The personal financial advice sector’s share of the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort levy has been reduced by about $2.8 million under revised estimates for this financial year.

But Financial Advice Association Australia has raised concerns over the change.

“The reduction … is because of a delay in the processing of known complaints, not a reduction in expected claims,” CEO Sarah Abood said.

“Effectively, this will push a significant additional cost into the 2026-27 year.”

The peak body has again pushed for reforms to the redress program, which began operations in April last year.

“Urgent action is needed to fix the CSLR funding mechanism, otherwise this will decimate the advice profession, further drive up the cost of advice and put professional financial advice completely out of reach for the average Australian,” Ms Abood said.

The revised estimates from Finity, released last week, shows the industry-funded scheme will need $75.7 million for the year to June 2026, compared with a previous assessment of $77.975 million.

The personal financial advice sector’s contribution is about $67.3 million – above the sub-sector cap of $20 million. As a result, the scheme would need a special levy totalling $47.3 million, and CSLR has notified the Financial Services Minister of this.

See Finity’s revised estimates here.