It has been almost a year since Australia's informed consent regulations took effect on 10 July 2025. The rules reshaped how insurance brokers disclose and agree commissions with their clients.
In the 12 months before the regulations took effect, remuneration disclosure breaches rose 695%, from 42 to 334 cases (source). One year on, the latest data from the regulator shows breach reporting remains high and ASIC has made the way it monitors and publishes breach data more visible than ever.
What has changed in the past year
The regulation itself has not changed since it commenced on 10 July 2025, but the environment around it has.
On 31 October 2025, ASIC launched its interactive Reportable Situations data dashboard. Breach reporting moved out of historical, once-a-year PDF reports and into a live, public-facing space. The regulator, consumers and competitors now have ongoing, transparent visibility into systemic compliance failures and reporting trends across the financial sector.
That live data ecosystem confirms breach reporting is running at an unprecedented scale. The regulator's focus has firmly shifted from educating brokers on the rules to monitoring systemic data gaps in real time.
One year on, the expectation is that informed consent should be embedded into everyday processes, as a standard part of how your brokerage operates.
Two questions worth revisiting now: is informed consent a mandatory step in your new business and renewal workflows? Are your consent records date and time-stamped and easy to retrieve? If the answer to either is not a confident yes, the good news is that closing the gap is straightforward.
A quick refresher: what is informed consent?
The informed consent regulations stem from the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) Act 2024. The core requirement is that brokers must obtain explicit, informed consent from clients before receiving commissions on personal advice related to insurance products, including general, life and consumer credit insurance.
Key requirements at a glance
- Timing matters. Consent must be obtained before a policy is issued, sold or renewed where personal advice is provided.
- Format flexibility. Consent can be written or verbal, but verbal consent requires a written record that is date and time-stamped.
- Client documentation. Clients must receive a copy of the consent document or written record.
- Record keeping. All consent records must be kept for at least 7 years, with any variations documented.
What must be disclosed?
Informed consent is not about ticking a box. It requires clear, concise and effective communication. Brokers must identify:
- the insurer by name
- explain the monetary benefit they receive as a percentage range of the policy cost (or a specific percentage or amount for life and consumer credit insurance)
- clients also need to understand how often and for how long commissions will be paid
- what services the broker will provide
- that consent is required before payment can be received and is irrevocable
The critical point is that clients must have a genuine and real opportunity to make an informed decision. Clear, specific language is what satisfies the regulations and builds client confidence.
Where brokers build strong compliance
Most compliance failures are not the result of bad intent. They come down to a handful of recurring gaps, and each one is fixable.
The most common is a process gap. When informed consent is not built into standard workflows, it becomes an extra step that can be missed under pressure. Embedding it into new business and renewal processes makes it automatic.
Documentation is the next area worth examining. Verbal consent is valid, but only when paired with a proper written record that is date and time-stamped. Getting that right turns a potential weak point into a strong one.
Team knowledge matters too. When everyone in the brokerage understands the distinction between personal and general advice, the whole operation runs with more confidence. And where manual oversight creates risk, automated compliance tools provide reliable, repeatable processes instead.
ASIC's research around the Royal Commission found that 7% of required fee disclosure statements were not provided to clients, 35% of renewal notices were missing and 80% of the statements that were provided contained inaccurate information. Informed consent is part of rebuilding that trust. Brokers who invest in proper systems now are better positioned to serve clients, satisfy regulators and grow with confidence.
How to get compliance right
With the right tools and processes, informed consent compliance becomes a standard part of doing great business.
Start by making consent a mandatory step in your client processes for both new business and renewals. When it is embedded into your workflow, it cannot be skipped or forgotten. Pair that with consistent templates across your team so every client receives the same clear, compliant information and auditing is straightforward.
Automate where you can. Automated workflows trigger consent steps at the right time, generate date and time-stamped records and ensure nothing slips through. For storage, cloud-based document management keeps records secure, searchable and always accessible, which matters when your retention requirement runs to seven years.
An uneditable audit trail ties it all together. Every action related to informed consent should be logged and traceable, with version control and document templates providing the history that satisfies regulators and protects your business. Back all of that up with regular team training so everyone understands what is required, why it matters and how to do it correctly. ASIC provides comprehensive FAQs and guidance that should be required reading.
How JAVLN Officetech makes it easier
JAVLN Officetech is designed to take the complexity out of compliance. Here is how it helps with informed consent.
- Mandatory workflow steps: configure workflows so consent becomes a required step that cannot be bypassed.
- Uneditable file notes: records are automatically date and time-stamped and cannot be altered once saved.
- Secure centralised storage: all documentation is stored in one place, meeting the 7-year retention requirement.
- Smart auditing and reporting: comprehensive visibility across your compliance activities.
- Template management: store and share standardised consent templates across your entire team.
- Complete audit trail: every user action is recorded and traceable.
When an audit comes around, you can produce a complete, time-stamped consent history in seconds. Book a demo to see how it works for your brokerage:
The bigger picture
Informed consent is about operating with integrity and building genuine trust with your clients. When clients understand exactly how you are compensated and what services you will provide, relationships strengthen. Brokers who invest in proper systems and processes now will be better positioned to serve their clients, grow their businesses and spend more time on the work that matters most.
Watch our webinar to see how JAVLN Officetech support Informed Consent compliance
