The Government has undertaken a Review of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
AFCA is the external dispute resolution body established to resolve complaints by consumers and small businesses about financial firms.
AFCA was established on 1 November 2018 in response to the Review of the financial system external dispute resolution and complaints framework and replaced the three dispute resolution bodies — the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the Credit and Investments Ombudsman (CIO), and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT). Further information on AFCA can be found on the AFCA website.
The legislation underpinning the establishment of AFCA requires the Minister to cause an independent review of AFCA as soon as practicable after 18 months of operation. The review was not conducted earlier due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The final report for the Review was handed to the Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy, Minister for Women's Economic Security on 26 August 2021. As required by legislation, the final report will be tabled in Parliament within 15 sitting days.