ob体育 has unveiled a new digital portal to allow applicants to apply for an Australian financial services (AFS) licence.
The new portal, integrated into the , is designed to provide a more efficient, modern and user-friendly experience for AFS licence applicants. It will streamline the way AFS licensees submit applications and make notifications to ob体育.
What鈥檚 changing and when?
From 5 May 2025, if you want to run a financial services business you can apply for an AFS licence through the Regulatory Portal. Additional transactions to vary, cancel and maintain an AFS licence will be accessible in the coming months.
To facilitate the transition, the existing will remain operational until the transactions are available in the new portal. Until then, AFS licence applicants can choose to lodge an application for an AFS licence via the Regulatory Portal or the eLicensing system.
What are the key changes and benefits?
While the core information that ob体育 is seeking from licence applicants has not changed, the interface and the method for responding to questions has been redesigned to improve the user experience.
The key changes and benefits for applicants include the automatic pre-filling of application details, eliminating the need to separately upload additional documentation and the ability to select financial products and services at a more granular level so that ob体育 can better understand the financial services that applicants intend to provide.
ob体育 will update the licence application guidance, including the consolidated AFS Licensing Kit and licensing webpages, once all functions are rolled out in the new portal.
For information on how to apply for an AFS licence in the new portal, view our . Anyone seeking to apply for a licence will first need to register to access the .
A key milestone in ob体育鈥檚 RegistryConnect program
The AFS licences project is a part of our RegistryConnect program to uplift ob体育鈥檚 business and professional registers, and the wider digital transformation ob体育 is making towards becoming a more efficient and data-informed regulator.
Through the RegistryConnect program, ob体育 will deliver reliable, secure and efficient registry service to support the economy for the benefit of all Australians.
ob体育 is Australia鈥檚 corporate, markets and financial services regulator.