Any format. The explanatory materials call the record technologically neutral. It would not need to be a written statement. They give an audio recording or an email as possibly suitable for simple, single-issue advice.
- Replacement products. Where the advice recommends replacing one product with another, the charges and lost benefits would still need to be disclosed.
- Exceptions carried over. Small investments under a prescribed threshold, further personal advice where circumstances have not significantly changed, basic deposit products, and advice with no recommendation to buy or sell.
- Timing. Schedule 3 would start 12 months after Royal Assent and apply to advice provided on or after that date.
The Minister's release said the remaining tranche 2 pieces would be consulted on and combined with this draft, to be introduced into Parliament as a single package. The March 2025 draft did not include the best interests duty changes or the new class of adviser. The release said legislation for those was still being developed.
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What the Government announced on 19 August 2026
The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Dr Daniel Mulino, addressed the National Press Club on 19 August 2026. On advice documents he said the Government was 'announcing significant progress on the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes package, enabling us to move forward with measures such as targeted superannuation prompts, intrafund charging and streamlined statements of advice'. He said those measures would be prioritised.
Treasury's fact sheet of the same date lists the financial advice items. Item 5.1 is 'Proceeding with changes to intra-fund charging, targeted superannuation prompts and statements of advice as soon as possible.' Item 5.3 is 'Simplifying the Best Interests Duty reform, by maintaining the existing obligation and safe harbour steps, and removing only the broadest safe-harbour step that is a barrier to scaled advice.' Item 5.4 is a review of the Code of Ethics.
Four things the announcement does not tell you:
- The name. The Minister and the fact sheet both say 'statements of advice'. Neither uses the words 'client advice record'. Whether the final bill keeps that name is not confirmed.
- The text. No revised draft has been published, so we do not know whether the content list or the record-keeping changes from March 2025 will carry through unchanged.
- The date. There is no introduction date and no start date. The media release says the Government 'will continue consulting with industry, consumer groups, regulators and other stakeholders to progress legislation'.
- Which safe harbour step. The fact sheet says 'the broadest safe-harbour step' without naming a paragraph. Step (g), the catch-all 'any other step' paragraph in s 961B(2), is the obvious candidate, but that is our reading until draft legislation says so. This is also a change from March 2025, when the Minister's release spoke of 'removing the safe harbour steps'.
On 6 October 2026 we checked the Minister's media releases, Treasury's consultation list and the bills listed on the Parliament of Australia website. We found no later announcement, no new draft and no bill named for these measures. A measure can also travel inside a wider Treasury bill, so check the bills list yourself before relying on this.
SOA, ROA and the proposed client advice record compared
| Statement of Advice | Record of Advice | Client advice record (March 2025 draft) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Current law | Current law | Proposed, not legislated |
| When | Personal advice to a retail client, unless an exception applies | Further advice where circumstances have not significantly changed, and other limited cases | Same circumstances as an SOA |
| Given to the client? | Yes | Kept on file. The client can ask for a copy | Yes |
| Content | Prescribed by ss 947B to 947D | Reg 7.7.09: the advice, or brief particulars of the recommendations and their basis | Scope, advice, reasons, costs and benefits, provider details |
| Format | A document | Any form | Any form, including audio or email for simple advice |
| Does it carry compliance evidence? | In practice, often | Partly | Not its job. That moves to the file |
Why the file note matters more if the advice document gets shorter
This is the part of the draft advisers should read closely, whatever the final bill looks like. The explanatory materials say the record-keeping requirements are 'purposefully distinct' from the client advice record, so that the client document is focused on helping the client decide, 'rather than demonstrating the process the provider has performed to meet their regulatory obligations'. They add that this 'contrasts with the SOA which can in practice contain information relevant to record-keeping and proof of compliance'.
Today a long SOA does two jobs. It tells the client what you recommend, and it carries a good deal of your evidence: the fact find summary, the alternatives considered, the replacement product comparison. If the client document shrinks to scope, advice, reasons and costs, that evidence still has to exist. It just lives in the file.
The draft says how. Providers would be 'expected to exercise their judgement' to ensure the records can support their ability to demonstrate compliance, including with the best interests duty. For simple advice, the records may be those generated in developing the advice. For comprehensive advice, 'some bespoke files may be appropriate'. The draft would also move the record-keeping rule from the ASIC instrument into the Act and attach a penalty of 50 penalty units for not keeping appropriate records.
None of that is law. But the duties it points at already are. ASIC Instrument 2024/508 already requires records of the information relied on and action taken to meet the best interests duty, the advice and reasons, and conflicts, kept for seven years. The Financial Services and Credit Panel has already acted against advisers whose files could not show their process. We set those out in ASIC file note requirements for financial advisers.
