The Australian Financial Complaints Authority ('AFCA') is an independent organisation that helps resolve disputes between consumers, small businesses, and financial firms like banks and insurance companies. It provides a fair and quick way to solve problems without needing to go to court, making financial services more trustworthy for everyone.
What types of complaints can you make?
Complaints about a financial firm’s product, service, decision or conduct: Complaints can be made about a financial firm’s product, service, decision or conduct. AFCA’s main complaint areas are superannuation, banking deposits and payments, credit, finance and loans, insurance, investments and financial advice, and some scam-related complaints involving receiving banks or accounts or credit facilities opened without authority.
This includes:
Superannuation:
- death benefit decisions
- delays in paying a benefit
- failure to follow instructions
- miscalculation of a benefit
- insurance issues connected to super
- incorrect deduction of fees or insurance premiums
- Total Permanent Disability (TPD) and other benefit decisions that are unfair or unreasonable
Banking:
- savings and transaction accounts
- internet, phone and ATM banking
- direct debits
- mistaken internet payments
- cheques
- merchant facilities
- unauthorised transactions
- fees and charges on banking accounts
Credit, Finance, and Loans:
- credit cards
- personal loans
- home loans
- guarantees
- finance arrangements
- hardship requests
- responsible lending issues
- fees and charges on a credit account or loan
- debt collection connected to a loan or credit product
- regulated Buy Now Pay Later products
Insurance:
- claim refusals
- partial claim refusals
- underpayment of claims
- policy cancellations
- insurance premiums
- refusal to increase cover
- life insurance
- small business insurance
- extended warranties
- professional indemnity insurance
Investment and Financial Advice:
- unsuitable advice
- ongoing fees for services not provided
- instructions not followed
- unauthorised transactions
- missing or inadequate information about an investment
- managed investments
- securities
- derivatives
- advice about setting up an SMSF
Receiving Bank/Unauthorised Account or Credit Facility Opening:
- a receiving bank’s role in a scam
- an account opened in your name without permission
- a credit facility opened in your name without permission
- movement of scam-related funds through a bank account linked to you
Jurisdiction:
AFCA is Australia’s external dispute resolution scheme for eligible financial complaints. It handles complaints from across Australia about financial firms that fall within its Rules.
Time limitations:
AFCA has different time limits depending on the type of complaint.
For most complaints, the time limit is:
- 6 years from when you became aware, or should reasonably have become aware, of the loss, or
- 2 years from the financial firm’s final response or the end of a regulated loan.
For superannuation complaints, different rules apply:
- TPD complaints: special time limits apply depending on the circumstances
- ATO contribution statements: usually 12 months
- other superannuation complaints: usually 2 years from the trustee’s IDR response
- death benefit complaints: usually 28 days to object to the proposed distribution and 28 days to complain to AFCA after the final decision
AFCA will not deal with complaints that are:
- only about a fee, premium, charge or interest rate being too high
- already dealt with by AFCA, a court, or a tribunal
- over AFCA’s general claim limit, unless an exception applies
- about trustee discretion, unless the issue is bad faith, unfair consideration, misuse of discretion, or a superannuation complaint
- about general accounting work not connected to a financial service
- about pure investment performance only
- about overall management of a fund or scheme, rather than your own position
- against the trustee of an SMSF acting as trustee of that SMSF
- about some insurance, credit or trustee company matters that AFCA’s Rules exclude
Exercise of discretion: Even if a complaint is not automatically excluded, AFCA may still decide not to deal with it in some cases. This may happen if:
- another forum is more appropriate
- the issue has already been adequately dealt with
- the complaint is only about a policy in the abstract
- the complaint is frivolous, vexatious, misconceived, or lacking substance
- court proceedings have already started
- the matter has already been settled
- the complaint is substantively the same as an earlier discontinued complaint
- another person’s consent is needed and has not been given
- it is an investment complaint by a wholesale client who is not a small business
Who can you make a complaint against?
AFCA usually deals with complaints against financial firms and certain other respondent types covered by its Rules. This includes:
- AFCA member financial firm: The financial business itself, such as a bank, lender, insurer, financial advice firm, mortgage broker business, stockbroking firm, managed investment operator, or superannuation fund other than an SMSF.
- Superannuation decision-maker: A person or entity making a decision or taking action about a superannuation benefit, RSA, annuity, insurance connected to super or an RSA, or a death benefit.
