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Under new industry standards in Australia, fees for financial advice will be split out from the fees members pay for their retirement schemes.

Members of pension schemes, or superannuation as it is called in Australia, will have to agree to the amount they pay for the advice and how the adviser gets paid. They can also stop paying their adviser should they want to end the relationship.

John Brogden, chief executive of fund management body the Investment and Financial Services Association, said its 135 members had embraced the new industry standards.

Mr Brogden said: "Australians can now 'turn on' or 'turn off' financial advice fees in their superannuation and negotiate advice fees."

He said the changes meant consumers would be able to save up to 25 per cent on existing fees.

Members of IFSA, which include Aberdeen Asset Management, Aviva Australia and Schroders, have now started to unbundle advice and product costs.

Many have said they will have made the changes before next July.

Mark Osland, chartered financial planner for South Croydon-based Formula Limited, said products with similar characteristics existing in the UK already worked along the same lines.

He said: "With some providers we can turn off the ongoing fees if we want to."

But Mr Osland said the products were not mainstream.

He said: "It would be useful if more providers in this country offered such flexibility.

"Anything that gives clients more choice is good but I do not think focusing on charges is a solution to the savings gap."