Master of Financial Planning
2021 Deakin University Handbook
Year | 2021 course information |
---|---|
Award granted | Master of Financial Planning |
Course Map | This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2021. This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 2 2021. This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 3 2021. Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central. |
Campus | Offered at Burwood (Melbourne) |
Cloud Campus | Yes |
Duration | 1.5 years full-time or part-time equivalent |
Deakin course code | M769 |
Approval status | This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework. |
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9. |
Please note: This course is only available for part-time study in Trimester 3 |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Indicative student workload
- Professional recognition
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Mandatory student checks
- Alternative exits
- Fees and charges
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Work experience
- Research and research-related study
Course overview
Designed to meet the requirements of Australia’s new financial planning standards body, the Master of Financial Planning is designed to provide you with innovative and applied financial planning education solutions by combining ethical decision-making with modern financial advice strategies.
The finance industry is rapidly changing. Ready to secure your future with a degree that meets new requirements while empowering you to build a more successful career?
Recent changes to the Australian finance industry require financial planners to meet new education standards set by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA). What does this mean for current and aspiring financial planners? If you want to provide financial advice beyond 2026, you’ll need to complete a FASEA-approved course like Deakin’s Master of Financial Planning.
But this course is more than just a pathway towards becoming a registered financial planner. You’ll take your financial planning skills and knowledge to new levels, allowing you to provide better solutions for your clients and making you more valuable to employers.
Apply, analyse and relate financial planning principles throughout projects that simulate real industry scenarios, better preparing you for tomorrow’s financial planning challenges.
You’ll be introduced to a range of discipline areas including investments and portfolio theory, superannuation and retirement planning, insurance, estate planning. ethics, financial advice regulation and behavioural finance.
The Master of Financial Planning teaches you how to apply advanced principles to meet client needs and the technical skills needed to utilise the latest digital tools. Importantly, it also places a strong emphasis on the professional responsibilities of the modern financial planner, both in an ethical and compliance sense. Industry reforms have created an increased demand for ethical decision-makers, putting Deakin graduates in a strong position to stand out from the pack.
Better still, you’ll be learning alongside industry-active teachers who are leaders in the field. Build relationships with your teachers. Get constructive feedback on industry expectations. Take your career forward.
Indicative student workload
As a student in the Faculty of Business and Law, you can expect to participate in a range of teaching activities each week. This could include classes, seminars, practicals and online interaction. You can refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information. You will also need to study and complete assessment tasks in your own time.
Professional recognition
Deakin Business School is in the top 1% of business schools globally by holding both AACSB and EQUIS accreditations. These prestigious accreditations are awarded to business schools that meet strict standards of quality, academic and professional excellence, and demonstrate a commitment to ongoing improvement and innovation in their courses, ensuring our graduates are employable worldwide
The Master of Financial Planning is a FASEA-approved course, for the purposes of the approved degree pathway making it a recognised pathway towards becoming a registered financial planner.
Graduates will satisfy the education standards prescribed by FASEA to be able to provide financial advice in Australia, subject to meeting other registration requirements prescribed by FASEA (including completion of a Professional Year for Provisional Relevant Providers and passing a National Adviser Exam).
Deakin University has entered into a partnership with the Financial Planning Association (FPA) to embed the CFP® Certification Program into the Master of Financial Planning. Students who complete the final unit of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA)’s CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) Certification Program as their elective option within the Master of Financial Planning will meet the education requirements to obtain this professional designation upon graduating.
Once the industry experience requirements of the CFP® Certification Program have been satisfied, students will be eligible to apply for the CFP® designation.
Graduates will be eligible for entry into the Fellow Chartered Financial Practitioner (FChFP) designation offered by the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA). Completing the Master of Financial Planning provides advanced standing into this program.
Students who successfully complete MAA747 Administration of Trusts and Estates as their elective unit with the Master of Financial Planning will meet the Australian educational requirements of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
The MFP also allows students to meet the education requirements of the Tax Agent Services Act (TASA) as a tax (financial) adviser following completion of Principles of Income Tax Law and Business Law units approved by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).