- Traditional trustee company co-trustee: A trustee acting jointly with another trustee in an eligible trustee company service arrangement.
- Person acting for the financial firm: A person acting on behalf of the financial firm in relation to the financial service, such as an employee, agent, contractor, representative, broker, or other authorised person.
- Bank involved in an unauthorised account, unauthorised credit facility, or relevant funds movement: A bank connected to the account, credit facility, or funds movement in the specific scam-related or unauthorised-account situations covered by AFCA’s Rules.
AFCA will not usually deal with complaints against:
- someone who is not an AFCA member and does not fall within one of the special respondent types above
- an SMSF trustee acting as trustee of that SMSF
- an ordinary government body or another organisation that is not the provider of the relevant financial service
Are you eligible to make a complaint?
- Consumer: People who fall within AFCA’s Rules and have a complaint about a financial firm.
- Small Business: Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees may be able to complain to AFCA.
- Registered Charities: Registered charities can complain to AFCA regardless of the number of employees.
Before you lodge a complaint:
AFCA usually expects you to complain to the financial firm first through its internal dispute resolution process.
Can I make a complaint on behalf of someone?
Yes. A friend, family member, advocate, lawyer, support worker, Member of Parliament, or paid representative can make a complaint on someone’s behalf if they have authority to do so.
Additional information:
AFCA’s service is free. You do not need a lawyer to use AFCA, but you can get legal advice or support if you want to.
What can this body do to help?
Outcomes AFCA can provide:
Superannuation complaints:
- confirm, change, or replace a decision
- send the matter back for reconsideration
- require payment of a benefit or another practical outcome
- give written reasons for the determination
- there is no cap on the value of superannuation claims or remedies under the AFCA scheme
Non-superannuation complaints:
- require payment of compensation
- change a debt or repayment arrangement
- release security in some cases
- refund, waive, or adjust fees, charges or interest
- vary or unwind part of a contract
- require an insurer to meet a valid claim
- require correction, addition, or deletion of personal information in privacy complaints
- in limited cases, consider complaints about enforcement of a default judgment where financial hardship is involved
- require an apology
Additional Information:
- Direct financial loss: money lost directly because of the problem
- Indirect financial loss: money lost indirectly because of the problem, where AFCA’s Rules allow it
- Non-financial loss: distress, humiliation, inconvenience, or loss of peace of mind in some cases
- AFCA cannot punish the financial firm. It can only award compensation or another remedy allowed by its Rules and the law.
Note: AFCA cannot punish the financial firm. They can only ensure you are compensated for the actual loss you have suffered.
How to prepare your complaint
Format:
Complaints can be made online or by phone, post, email, or hard-copy form. Translation services are available.
Personal details:
Provide your full name, date of birth, and contact information. If lodging on someone’s behalf, provide their personal details.
Financial firm details:
Provide the name of the financial firm, their reference number if possible, and the date you complained to them.
Relevant facts:
Describe the product or service you are complaining about, what happened, when it happened, and how you would like AFCA to help. Provide copies of any supporting documents.
What to keep in mind:
Give AFCA accurate information and include documents that are relevant to your complaint. Focus on the key facts, what happened, and what outcome you want.
Lodging your complaint and next steps:
Where to lodge:
- Online: AFCA Complaint Form
- Post: GPO Box 3, Melbourne, VIC 3001
- Email: info@afca.org.au
- Phone: 1800 931 678 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm)
Notice:
After you lodge your complaint, AFCA will usually notify the financial firm and decide on the best way to deal with the complaint. AFCA may ask you and the financial firm for more information and may try to resolve the complaint through negotiation or conciliation.
Informal methods:
AFCA will usually try to resolve the complaint first through negotiation, conciliation, or other informal steps.
Formal methods:
- Preliminary Assessment: AFCA may give its early view about the facts, issues, and how the complaint should be resolved.
- Determination: If the complaint is not resolved, AFCA may make a final written decision. If you accept the determination, the financial firm usually has to comply with it.
Withdrawing a Complaint:
You can withdraw your complaint at any time. AFCA may also stop progressing a complaint if you do not engage with the process.
Closing a complaint:
AFCA may close or stop considering a complaint if it is outside AFCA’s jurisdiction, excluded under the Rules, or if AFCA decides the financial firm has already dealt with the complaint appropriately and does not need to take further steps.
More information:
Refer to the factsheet provided below for more information.
