This page sets out privacy notices for specific activities conducted by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority Ltd:

For general information about how AFCA handles personal information, please refer to our privacy policy.

If you have any questions about AFCA’s privacy notices, please contact privacy@afca.org.au.

Privacy notice for complaint handling

AFCA collects personal information when investigating and determining a complaint.  The type of personal information that AFCA may collect includes identity and contact information, financial information and sensitive information.  AFCA requires this information to properly investigate a complaint about a financial firm.

Details about how we handle your personal information are set out in our Privacy Policy available here.

Our Privacy Policy includes information on how you can access or correct your personal information that AFCA holds.  It also sets out how you can make a complaint about how AFCA has handled your personal information.

You may withdraw your consent for us to handle your personal information by contacting us, however we will be unable to resolve your complaint and we will continue to keep information that has been collected.  If known at that time, we will also inform you of any other potential impact that withdrawing your consent may have. Withdrawing your consent will not impact how we comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

If you have any questions about how AFCA handles privacy, you can speak to an AFCA staff member or contact AFCA Privacy by email to privacy@afca.org.au.

Authority

By making a complaint to AFCA, you consent to AFCA considering your complaint against a financial firm/s in accordance with AFCA Rules.  You authorise AFCA to:

  • Exchange your information, including relevant sensitive information, to other parties or external organisations where reasonably necessary for the purpose of dealing with the complaint, and as required or permitted by law
  • Refer the complaint to another financial firm or dispute resolution service where AFCA decides it is appropriate
  • Exchange your information, including relevant sensitive information, between financial firms where there are multiple complaints against different financial firms
  • If reasonably necessary, use your information collected for this complaint to resolve another complaint that may or may not be related to this complaint.

You also authorise your representative (or that representative’s organisation), other complaint parties, or the financial firm to exchange your information, including relevant sensitive information, to other parties for the purpose of dealing with the complaint, and as required or permitted by law.

Privacy notice for calls to AFCA's mainlines

AFCA records calls made to AFCA’s mainline phone numbers 1800 931 678, 1800 337 444 and 1300 565 562.

AFCA uses call recordings for quality and training purposes to improve the service we provide to you. These recordings are not intended to be used for other purposes except where required or permitted by law. For example, we may be required to disclose call recordings if compelled by a court process or formal notice from a government regulator.

When we finish using call recordings for the purpose they were collected, they will be destroyed unless AFCA is legally required or permitted to retain the recordings. We usually hold call recordings for up to 6 months.

If you do not give consent to your call being recorded, please tell our staff as soon as you speak to them, and they will stop recording the call. 

We handle the personal information we collect in accordance with AFCA’s privacy policy.  AFCA’s privacy policy is available here.

Our privacy policy includes information on how you can access or request a correction of your personal information that AFCA holds. It also sets out how you can make a complaint about how AFCA has handled your personal information.

You can request a copy of your call recording by speaking to our staff or contacting privacy@afca.org.au.

Privacy notice for AFCA’s recruitment process

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) requires the Australian Financial Complaints Authority Ltd (ABN 38 620 494 340) (“AFCA”) to inform an individual about certain matters when we collect your personal information. 

This notice relates to the collection and handling of your personal information when you apply for a role with AFCA and during our recruitment process.

The personal information we collect

The type of personal information that AFCA will generally collect includes:

  • identity and contact information,
  • information about your work experience and remuneration
  • information about your education and qualifications,
  • your citizenship status or proof of right to work, if applicable,
  • other information you choose to inform us about, and
  • other relevant personal information we may require.

AFCA requires this information to assess your job application. If we do not have this information or the information you give us in inaccurate, we will not be able to properly consider whether you are an appropriate candidate for a role at AFCA.

We will usually collect this information from you. We will also collect relevant information we require from third parties, such as your job referees or for security checks.

AFCA will use third-party service suppliers to process your application information. Most of your data will be processed within data centres located in Australia. For specific services, your data may be processed through data centres located in the US, Poland and the Netherlands.

If you are successful with your application

If AFCA offers you a role and you accept, you will be required to give us more information to process your employment, such as your tax information and your photo. We may also require your health and medical information to provide you with any reasonable adjustments you may require for your role.

The information we collect about you through this application process and to process your employment will form part of your AFCA employee record.

Not providing us with any reasonable additional information we require may have consequences for how we can process your employment.

If you are unsuccessful with your application

If you are not successful with your application with AFCA, we will generally retain your application for two years.

Unless you tell us otherwise, we will also use your application information to consider your suitability for future roles at AFCA. If we consider you suitable for a future role, we will invite you to apply for that role.

More information about how AFCA handles personal information

Information about how AFCA generally handles personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy available here.

Our Privacy Policy includes information on how an individual can access or correct their personal information that AFCA holds. It also sets out how an individual can make a complaint about how AFCA has handled their personal information.

If there are any questions about how AFCA handles privacy, please contact AFCA’s membership team or send an email to AFCA Privacy at privacy@afca.org.au.

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Please be advised we cannot provide you with financial or legal advice. However, we may be able to refer you to a community legal centre or financial counselling service if you need help.

Our live chat is operated by Genesys Cloud on behalf of AFCA. Any personal information provided in this chat will be captured by both organisations in accordance with their privacy policies, available at www.afca.org.au/privacy and www.genesys.com/company/legal/privacy-policy

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