CSLR levy soars to $137.5m and may rise further

The overall estimate marks a substantial increase from the revised $75.7 million figure for the prior financial year, highlighting the sustained impact of large financial firm failures on the industry-funded scheme.

The estimate is dominated by the personal financial advice sub-sector - which will need to pay $126.9 million, vastly exceeding the legislative $20 million sub-sector cap. This will cover more than 1,000 complaints - 474 of which related to Dixon Advisory.

This breach of the cap immediately triggers a legislative process that will require the CSLR to complete a revised estimate in June 2026.

Notably, the current estimate does not include the potential impact of high-profile collapses such as master funds Shield and First Guardian.

CSLR CEO David Berry said that, due to "too many uncertainties," the impact of Shield and First Guardian could not be reliably estimated at this stage.

"The number of complaints that will be eligible for CSLR compensation and how much of the invested funds will be recovered from sources other than CSLR cannot be reliably estimated at this stage, and therefore, Shield and First Guardian related complaints have not been included in this intial estimate," the CSLR levy estimate report reads.

However, based on the limited information available, the CSLR anticipates the revised levy estimate in June 2026 may be even higher than the $137.5 million estimate published today.

“The rate and scale of firm failures aren’t slowing. The number of impacted consumers continues to rise, and the proportionate negative impact caused by a relative few remains significant,” Berry said.

“Right now, there are too many uncertainties to reliably estimate the potential impact of Shield and First Guardian on the Scheme”, Berry said.

As the expected amount for the personal financial advice sub-sector will exceed the $20 million sub-sector cap, a revised estimate will be completed in June 2026.

A special levy will be needed to address the estimated shortfall (though details of how any such levy will be applied have not yet been confirmed).

What will brokers pay?

The credit intermediation sub-sector, which encompasses mortgage and finance brokers, has an initial levy estimate of just under $2.2 million for FY27.

This represents a modest increase from the revised estimate of $1.8 million for the 2025–26 period.

The low claims figure means the sub-sector's contribution remains small relative to the total required levy.

The credit intermediation sector will have an estimated 15 complaints to be finalised over the year, 10 of which will need to be paid.

Generally, credit intermediation has lower average determination amounts than the rest of the finance industry, sitting around $64,000 (compared to $85,000 in personal advice).

Overall, the total $137.5 million estimate for the upcoming financial year is broken down across the four sub-sectors as follows:

More to come.

[Related: CSLR levies drop by a third following revision]