Caroline Stewart

Ecstra Foundation’s inaugural National Financial Wellbeing Summit last week highlighted the growing support for a nationally coordinated financial strategy as way of improving Australians’ financial and overall wellbeing.

The event emphasised the importance of building an integrated approach to financial wellbeing by supporting individual financial capability, while also addressing the broader systems, policies and market structures that shape people’s financial lives.

Bringing together leaders from government, business, education and community sectors, the discussion was focused on practical approaches to help build a better financial future for all Australians.

With an address from the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Hon. Dr Daniel Mulino MP (pre-recorded), and a keynote delivered by ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland, sessions examined the drivers of economic inequality, the balance required between regulation and education, and how greater cross sector collaboration can influence financial, mental, and social health outcomes.

A key focus was on the importance of embedding financial education across schools, homes, and workplaces, to ensure young people develop the skills and confidence they need to make informed financial choices at key life stages.

Ecstra Foundation CEO Caroline Stewart, said the Summit came at a time of national momentum around improving financial wellbeing and literacy, particularly for young people.

“There’s increasing demand for practical, engaging financial education. We know that starting money lessons early builds lifelong knowledge and capability, and programs like our own Talk Money school workshops are helping normalise these conversations in classrooms and at home.

“Australia had been a leader in this space for many years. It was clear from the Summit there is strong support for Ecstra’s call for a more coordinated, national approach to financial capability. This would connect education, policy, and community initiatives to help every Australian build lasting financial wellbeing” she added.

Speaking at the Summit, Roset Khair, Vice President of Economics and Business Educators NSW, a leading advocate for financial literacy education, said there is growing support for schools to embed financial capability in the classroom.

“Financial literacy is an essential life skill and a foundation for overall wellbeing. Teachers see first-hand the positive impact when their students can connect financial concepts to real world decisions.

“Supporting schools-based programs are vital because they provide schools with curriculum aligned resources and tools to teach these skills effectively, while helping to build a culture where learning about money is normal and empowering,” she added.

Ms Stewart said that the Summit is an opportunity to connect classrooms, workplaces and communities with broader systems change.

“Talk Money is just one part of a bigger picture, to ensure every Australian has access to financial education, and that the systems around them support financial inclusion and wellbeing. Events such as the Summit show what is possible when education, policy, and community come together with shared purpose.”

Speakers at the Summit included:

• Dr Cassandra Goldie AO, CEO ACOSS 
• Georgie Harman AO, CEO Beyond Blue
• Miles Larbey, OECD’s head of financial consumer protection, Education & Inclusion Unit
• Leah Bennett, Managing director, First Nations Foundation
• Prof Roslyn Russell, RMIT
• Effie Zahos, 9News money editor
• Janet Liu, group head of social impact and community partnerships ANZ
• Xavier O’Halloran ,CEO, Super Consumers Australia
• Roset Khair, vice president, Economics and Business Educators NSW
• Phil Gardner, CEO ABCN 
• Gerard Brody, commissioner and chairperson, Essential Services Commission Victoria
• Michelle Wright, deputy head of communications and education, RBA
• James Kirby, associate editor – wealth, The Australian.

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Joe Longo

A new report from ASIC reveals the agency has culled more than 9,240 pages of regulation since the beginning of the year as it calls for further ideas for regulatory simplification.

The report, Regulatory Simplification, marks the first milestone in ASIC’s simplification work and seeks input on a range of initiatives aimed at making regulation clearer, more accessible and easier to navigate—while maintaining strong consumer protections.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said the regulator had listened to feedback about its guidance, its website, and its legal instruments, and it was acting.

‘Regulatory complexity raises costs, stifles innovation and makes compliance harder.

‘Since we formed the ASIC Simplification Consultative Group late last year with key leaders across business, industry and consumer groups, we have been focused on simplifying how we regulate.

‘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.’

The report outlines ASIC’s initiatives in the following key areas:

• Improving access to regulatory information, including a redesigned ASIC website that cuts more than 9,000 pages of content, and regulatory roadmap pilots for small-company directors and providers of financial advice, designed to help these groups understand and navigate their regulatory obligations.
• Reducing complexity in regulatory instruments, with pilots to consolidate and simplify 23 legislative instruments by at least 65 pages, in addition to the 181 pages of guides that have already been cut.
• Making it easier to interact with ASIC, including transitioning more ‘paper-only’ documents to email lodgement and enabling electronic signatures on all forms by 1 October this year. These are practical next steps towards fully streamlined digital lodgement services in the future.

The paper also highlights areas of law reform which we heard from stakeholders would simplify regulation. ASIC is actively contributing to these law reform discussions and working closely with Treasury to explore broader opportunities for reform.

‘This is a multi-year program of work and we want to hear more about what we should consider for our next steps and initiatives,’ Mr Longo said.

‘We want to hear from those who engage with ASIC—what works, what doesn’t, and what would make the biggest difference.’

ASIC is seeking feedback on these initiatives and simplification more broadly by 15 October 2025. Submissions can be made anonymously or via email to simplificationconsultativegroup@asic.gov.au.

Download

Report 813 Regulatory simplification

Background

The ASIC Chair announced the agency’s focus on regulatory simplification in November 2024 in a speech at the ASIC Annual Forum: ASIC Annual Forum 2024: Bridging generations – regulating for all Australians.

The ASIC Simplification Consultative Group has included:

• Joe Longo (Co-Chair), ASIC Chair
• Nicola Wakefield-Evans (Co-Chair), Board Member of Guardians of Future Fund, Non-Executive Director Viva Energy Group, Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Chair of MetLife Australia, Member of Takeovers Panel, GO Foundation Board, UNSW Foundation
• Anna Bligh, CEO, Australian Banking Association
• Professor Ross Buckley, ARC Laureate Fellow & Scientia Professor, UNSW & Member RBA Payments System Board
• Stephanie Tonkin, CEO, Consumer Action Law Centre
• Bran Black, CEO, Business Council of Australia
• Andrew McKellar, CEO, Australia Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Naomi Edwards, Chair, Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Pauline Vamos, Chair, Governance Institute of Australia
• Xavier O’Halloran, CEO and Founding Director, Super Consumers Australia
• Luke Achterstraat, CEO, Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia

Further details on the work of the group can be found at Regulatory simplification.

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