Seeking to gain a better understanding of the benefits associated with financial counselling service provision and its net impact on the lives of people assisted, The Wyatt Trust commissioned The Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre (WISeR) at The University of Adelaide to undertake a cost benefit analysis of financial counselling services. The report...

This paper compares and contrasts mainstream agency theory with financial planning practice in Australia. It appears to be the first attempt to do so. It extends an influential mainstream contribution to the literature on agency theory and then uses this extension, in conjunction with other theoretical contributions, to shed light on actual contracts between investors...

If we want to end poverty, we’ve got to start championing policies to build families’ assets, writes Gerard Brody.

This paper focuses on the privacy and security concerns of young people in Australia regarding the use of financial aggregation (FA) programs as a way of making decisions about their money. The use of FA programs to provide a comprehensive online picture of a person's finances, bringing together information from discreet providers, is one example...

On 5 February 2008 the federal government announced the formation of the Financial Services Working Group dedicated to looking at the key issues associated with financial services advice and disclosure. The Working Group comprises senior officials from the Department of Treasury, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Department of Finance and Deregulation.