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Last week, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced it has culled over 9,240 pages of regulation in 2025 in a bid to simplify processes.
Following feedback, the regulator is taking a multi-year approach to simplifying how people engage with its systems.
According to ASIC chair Joe Longo, complexity “stifles innovation” and only makes compliance more difficult.
“Simpler, clearer regulation is more enforceable but it also means more seamless interactions with ASIC, more understandable rules to protect consumers, and clearer compliance requirements,” he said.
Following this announcement, the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) has come forward and expressed frustration.
The broker association’s managing director, Peter White, said it was “too little, too late” as red tape continues to be a burden for small businesses and brokers.
The multi-year approach that ASIC is taking means action won’t be immediate, said White.
“Governments and regulators have been talking for decades about cutting red tape and yet we are still singing the same old song, but that’s no substitute for meaningful action,” he said.
White called upon ASIC and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to update their websites to make it easier for brokers and small-business owners to uphold compliance.
He said the sites are “confusing and impenetrable”, making simple compliance processes far more challenging than they need to be.
Websites developed with better technology and operating platforms with plain language will help reduce the burden of compliance, said White.
