The 2021–22 AFCA Annual Review is now available.
We are proud to present this year’s Annual Review, which highlights all AFCA has achieved in the 2021–22 financial year.
The financial services sector in Australia has experienced an extraordinary level of uncertainty and volatility in the last financial year.
This has been driven by the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, unanticipated interest rate rises, rapid inflation, intensifying climate-driven disasters, and the rise of new financial products and services.
These factors have, in turn, had an impact on consumers of financial services and the types of complaints AFCA has received during this period.
In the last financial year, we implemented a series of targeted efficiency initiatives designed to deliver the fastest pathway to resolution, and improve timeliness, fairness and customer experience for members, consumers and small businesses.
These initiatives include the introduction of specialist teams, strengthened workflow management and triage mechanisms. They also include the use of merit assessments earlier in our process, enhanced exception reporting, aged file prioritisation, key performance indicators for timeliness and enhanced communication to keep parties informed of progress on their complaints.
New inclusions in the Annual Review
Greater transparency
For the first time, data from the previous years was included to enable comparison of performance year-on-year. We have done this to increase transparency about complaint trends, with the ultimate goal of improving practices and minimising complaints. We have also included more information about where complaints resolve in our processes and in who’s favour.
Increased financial reporting
As recommended in the AFCA Independent Review, we have included more information about how AFCA uses member funds. We have included an easy-to-read high-level breakdown of how AFCA used its funds in 2021–22, along with AFCA’s 2022 General Purpose Financial Report.
Key statistics
Between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022:
Read the 2021–22 AFCA Annual Review here.
Published: 17 October 2022
Media enquiries media@afca.org.au
About AFCA
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is a non-government ombudsman service providing free, fair and independent help with financial disputes. It is a one-stop-shop for consumers and small businesses who have a dispute with their financial firm, over things such as banking, credit, insurance, advice, investments or superannuation. Where an agreement cannot be reached between parties, AFCA can issue decisions that are binding on financial firms.
