The DBFO Act offers flexibility – but not if you rely on someone else’s paperwork.

When the DBFO Act took effect on 10 January 2025, it reshaped the way financial advisers handle Ongoing Fee Arrangements (OFAs).

It’s a fair question. But the answer is simple:

Technically—maybe.
Practically—absolutely not.

A Consent Form Is Not A Contract

The Corporations Act (s962G) requires written client consent before deducting ongoing advice fees. If those fees come from a financial product, sections 962R and 962T impose additional requirements. And if it’s a super fund, section 99FA of the SIS Act also applies. Yes, section 962Y allows a single form to satisfy multiple obligations—but only if it’s drafted correctly.

To meet compliance standards, the form must clearly include:

• The services the client will receive
• The fee amount, frequency, and duration
• Who charges the fee, and from where it’s paid
• When consent starts, when it expires, and how it’s renewed

Most product consent forms don’t do all of that. Some well-designed product forms do exist and can be valuable—but many still fall short. They’re often built primarily to authorise deductions under product law or trust rules, not to document or define an adviser-client relationship in the way required under the Corporations Act. Relying on them as your sole record of an OFA is risky.

And let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: platform-generated forms often serve the platform’s interests first. They’re designed to ensure the trustee or provider can deduct fees without liability—not to protect the client, or the adviser. That embedded conflict of interest can leave advisers exposed if the client challenges the arrangement, and it erodes consumer trust when the form is silent on the adviser’s actual services.

What Platform Forms Miss

If you’ve worked in financial services compliance or risk management, you know this: misalignment = misconduct risk.

Here’s what most product forms fail to address:

• Service scope and standards
• Complaint handling and dispute resolution
• Terms of variation, termination, and disengagement
• Adviser liability and indemnity
• Privacy and data-sharing provisions
• What happens in the event of death or incapacity

And even where these are partially included, they’re often controlled by the trustee or product provider—not the adviser or licensee.

If you’re audited or face a complaint, and the only proof of an agreement is a third-party form that never mentioned your services, you’ve got a problem. And ASIC won’t care who generated the form. They’ll care whether the OFA was valid and enforceable.

There’s also an ethical problem here. If the client can’t reasonably understand what they’re signing, the consent isn’t truly informed. That Queen lyric wasn’t just a joke—it’s a warning. When forms are legalistic, vague, or platform-centric, the adviser has a duty to stop and ask: “Would a reasonable person understand this?” If the answer is no, you shouldn’t rely on it.

Real Risk, Real Scenario

Let’s say:

• You renew your OFA on 1 August 2025
• The client signs the platform’s fee consent form on 1 March 2026, due to a product roll-over foreshadowed in the SOA
• Fees start based on the platform’s date
• The client never signs your updated OFA

Now imagine a complaint is made—about fees, service delivery, or adviser conduct.
If ASIC or AFCA requests evidence of a compliant OFA and aligned consent, you may come up short.

And charging a fee without valid consent? That’s a breach. Not a misunderstanding.

Note: This scenario also assumes a level of control advisers may not have. In many licensee or institutional environments, advisers can’t set consent dates, issue bridging agreements, or override trustee requirements. The practical limits of adviser control must be factored into your compliance design.

What You Should Do Instead

You don’t need more paperwork—you need the right paperwork. Yes, it may mean managing multiple forms, bridging agreements, or tracking consent cycles—but that’s not about volume. It’s about clarity and defensibility.

Here’s how to protect your business:

1. Maintain a separate OFA agreement
   This is your primary compliance document. Make it clear, trackable, and aligned with your service model.
2. Use product consents as supporting documents
   They’re useful for deducting fees—but they should never be your only record of the agreement.
3. Align reference dates where you can
   Synchronising OFA and product consent periods simplifies renewal, reduces risk, and strengthens your position in a review or audit. But acknowledge that this may not always be within your control.
4. Use bridging agreements carefully
   If alignment isn’t possible, short fixed-term OFAs can cover any gaps. Just ensure they fall within the renewal window—remember, renewal is required within the period 60 days before or 150 days after the anniversary of the old agreement, as per s962H. That’s a hard limit, not a guideline.
5. Track everything
   Use your CRM or compliance software to monitor consent dates, renewal cycles, and review periods. But don’t assume your CRM is bulletproof—many systems lack audit-grade integrity. Track with intent, validate regularly, and ensure audit trails are intact.

Scaled and Digital Advice Considerations

Most of this guidance is framed around traditional, full-service advice. But scaled and digital models face different risks:

• Digital consent capture must still meet the same legal thresholds.
• Automated fee arrangements need ongoing supervision to detect misalignment.
• Client comprehension is even more critical where interaction is low-touch or fully digital.

The same compliance rules apply; how you satisfy them may need redesign.

Who Owns the Risk?

You do.
Product providers are not responsible for your OFA compliance—you are. And they’re not likely to stand beside you if a regulator comes calling.

Also note: superannuation trustees often have their own consent requirements under fund rules. These aren’t optional, and they’re not overridden by your OFA. A form that meets s99FA of the SIS Act may still fall short if it doesn’t meet trustee conditions.

That’s why we advise AFS licensees, compliance officers, and financial advisers to own the process. Don’t delegate critical compliance tasks to platforms or product providers with different obligations—and different priorities.

Next Steps

Assured Support specialises in practical compliance strategies for advisers, licensees, and financial services firms across Australia. We offer:

✅ Custom OFA templates
✅ Compliance reviews and audit prep
✅ Regulatory technology integration
✅ Risk management consultancy for AFS Licensees

Want to make your compliance process more dependable and less defensive?

Explore more practical insights at assuredsupport.com.au/articles or book a consultation.

If you liked this article, check out:

• Client Consent: A Compliance Cornerstone and Trust-Building Tool
• Engagement, understanding and consent
• Standard 4: Free, informed and prior consent

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