Financial Plans and Risk Management (11327.2)

Please note these are the 2026 details for this unit
Home
/
Find your course
/
Financial Plans and Risk Management
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-campus
 Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Business, Government & Law
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
Canberra Business School Level 3 - Undergraduate Advanced Unit Band 4 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 4 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan Social Work_Exclude 0905)
Band 5 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
The unit aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to prepare a best practice Statement of Advice, as well as implement and review recommendations made to clients. Students will have an understanding of the ethical, legal and professional requirements of providing comprehensive financial advice and be able to demonstrate effective client communication skills, conduct client and product research, and develop strategies for clients with unique needs. The unit explores risk management strategies including life and general insurance.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Identify specific legal requirements governing the provision of financial advice in Australia and appropriately apply them in the preparation of Statements of Advice;
2. Construct effective financial plans for clients;
3. Demonstrate effective communication, professional skills, and knowledge required to manage client-advisor relationships;
4. Analyse a client's situation to identify client's goals and suitable products;
5. Set up and evaluate simulated financial strategies, including life, health and general insurance and risk management strategies, and products; and
6. Synthesise relevant information to prepare and present a best practice Statements of Advice.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
2. UC graduates are global citizens - behave ethically and sustainably in their professional and personal lives


Skills development

Graduate Attributes are listed as ''generic'' in the timetable of activities



Prerequisites

11229 Superannuation, Retirement and Estate Planning

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

9986 Financial Plans and Risk Management

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2026 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2025 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 28 July 2025 On-campus Prof Lorne Cummings
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 10 August 2026 On-campus Prof Lorne Cummings
The information provided should be used as a guide only. Timetables may not be finalised until week 2 of the teaching period and are subject to change. Search for the unit timetable.

Required texts

Lists of required texts/readings

Taylor, S. (2020) Financial Planning in Australia, 9th ed, LexisNexis Butterworths, Chatswood, NSW. ISBN: 9780409351422

Teale, J. (2020) Insurance and Risk Management, A definitive Australian Guide, 4th Edition ISBN: 9780646812816

CCH (2022) Australian Master Financial Planning Guide, Wolters Kluwer,  CCH,25th edition, ISBN 9781922347862

Recommended readings:

From time to time you may find it useful to consult newspapers and journals such as;

The Australian, Accounting & Finance, Australian Financial Review, Business Review Weekly, National Accountant, Financial Planning.

Each of these is available in the UC library or online in electronic format.

There is also a range of excellent textbooks on the unit in the University library including the following:

Day, J.K, Banister. P., Davies, B., Campbell, J., Fitton, G.D., Flack, G., Graham, S.,

Hayes, T., Jones, S., Kiddell, R., & S. Prestney (2009) Australian Financial Planning Handbook,

 Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Ltd, Kew, VIC

Leow, J., & S. Murphy (2009) Australian Master Superannuation Guide 12th ed, CCH, Australia Ltd, North Ryde, NSW

Murray, D. et al (2014), Financial Systems Inquiry - Final Report, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, discussion papers, submissions and transcripts are available at: http://financialservices.royalcommission.gov.au.

Vaughan, EJ and Vaughan TM (2014) Fundamentals of Risk and Insurance, 11th ed., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ

  • The copies of this text in the Library are of earlier editions by the first-named author only.

 

Useful websites:

The websites of the following organizations may be useful during your study of this unit:

Australian Securities & Investment Commission, Australian Taxation Office

CPA Australia, Financial Planning Association, Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand, Investment & Financial Services Association.

For Unit readings and resources in the University of Canberra Library 

Link to search page for Unit Readings (print materials)

Link to search page for eReserve (electronic materials)

Submission of assessment items

Special assessment requirements

You will obtain a pass or better in this unit if you submit each assessment item, and obtain a final cumulative mark of at least 50 percent.

Use of AI is not permitted in this unit. The University's position is that artificial intelligence services must not be used for assessment or assessment preparation by students unless explicitly allowed in the assessment instructions for an assessment task published with the assessment task and/or in the unit outline. That is, an AI service may only be used if:

a) its use is authorised by the unit convener as part of the specified task; and

b) it is used in the way allowed in the assessment instructions and/or unit outline; and

c) its use is appropriately referenced, meaning that the students must reference the use of AI in their assessment in the same way as they reference other source material.

The use of AI has not been specified in the assessment instructions for the unit or in the unit outline and thus, AI is not a permissible resource. 

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Participation requirements

None

Required IT skills

Basic Word and Excel skills

Work placement, internships or practicums

None

Next step

Apply now Enquire