What to do now
- Keep giving SOAs. The law has not changed. Do not shorten an SOA below the current content requirements in anticipation.
- Keep relying on the safe harbour as it stands. All seven steps in s 961B(2) are still in the Act. See the safe harbour steps explained.
- Audit where your evidence lives. For three recent files, mark which parts of your best interests evidence appear only in the SOA. Those are the parts that would need a home in file notes under a shorter document.
- Write the conversation down now. Scope, inquiries, options ruled out and the client's response are easiest to capture on the day. Our guide on what to record in a financial advice file note has the full list.
- Watch for the bill. When draft legislation appears, check the content list, the record-keeping section and the start date before changing templates.
What that looks like on the file
This note holds the process evidence that a short client document would leave out. The client is invented.
- Scope agreed
Callum asked whether to combine his two superannuation accounts. Advice limited to that question and to the insurance held inside each account. He did not want a review of his investments outside super, and we explained that this means the advice will not consider his overall asset mix.
- Inquiries made
- Obtained the latest member statement and insurance schedule for both funds before the meeting.
- Asked about his health. He had knee surgery in March 2026 and is still seeing a specialist.
- Asked whether either fund is receiving employer contributions. Only the first fund is.
- Options considered
- Roll the second fund into the first. Lower total fees. He would lose the death and total and permanent disability cover held in the second fund.
- Keep both. Higher fees, cover kept. Not preferred on cost.
- Roll over and apply to increase cover in the first fund. Explained that new cover may be assessed on his current health, and the knee surgery may lead to an exclusion or a refusal.
- Advice and reasons
Recommended he apply for the increased cover in the first fund before closing the second, and only roll over once the insurer's decision is known. Reason: his cover in the second fund cannot be replaced with certainty given his recent surgery, and the fee saving does not outweigh losing it.
- Conflicts
None identified. We receive no commission from either fund. Fixed advice fee disclosed and agreed.
- Client response and next steps
- Callum agreed. He asked how long the insurer's decision takes. Told him we will ask the fund and let him know.
- Us: lodge the application for increased cover by 15 September 2026 and send the written advice document.
- Callum: send his surgeon's report by 12 September 2026.
CallNote drafts a note like this from the transcript of the meeting, in your licensee's format, for you to check and publish. It never records the call and never stores audio, the published note is sealed and locked, and data is hosted in Sydney. It does not write SOAs, and there is no native integration with Xplan or AdviserLogic, so for those the note goes to the client file by PDF or copy and paste. Firms on HubSpot or Microsoft Dynamics 365 can publish the note to the client's record. More on CallNote for financial advisers, or start with the best interests duty file note checklist.
Common questions
Is the Statement of Advice being replaced?
Not yet. The Statement of Advice is still required under the Corporations Act 2001. Draft legislation released on 21 March 2025 proposed replacing it with a client advice record, and on 19 August 2026 the Government said it will proceed with changes to statements of advice as soon as possible. We could not find a bill for it on Parliament's bills list in early October 2026, and no start date has been announced.
What is a client advice record?
It is the document proposed in Treasury's March 2025 exposure draft to replace the Statement of Advice. Under the draft it would be given to a retail client in the same circumstances as an SOA and contain the scope of the advice, the advice, the reasons, the costs and benefits, and the provider's details. It could be in any format, including audio. It is a proposal only and is not law.
What is DBFO tranche 2?
Tranche 2 is the second stage of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms, the Government's response to the Quality of Advice Review. It covers advice document reform, collective charging and targeted prompts by super funds, changes to the best interests duty, and a new class of adviser. Part of it was released as an exposure draft in March 2025. None of tranche 2 has been legislated.
Has the safe harbour been removed from the best interests duty?
No. All seven steps in s 961B(2) of the Corporations Act 2001 remain in force. Treasury's fact sheet of 19 August 2026 says the Government will keep the existing obligation and safe harbour steps and remove only the broadest safe-harbour step. It does not name the paragraph, and no draft legislation for that change has been published.
Will a client advice record mean less record keeping?
The 2025 draft points the other way for the file. Its explanatory materials say record keeping is purposefully distinct from the client document, so compliance evidence that an SOA often carries would sit in the adviser's records. The draft would also move the record-keeping rule into the Act with a 50 penalty unit penalty. That is a proposal. The current seven-year rule in ASIC Instrument 2024/508 already applies.
Should I change my SOA templates now?
No. The SOA content requirements in the Corporations Act have not changed, and nothing announced so far has a start date. The March 2025 draft would have started the advice document change 12 months after Royal Assent. The useful preparation is to check how much of your best interests evidence sits only in the SOA and to strengthen your file notes.