An important requirement for insurance professionals down under is to undergo continuing professional development (CPD) and earn a specific number of CPD points. This is required by different Australian insurance regulatory bodies, depending on the type of insurance professional.
Insurance brokers, agents, underwriters, claims adjusters, and other industry professionals need to earn a certain amount of CPD points to keep their licenses or certifications active and legitimate.
In this article, Insurance Business discusses pertinent topics about insurance CPD points in Australia. We’ll tackle important questions like are CPD points worth anything? Can CPD points be carried over? How many CPD points do insurance brokers need? Read on and find out about these and more.
These refer to “continuing professional development” points. These are used to formally measure and record ongoing learning and professional development activities of individuals in regulated professions.
Professions, roles, or industries that typically require earning and recording CPD points include:
This article will focus on insurance and roles that require insurance CPD points. CPD activities, like attending a seminar, completing online courses, or participating in a workshop, earns a certain number of credits. The points earned depend on the duration of the activity and its relevance.
Typically, one insurance CPD point is equivalent to an hour of structured learning. This can vary depending on the professional body requiring the CPD. CPD points are accumulated over a set period (usually a year) to demonstrate ongoing professional development.
In Australia, CPD rules can vary slightly across the different insurance organisations. But generally, insurance agents, insurance brokers, and other insurance professionals are required to earn CPD points.
The number of insurance CPD points or hours you need to earn each year depends on several factors. Your specific role and the number of CPD points required by your professional body or licence determines the exact credits.
But typically, this should range from 20 to 25 points per year, except for financial advisers, who need to earn 40 points a year. This explains why they are the most serious in meeting their CPD requirements.
Here’s what each type of professional must know about earning their respective CPD points:
This is especially required of NIBA members or those who also have the Qualified Practising Insurance Broker (QPIB) designation. Typically, NIBA-member brokers and QPIBs must earn a minimum of 25 points per year.
Take note: One point is equivalent to one hour of CPD activity. NIBA members and QPIBs are required to earn insurance CPD points that are a mix of technical, regulatory, and professional skills. These include at least five points in regulatory/compliance and one point in ethics.
You can refer to our guide to getting your insurance broker licence in Australia if you have not yet done so.
If an insurance agent or authorised representative provides financial product advice (including general insurance or life insurance), they must meet ASIC’s RG 146 requirements. This includes ongoing CPD.
Many agents are also member of professional bodies like the ANZIIF, that set their own ANZIIF CPD standards. There is no fixed national minimum for the required CPD points, although most licensees and industry bodies like the ANZIIF or FAAA require at least 40 CPD points/hours per year. Some licensing bodies may set higher requirements.
Financial advisers, especially those specialising in life insurance, are required to earn CPD points as well. Advisers must comply with the FAAA (Financial Advice Association Australia) and ASIC standards.
In general, financial advisers are required to complete a minimum of 40 CPD points or hours per year, including points in these specific areas:
For professionals who engage in underwriting, claims, loss adjustment, and risk advisory roles (especially members of ANZIIF and other professional bodies), the required minimum is 25 CPD points per year.
This also applies to those with the Certified Insurance Professional (CIP) designation.
Points must be spread across technical, regulatory, and professional development activities.
Other insurance roles like compliance officers, insurance managers, and senior executives also need to earn insurance CPD points. This is especially if they are members of professional bodies or hold licenses that require them. Typically, the CPD points they need to earn is around 20 to 25 points per year.
|
Profession/role |
Yearly CPD requirement |
Regulatory body/regulation |
|---|---|---|
|
Insurance brokers (NIBA/QPIB) |
25 points (or 50 over 2 years) |
NIBA |
|
Insurance agents/authorised reps |
40 points |
ANZIIF, ASIC RG146 |
|
Financial advisers (Life/General) |
40 hours (category split) |
FAAA, ASIC |
|
Underwriters, claims/loss adjusters |
25 points |
ANZIIF |
|
Risk advisers |
25 points |
ANZIIF |
|
Other insurance staff |
20-25 points |
ANZIIF/employer/ASIC |
In Australia, any excess insurance CPD points do not carry over to the next year. This is the standard policy for major industry bodies like the ANZIIF, NIBA, and FAAA, as well as for most licensees and regulatory frameworks.
