If your bank won’t fix an error on your account, your insurer has knocked back a claim, or your super fund is dragging its feet, you don’t have to just accept it. There’s a free ombudsman for exactly this situation: the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, or AFCA. Here’s how it works and how to lodge a complaint step by step.
Quick answer: AFCA is the free, independent ombudsman for complaints about banks, insurers, super funds, financial advisers and other financial firms. You must complain to the firm first and give it a fair chance to fix things. If it doesn’t resolve the issue — usually within 30 days — you can escalate to AFCA online at afca.org.au, by free call on 1800 931 678, by email, or by post. AFCA can order refunds, fee reversals and compensation.
What is AFCA?
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority is the external dispute resolution scheme for Australia’s financial sector. It covers:
- Banks, credit unions and other lenders
- General insurers (car, home, contents, travel) and life insurers
- Superannuation funds
- Financial advisers and managed investment schemes
- Other financial firms, such as debt collectors and payment providers
The service is free for consumers and small businesses — the financial firms pay for it. AFCA is independent: it doesn’t act for you or for the firm. It looks at what’s fair, plus the relevant law and industry codes, and decides the outcome. If you’ve already taken your complaint to court, or AFCA has ruled on the same matter before, it usually can’t help.
When should you complain to AFCA?
The golden rule: complain to the financial firm first. AFCA expects you to have tried the firm’s own internal complaints process (called internal dispute resolution, or IDR) before it steps in.
The firm gets a set amount of time to sort it out:
- 30 days for most complaints
- 45 days for superannuation trustee complaints
- 90 days for complaints about super death benefit distributions
If the firm’s response doesn’t fix things, or the deadline passes with no proper response, that’s when AFCA comes in. Go to AFCA if:
- Your bank won’t correct an unauthorised transaction or a fee you were wrongly charged
- Your insurer has denied a claim or handled it badly
- Your super fund won’t pay a claim (this is one of the fastest-growing complaint types)
- You’ve been scammed and the bank, telco or platform involved won’t take responsibility
- A financial adviser gave you advice that cost you money
Who can complain to AFCA?
Consumers and small businesses (generally businesses with fewer than 100 employees). For super complaints, the people who can lodge include the fund member, anyone with an interest in a super death benefit, someone insured through their super, retirement savings account holders, and parties to a Family Law agreement affecting a super product.
One important check: the firm must be an AFCA member. Almost all banks, insurers and super funds are required by law to be members. AFCA has a “Financial Firm Search” on its website where you can check whether it can consider a complaint about your firm.
How to complain to AFCA: step by step
Step 1: Gather your documents
Before you lodge, collect anything that supports your complaint: account or policy numbers, the firm’s letters or emails, dates of phone calls, receipts, photos, and a clear summary of what happened, what the firm did or failed to do, and what outcome you want. You don’t need everything to start — AFCA says to lodge with what you have — but good records make your case stronger.
Step 2: Lodge your complaint
There are four ways to lodge:
- Online: the online form at afca.org.au/complain (you’ll create a free AFCA Portal account)
- Phone: 1800 931 678 (free call), 8am to 6pm AEDT/AEST, Monday to Friday
- Email: info@afca.org.au
- Post: Australian Financial Complaints Authority, GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001
A friend or family member can lodge or speak to AFCA on your behalf. You don’t need a lawyer — the process is designed for everyday people.
Step 3: AFCA refers your complaint to the firm
Once registered, AFCA sends your complaint to the financial firm and gives it another chance to resolve things directly with you. AFCA says many complaints are settled at this stage, without going any further.
Step 4: Investigation and negotiation
If the firm can’t resolve it, AFCA case managers investigate: they look at submissions from both sides, may request more information, and try to reach an agreement through negotiation or a conciliation conference (usually a phone meeting with everyone involved).
Step 5: A final decision (determination)
If negotiation fails, AFCA makes a formal determination. For non-super complaints, the decision becomes binding on the financial firm if you accept it — and the firm has no right of appeal. If you don’t accept it, you’re free to take the matter to court instead. Super determinations are binding on the fund, with only a very limited appeal to the Federal Court on a question of law.
What can you actually get?
Depending on the complaint, AFCA can order the firm to:
- Refund fees and charges you shouldn’t have paid
- Pay compensation for financial loss you suffered
- Vary, waive or forgive a debt, or release a security held over it
- Meet an insurance claim it wrongly knocked back
- Apologise for how you were treated
There are limits. AFCA can award up to $6,300 for non-financial loss (stress, inconvenience) for complaints lodged on or after 1 January 2024 — and it takes a conservative approach, awarding it only where the firm’s conduct caused an unusual degree of impact. For most complaint types the overall compensation limit is indexed over time and sits at around $1.26 million; superannuation complaints have no monetary limit.
Don’t wait too long: the time limits
AFCA has strict cut-offs. In most cases it can only consider your complaint if you lodge it within six years of when you first became aware — or should reasonably have become aware — that you suffered the loss, or, if you’ve already been through the firm’s internal complaints process, within two years of receiving the firm’s final response. Super complaints have their own special rules and can be tighter. If you’re not sure whether you’re in time, call AFCA on 1800 931 678 before you delay any further — once a time limit passes, you may lose this option for good.
Tips to strengthen your complaint
- Put everything in writing. Keep copies of every letter, email and form you send, and note the date of every call and who you spoke to.
- Complain to the firm first and keep its reference number. AFCA wants to see that the firm had its chance.
- Be specific about what you want. “Refund the $340 in fees and fix my credit report” beats “I want justice.”
- Act quickly. Time limits can expire while you’re still thinking about it.
- You don’t need to pay anyone to lodge. AFCA is free, and it’s designed so you can do it yourself.
Why this matters now: complaints are at record highs
AFCA’s Annual Review for 2025–26, released this week, shows Australians lodged a record 119,949 complaints — the highest number in the scheme’s history and the third straight year above 100,000. Banking and finance made up more than half of them (66,971), with scams and unauthorised transactions the top issues. General insurance drew 36,022 complaints, and superannuation complaints jumped 42% to 8,755, with complaints about funds refusing to pay claims up 80%.
The message from AFCA’s Chief Ombudsman is that firms need to do a better job of fixing problems early — but if yours hasn’t, AFCA exists for exactly that reason.
