Some authorities say the federal government's plan to diminish financial advice laws will cost half a billion dollars a year for consumers.

A Senate hearing this week as focused on the planned rollback of the previous government's Future of Financial Advice laws, after Finance Minister Mathias Cormann temporarily froze the rules in March pending further consultation.

The Senators were presented with research commissioned by Industry Super Australia, showing the amendments to FOFA could cost consumers more than $530 million a year.

Researchers say increased fees and charges from the reintroduction of commissions and other conflicted payments will hit hard, totalling $7.5 billion over 14 years.

ISA chief executive David Whiteley said the analysis effectively buries the claim that cutting consumer protections will reduce the cost of advice.

He says it will only increase commissions paid to financial planners to sell bank products.

But Financial Services Council's director of policy Andrew Bragg believes the assumptions made in the SA-commissioned survey were “quite brave”, and that the FOFA laws as they stand have “significantly overreached” the recommendations of the Ripoll Report from the original parliamentary inquiry into financial advice.

The Financial Planning Association of Australia banned its members from receiving commission payments on investment and superannuation products in 2009.

FPAA CEO Mark Rantall told the hearing that the real issue for the proposed legislation being considered is not FOFA but “SOPA” - separation of product from advice.

“We cannot support this bill if commissions on general advice remain,” he said.

Authorities say the issue now goes far beyond financial collapses such as those at Storm Financial and Westpoint.

“We believe that many thousands of other people have had poor financial advice that has not been in their best interest and has not optimised their financial situation,” Council of the Ageing national policy manager Jo Root said.

Australian Bankers' Association executive director for retail policy, Diane Tate, says she does not believe the banks want to hack into the FOFA reforms.

“That is simply not true. We believe in the ‘best interest duty’ and we believe that will continue under these [new] reforms,” she said.

Consultations with interested parties are continuing, and more developments are expected soon.