By Peter Martin
WHILE Australians are keen on financial advice, we are not keen on getting it from licensed advisers, a survey has found.
The survey, released to pressure the government to clamp down on kickbacks paid to financial advisers, finds that in the past two years 70 per cent of us sought advice about tax from tax agents and 84 per cent sought advice about mortgages from mortgage brokers.
But only 32 per cent of those surveyed for the Industry Super Network had spoken to a financial adviser in the previous two years; it was only 20 per cent for those in households earning less than $100,000.
Fewer than half of those who sought advice received ongoing advice, despite most advisers accepting commissions for the life of the investments they recommended.
The Industry Fund Network has banded together with the consumer group Choice, the Consumer Action law Centre and the Australian Council of Social Service to pressure the government to stick by its promise to phase out commissions in the face of pressure from banks and the financial planning industry to wind the reforms back.
''Since the reforms were announced in April there has been significant lobbying and public pressure applied by the financial planning and wealth management industry - including banks, product providers, platform providers and fund managers - to water them down,'' a Choice chairperson, Jenni Mack, said.
''One suggested loophole would exempt insurance. We can see no reason to treat insurance advice differently to other forms of advice.''
The coalition is also urging the government to stick by the requirement for a financial adviser to get a client's annual consent to continue charging any ongoing fees.
''If an adviser is providing ongoing advice to a client then it should not be an administrative burden to obtain the client's consent each year to the fee arrangements,'' Ms Mack said.
''The banning of other conflicted remuneration forms, including a ban on trail commissions and volume-based payments and rebates is critical if financial advice is to be provided impartially and free from product bias.
''These reforms will not be effective in eliminating conflicts of interest unless they are all implemented.''
The government has yet to release the separate Cooper superannuation review which recommends further changes to wind back commissions.
The survey finds that until the age of 55 Australians on moderate incomes stay away from financial advisers, with only with only one in 10 seeking advice.
Over the age of 55 that rises to one in three, with more than half of Australians on high incomes seeking advice, much of it relating to superannuation.
The Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, yesterday held out the prospect of further increases in superannuation contributions beyond increase from 9 to 12 per cent of salary announced in the budget. But he said they would have to come from unions and employers working together rather than from the government.
''I think its about time there was a bit of leadership both in the employer world and amongst unions to think about increasing superannuation not at some point in the future, but here and now and then take pressure off wages,'' he told the ABC.