The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) welcomes the release today of the report of the Independent Review into its financial dispute resolution service. AFCA agrees in principle with the report's 14 recommendations.
"Overall, this is a very positive report card, particularly for an organisation barely three years old," Chief Ombudsman and Chief Executive Officer David Locke said.
"We welcome the report's endorsement that we are delivering a fair, independent, efficient and effective complaints resolution service. The comments on our performance, including from the former Federal Court judge brought in as an independent expert, are highly encouraging.
"We were also pleased to read the Government's response to the findings of the Review, which supports the recommendations and notes that AFCA is performing well and providing an effective dispute resolution service for consumers and small businesses."
The report says, "AFCA is performing well in a difficult operating environment and a changing regulatory landscape". It reaffirms AFCA's impartiality and its fairness jurisdiction, acknowledging that this approach underpins the body's "critical" role as an efficient alternative to a tribunal or court for consumers, small businesses and financial firms. The report says it "did not find evidence to support a view that there are systemic issues with the independence of AFCA's operations".
The Review, conducted by Federal Treasury, was a requirement of the legislation that established AFCA. The report was delivered to the Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy, and Minister for Women's Economic Security, Senator Jane Hume.
Mr Locke said AFCA was committed to continuously improving its complaints resolution scheme for all participants and the report would aid this work.
"We know there are areas where we can improve as we move out of our establishment phase, and some of these have been identified in the Review," he said.
