Key responsibilities include having direct responsibility for significant day-to-day decisions about the provision of financial services, supervising these services, ensuring the licensee complies with its AFSL obligations and the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and collectively with other RMs, demonstrating the licensee’s organisational competence to ASIC for all authorised financial products and services. This role is essential for maintaining the AFS licence.

A person can be an AFSL Responsible Manager if they meet ASIC’s knowledge and skills requirements under one of the five options in ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 105, are a ‘fit and proper person’, and have direct responsibility for significant day-to-day decisions regarding the financial services offered under the AFS licence. They may be directors, employees, or contractors, but must always demonstrate competence for the licence.

There are no single mandated qualifications, but ASIC outlines five options in RG 105 to demonstrate competence. These generally involve a combination of relevant tertiary qualifications (such as a university degree in business, commerce, economics, or finance), specific industry courses (like RG146 for retail client advice on financial products), and practical experience—typically three years in the last five or five years in the last eight—providing similar financial services or managing financial product operations under an AFS licence.