Deakin University has also entered into a partnership with the Self Managed Super Fund Association to embed the SMSF Specialist Adviser (SSA) Program into the Master of Financial Planning. Students who undertake the SSA Program will have satisfied the education requirements to be an Accredited SMSF Association Specialist Adviser.
This means that students may be eligible to enrol into the SSA Specialist Program as their elective unit option (subject to completion of eight core units which must include MAA719 – Superannuation and Retirement Planning). Students will undertake the SSA Program unit through the SMSF Association and upon successful completion, will be able to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning to count towards their elective unit (with Course Director approval).
Note: Students should consult with the Financial Planning Association or the Association of Financial Advisers and their websites for confirmation of professional recognition and to ensure that they are not required to undertake additional units.
Career opportunities
From 1 January 2019, FASEA’s new education standards come into place and, by 1 January 2026, all financial planners will need an approved qualification. These reforms have created an increased demand for registered financial planners with a high-level understanding of what it means to provide responsible advice.
The Master of Financial Planning is approved by FASEA, ensuring Deakin students graduate with the right qualification and skills to take advantage of this demand.
Whether you’re currently working in the industry or looking to move into a financial planning role, you’ll be prepared to excel in a variety of positions, including:
- financial adviser
- insurance adviser
- business development manager
- superannuation consultant
- portfolio analyst
- investment banker
- paraplanner
- claims administrator
- compliance manager
- risk adviser
Participation requirements
Units in this course may have participation requirements that include compulsory placements, work-based training, community-based learning or collaborative research training arrangements.
Placement can occur at any time, including during the standard holiday breaks listed here: https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses/key-dates.
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. Click here for more information.
Mandatory student checks
Units which contain work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, working with children check or other check. These requirements will be detailed in unit guides upon enrolment.
Alternative exits
Graduate Certificate of Financial Planning (M569) | |
Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning (M669) |
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year and your study load. To find out about the fees and charges that apply to you, visit the Current students fees website or our handy Fee estimator to help estimate your tuition fees.
Course Learning Outcomes
Graduate Learning Outcome | Course Learning Outcome |
Discipline specific knowledge and capabilities | Apply an advanced and integrated knowledge about the financial planning development process for clients requiring financial planning advice of varying degrees of complexity and contexts |
Communication | Demonstrate advanced interpersonal and networking skills to communicate persuasively with clients to gather and interpret personal data and transmit knowledge to clients through the preparation and presentation of financial plans including financial goal achievement and risk minimisation |
Digital literacy | Select and apply appropriate digital technology to find, use, manage and persuasively disseminate complex wealth creation and risk minimisation knowledge and ideas to both clients and professional colleagues |
Critical thinking | Systematically and critically analyse, synthesise, evaluate and transform a range of complex information on wealth creation and risk minimisation to create personalised and contextualised financial plans for clients |
Problem solving | With creativity and autonomy, systematically develop strategies for wealth creation and risk minimisation for individuals by critically evaluating methods of inquiry, action planning and/or problem solving thereby generating innovative and contextualised solutions for financial goal achievement |
Self-management | Demonstrate advanced skills to work and learn independently, for taking responsibility for continuing professional development, personal actions and to critically reflect and analyse own personal motivations, aspirations and actions |
Teamwork | Lead and be accountable for the strategic management of group or team learning and outputs, demonstrating initiative in professional contexts and the ability to actively facilitate a positive team environment and to be open to working with and learning from others from different disciplines and backgrounds |
Global citizenship | Engage ethically, professionally and productively in work, professional and the global contexts including with diverse communities and cultures, in a manner reflective of a critical understanding of ethical principles, a systematic knowledge of professional codes of conduct and an understanding of various world views and the complexity of elements important to members of other cultures |
Course rules
The Master of Financial Planning is typically a 12 credit point course but this is dependent on your entry point. The exact number of credit points you study depends on how much credit you receive as recognition of prior learning (RPL) - your professional experience and previous qualifications - which can save you time and money, but may be limited by the FASEA education standards.