The reason for this is to ensure that insurance professionals engage in ongoing, regular learning, rather than accumulating a large amount of CPD points, then pausing their development. CPD points accumulated yearly are meant to ensure that insurance professionals remain updated on a more consistent basis.
Should you fail to meet your CPD points or hours required by your professional membership, you may risk losing your professional accreditation, membership status or ability to practice your role. Typically, the CPD year, or period for earning CPD points, runs from 1 April to 31 March of the following year.
There are several ways to earn insurance CPD points. The easiest ways typically involve going online, which can save you time and transport costs. Here’s how you can earn your required CPD points, listed from the easiest to the most difficult:
This is the easiest (and probably the fastest) way for you to earn your CPD points. Taking an online course or attending a webinar can be completed anywhere, anytime, and at your own pace. Most of these online courses or webinars are short, focused, and reward CPD points upon completion.
Where you can get these courses and webinars:
Podcasts and videos are another simple way to earn insurance CPD points, since you can listen or watch them while commuting or during your downtime. Some professional bodies accept these for CPD if you keep a learning log.
Where you can get this content:
It's also possible to read articles, journals, or regulatory updates at your convenience. You can then log these CPD activities in a CPD log.
Where you can get these publications:
Usually scheduled during work hours, these types of training require no travel, are tailored to your role. Your employer shoulders any costs and provides learning materials. Attendance is typically tracked by your employer.
These conferences, seminars, or workshops are flexible in that they can be attended in-person or online. Another great advantage of this is that you can earn multiple insurance CPD points or hours in a single day. Some of these are virtual events and are as easy to attend as logging in from your computer at home.
Some of these seminars which may be broadcasted simultaneously online can offer very valuable information.
Where you can attend these:
Here's a list of insurance conferences happening around the world, including our very own Insurance Business events, that you can attend.
If you have enough experience and are already presenting at industry conferences or seminars, you can write white papers, articles for industry publications, or mentor other junior insurance professionals. These can earn you insurance CPD points.
If you choose the mentoring route to earn CPD points, you can check out our guide to insurance mentoring.
Take note that these professional contributions require a lot of preparation, planning, and years of experience and expertise to earn CPD accreditation.
Where you can do these for insurance CPD points:
This is the most difficult and time-consuming route, since this requires a significant amount of time, effort and commitment. While obtaining formal education like a post-graduate or master’s degree earns you significant insurance CPD points, this is best for those seeking career advancement or new qualifications.
Where you can get formal education:
Earning the required insurance CPD points each year does not need to be difficult. The easiest ways to earn these points or hours entails making a feasible schedule that won’t get in the way of your work or your personal time. Whenever possible, choose the most convenient and easily redeemable CPD activities, but don’t neglect earning the required number or type of CPD activities.
For most insurance professionals, combining the top three to four methods of earning CPD points makes it simpler to fulfil their CPD year. This can also be a minimal disruption of your work schedule. Be sure to check that your chosen CPD activities are accredited by your professional body.
CPD points are of great value in the Australian insurance industry because they represent the time and effort spent on structured learning activities. Here are the main reasons why meeting the required insurance CPD points is important:
1. They are part of regulatory compliance
Australian regulators like the ASIC and other industry bodies require insurance professionals to maintain and improve their knowledge and skills via ongoing education. This is to ensure that clients receive competent, up-to-date advice and service.
Ongoing education can help protect the ordinary consumer by ensuring that insurance professionals are aware of the latest products, regulations, and ethical standards. By requiring insurance professionals to know all these, they are better able to work within the bounds of the law and inform clients about new products and trends.
By earning CPD points, insurance professionals demonstrate their continuing commitment to professionalism, lifelong learning. It also enhances their reputation and career prospects.
The updated knowledge that insurance professionals are required to have with CPD can significantly reduce the risk of non-compliance, errors, and the chance of professional misconduct.
The main goal of CPD points is to ensure that insurance professionals like you stay up to date with industry changes, regulatory requirements, and best practices. This also ensures that insurance professionals do not stagnate in their knowledge and skills and encourage their continued professional growth.
Insurance CPD points are a valuable unit required by your professional membership, and serve you, your organisation, the insurance industry, and the public in various ways. Be sure to meet your insurance CPD points requirement every year to hone your knowledge and skills and show to your peers and clients that you are a dynamic and trusted insurance professional.
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