The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is required by legislation to operate in a way that is accessible, independent, fair, accountable, efficient and effective.

Accessibility requires us to work to increase awareness of the AFCA scheme so that people who want to make a complaint know about us and can bring their complaints to the AFCA scheme. Financial firms also have an obligation to tell their customers about us.

Being accessible also requires us to make the service easy to use for people who want to make a complaint, including those who have special needs. Our processes aim for a minimum of formality, with regular phone contact with complainants and financial firms and appropriate flexibility to consider individual circumstances that arise.

We do this by:

• Providing different ways to complain to us
• Ensuring our process is clear and easy to follow
• Clearly explaining what to expect from AFCA when you complain to us
• Publishing information in different languages and formats
• Attending a broad range of outreach events to raise awareness of our service
• Regularly presenting and offering tailored professional development for consumer advocates who work with people in financial hardship