To complete the Master of Financial Planning, students must attain a total of 12 credit points consisting of 11 credit points of core units and 1 credit points of elective units chosen from a specified list, plus completion of the compulsory 0-credit point module, MAI010 Academic Integrity Module. Most units (think of units as 'subjects') are equal to 1 credit point.
Students are introduced to research tools and techniques in core units of the course where they learn analytic skills and the practical application of those skills in professional contexts. They must also complete advanced level units and a capstone unit that require them to integrate the skills learnt over their course of study and produce applied pieces of research with reference to prevailing literature.
Students are required to meet the University’s academic progress and conduct requirements.
Course structure
Compulsory 0-credit point module
To be completed in the first trimester of study:-
MAI010 | Academic Integrity Module (0 credit points) |
Core units
MAA700 | Estate Planning and Risk Management Strategies |
MAA719 | Superannuation and Retirement Planning |
MAI728/MAA728 | Financial Behaviour and Decision Making * |
MAA745 | Financial Planning and Economic Fundamentals |
MAA753 | Professional Research and Analysis |
MAI769/MAA769 | Ethics for Financial Services * |
MAF707 | Investments and Portfolio Management |
MLC703 | Principles of Income Tax Law |
MLC707 | Business Law |
MLI714/MLC714 | Financial Advice Regulation * |
*MAI and MLI codes denote Intensive versions of the units.
Core Capstone Unit:
MAA727 | Financial Planning Development |
From Trimester 2 2021:
MAA700 | Estate Planning and Risk Management Strategies |
MAA719 | Superannuation and Retirement Planning |
MAI728/MAA728 | Financial Behaviour and Decision Making * |
MAA745 | Financial Planning and Economic Fundamentals |
MAI769/MAA769 | Ethics for Financial Services * |
MAF707 | Investments and Portfolio Management |
MLC703 | Principles of Income Tax Law |
MLC707 | Business Law |
MLI714/MLC714 | Financial Advice Regulation * |
MAA727 | Financial Planning Development |
*MAI and MLI codes denote Intensive versions of the units.
Core Capstone Unit:
MAA753 | Professional Research and Analysis |
Elective units
Plus a 1 credit point elective unit from:
MAA747 | Administration of Trusts and Estates * |
MAF702 | Financial Markets |
MMP713 | Property and Real Estate Context |
MPA701 | Accounting |
MWL715 | Industry Based Learning |
MWL718 | Internship |
Or another postgraduate unit with prior written approval of the Course Director
*Students who successfully complete MAA747 Administration of Trusts and Estates as their elective unit with the Master of Financial Planning will meet the Australian educational requirements of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
When considering elective units, students are advised that Deakin University has entered into a partnership with the Financial Planning Association (FPA) to embed the CFP® Certification Program into the Master of Financial Planning.
This means that students may be eligible to enrol into the CFP® Certification Unit as their elective unit option (completion of eight core units* and Course Director approval is required). Students will undertake the CFP® Certification unit through the FPA and upon successful completion, will be able to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning to count towards their elective unit (with Course Director approval).
*eight core units required to be completed:
- MAA745 Financial Planning and Economic Fundamentals,
- MAA700 Estate Planning and Risk Management Strategies,
- MAA719 Superannuation and Retirement Planning,
- MLC714/MLI714 Financial Advice Regulations,
- MAA769/MAI769 Ethics for Financial Services,
- MLC703 Principles of Income Tax Law,
- MAA727 Financial Planning Development,
- MAF707 Investments and Portfolio Management
Work experience
This course provides students the opportunity to complete one or more elective work integrated learning units.
More information: WIL Programs
Other course information
Course duration - additional informationCourse duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as accessing or completing work placements.
Further information
Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.
- Contact Student Central
Research and research-related study
This course includes 1 credit point equivalent research-related study [MAA753 Professional Research and Analysis] in addition to associated learning embedded across a number of units where student achievement is demonstrated in specific assessment tasks.
Students are introduced to research tools and techniques in core units of the course where they learn analytic skills and the practical application of those skills in professional contexts. They must also complete advanced level units and a capstone unit that require them to integrate the skills learnt over their course of study and produce applied pieces of research with reference to prevailing literature within specific assessment tasks.