Australian Financial Complaints Authority

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority was established on 1 November 2018, replacing the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the Credit and Investments Ombudsman (CIO) and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT). The Australian Government announced on 9 May 2017 that AFCA would be established in response to the review of external dispute resolution and complaints arrangements in the financial system. == Operations and processes ==

Rules The Rules of AFCA outline the types of complaints that AFCA can consider, as well as their procedures, remedies and reporting obligations. The rules were approved by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) on 12 September 2018. Resolution process The AFCA only considers a complaint after the consumer has first attempted to resolve the dispute directly with their financial service provider. If the dispute is unable to be resolved or the outcome is unsatisfactory, AFCA can then consider it. Complaints can be filed with AFCA through an online form on their website. An AFCA representative will then contact the consumer and relevant financial service provider to settle the dispute. In the case a settlement cannot be reached, an AFCA case analyst will develop a balanced solution. The consumer can then either accept the proposed settlement from AFCA or take their dispute to court. The Board appoints an independent?? Chief Ombudsman and CEO, presently David Locke. == See also ==