What Is the AFCA and How Can It Help You?

AFCA Explained

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is a free, independent dispute resolution service for consumers who have a complaint about a financial firm. AFCA was established in 2018, replacing three previous dispute resolution schemes. It handles complaints about banks, insurers, superannuation funds, financial advisers, credit providers, and other financial services firms.

What AFCA Can Do for You

If you have a complaint that you cannot resolve directly with your financial firm, AFCA can investigate and make a binding decision. It can order the firm to apologise, fix a mistake, pay compensation (up to $1 million for most complaints and higher for superannuation), or take other corrective action. AFCA's services are free to consumers — you do not need a lawyer to use it.

How to Lodge a Complaint

Before going to AFCA, you must first give the financial firm a chance to resolve your complaint. Most firms have 30 days to respond. If they do not resolve it to your satisfaction, you can lodge a complaint with AFCA online through their website. You will need to provide details of your complaint, copies of relevant documents (including your SOA or advice document), and a summary of what you have done to resolve it so far.

Time Limits

There are time limits for lodging a complaint with AFCA. Generally, you have up to two years from the date you became aware (or should have become aware) of the problem to lodge a complaint. If you have received non-compliant financial advice, acting sooner rather than later preserves your options.

How Your Advice Document Can Help

A compliance report on your SOA, ROA, or CAR can help support your AFCA complaint. It provides an independent assessment of whether the advice meets regulatory standards and can identify specific compliance issues. While AFCA makes its own independent assessment, having a compliance report can help you articulate your concerns clearly.

For a detailed walkthrough of each stage, see our step-by-step guide to the financial ombudsman process.

What AFCA Does and How It Helps

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is the independent dispute resolution body that handles complaints from consumers about financial firms in Australia. AFCA was established in November 2018, replacing three former schemes (FOS, SCT, and CIO). It provides free, accessible dispute resolution for consumers who have been unable to resolve their complaint directly with a financial firm.

AFCA can handle complaints about: financial advice (including poor advice that caused losses), superannuation funds and trustees, insurance (life, general, health), banking products and services, credit and loans, and financial planning services. AFCA can award compensation of up to $1 million per complaint, with a higher limit of $5.36 million for superannuation complaints. AFCA also has the power to require firms to apologise, rectify mistakes, or change their practices.

The AFCA Complaints Process

Before contacting AFCA, you must first give the financial firm an opportunity to resolve your complaint through their internal dispute resolution (IDR) process. The firm must respond within 30 days. If they do not respond, or you are not satisfied with their response, you can lodge a complaint with AFCA. You generally have 2 years from the date of the firm's final response to lodge with AFCA (or 6 years from the date of the issue for superannuation complaints).

AFCA's process involves: initial assessment and eligibility check, conciliation (where AFCA attempts to help both parties reach an agreement through negotiation), and if conciliation fails, a formal determination by an AFCA ombudsman. The determination is binding on the financial firm but not on you — if you do not accept the determination, you are free to pursue legal options through the courts.

Tips for a Strong AFCA Complaint

To maximise your chances of a successful AFCA complaint, be organised. Keep copies of all documents: your SOA or advice documents, correspondence with the adviser, fee disclosure statements, records of when you first identified the problem, evidence of the loss or damage suffered, and the firm's response to your initial complaint.

Be clear about what outcome you want. Common outcomes include: compensation for financial loss caused by poor advice, refund of advice fees paid, corrective action to fix a problem, or an apology. AFCA assesses each complaint on its merits based on what is "fair and reasonable" in all the circumstances, considering the law, industry codes, and good practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a time limit for lodging a complaint with AFCA?
Yes. You generally have 2 years from the date you received the firm's final response to your internal complaint to lodge with AFCA. For superannuation complaints, you have 6 years from the date of the issue. It is best to act promptly.

Does AFCA charge fees to consumers?
No. AFCA's services are free to consumers. The costs are funded by fees paid by financial firms that are members of the scheme. There are no application fees or costs for using AFCA's services.

Can AFCA handle complaints about any financial product?
AFCA can handle complaints about most financial products and services provided by firms that are members of the scheme. Nearly all AFSL holders are required to be members of AFCA. You can check AFCA's website to confirm a firm is a member.

What if I reject AFCA's determination?
If you reject AFCA's determination, you are free to pursue the matter through the courts or other avenues. However, AFCA's determinations are generally fair and well-reasoned. Seek legal advice before rejecting an AFCA determination.

What AFCA Complaints Data Shows

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) received 104,861 complaints in 2023-24, an 8% increase from the prior year. Of these, 3,559 were about investments and advice, though excluding Dixon Advisory complaints, investment and advice complaints reached an all-time low of 2,709 — reflecting improvements in education standards and industry professionalism.

Key findings from AFCA's complaints data:

• Inappropriate advice remains the most common complaint type in financial advice disputes.
• Dixon Advisory: 2,773 total complaints received since AFCA's inception. Of these, 98.2% of determined complaints were found in favour of complainants, with $35.6 million awarded in compensation and an average of $329,996 per determination.
• Financial difficulty complaints rose 18%, including concerns about inadequate responses to hardship applications.
• Scam complaints surged 81% to 10,951, though they declined in the latter part of the year (averaging 500 per month vs. 900 previously).
• Licensees with most advice complaints (FY24): AMP Financial Planning (30), InterPrac Financial Planning (14), Madison Financial Group (11), NextGen Financial Group (10).

AFCA resolved 70% of scam complaints within 60 days, with 67% resolved at the first stage (referral to the firm). Of complaints that progressed to investigation, 60% resulted in full or partial compensation. Only 2% went to formal determination by an ombudsman.

Source: AFCA Annual Review 2023-24, AFCA Datacube statistics, Parliamentary submission on DASS.