AFCA’s new member portal with launch on Monday 17 June. To support members with this transition and change, we have shared:
- Updated FAQs.
- Information about training
- Actions to take before day one
- A summary of key changes to processes, practices, and terminology
- Day one activities
Updated FAQs
We have updated our frequently asked questions following user-testing with a small group of AFCA members. We’ll continue to update our FAQs until launch. If you have any questions about the new member portal, please email membership@afca.org.au and we will add them to our FAQs if applicable to all members, otherwise we will respond to your enquiry separately.
Training and learning resources in May
AFCA will publish a range of self-guided training and learning resources in early May, including:
- How-to guides for key features and processes
- Short explainer videos and tutorials
- Interactive eLearning modules for case handling tasks and administrative tasks
We’ll send website links to training and learning resources in May. You’ll also have access to these resources via the existing Secure Services portal until Friday 14 June. After go-live, all resources will be available on our website.
Actions to take before go-live
Downloading case data
AFCA will retire the existing member portal (Secure Services) on Friday 14 June.
All open financial complaint cases and the previous six months of closed financial complaint cases will migrate to the new member portal by Monday 17 June. Case data for closed complaints older than six months will not be migrated to our new member portal.
If this data is needed, members should download it from the existing portal (Secure Services) before Friday 14 June.
Updating your contact information
We will continue to update members about the new member portal via Member News and email. If you have colleagues who are not signed up to Member News, they can do this from the existing member portal (Secure Services) homepage.
It’s also critical that we have the latest contact information for each membership by 31 May. This includes the contact information for each contact associated with each membership (e.g., CEO/MD/Company Secretary contact, IDR Registration Contact, Finance Contact).
AFCA will use these contact details to send information about creating their portal account on day one. See more about individual portal accounts and role types below.
You can update your contact details in the existing member portal (Secure Services) by following these steps:
- Login to the Member Portal and select ‘Update contact details’
- After clicking on ‘Update contact details’, scroll down and select ‘Update personal details’
- Once you have updated your details, click ‘Submit’
Key changes to processes, practices, and terminology
When the new member portal launches, some processes, practices, and terminology will change. Below is an overview of some of the key changes to expect from the new member portal.
More detailed information will be provided in training and learning resources (in May), as well as process guides (available closer to launch).
Auto-referrals
As outlined in previous updates and at our Member Forums, members will receive new complaints immediately upon lodgement with AFCA. From Monday 17 June, we won’t review complaints before referral.
Preparing for a potential increase in auto-referrals
Recently lodged complaints that AFCA has not processed or referred to members before Friday 14 June will be referred at go-live (Monday 17 June).
This will include complaints lodged before we switch off our current Online Complaint Form and any new complaints on day one. This means some members may see an increase in complaint referrals on transition.
AFCA will process and refer as many complaints as possible before Friday 14 June to reduce the impact on members. However, members should prepare for a possible initial spike.
Individual portal accounts and role types for each member contact
The new member portal introduces individual accounts and role types to give each person the level of access they need to do their job. It also ensures each complaint is associated with a single contact at each stage of the AFCA process.
Unique email addresses
Each member contact must register for a member portal account with a unique (individual) email address. Each email address is the unique identifier for each account. Once an email address is used by a contact to create a portal account, it cannot be used by any other person.
Member contacts can be assigned the following roles:
- Admin
- EDR Manager
- Billing
- Systemic Issues (SARM) contact
- Code Compliance contact
- Team Manager
- Case Worker
Each member account must only have one EDR Manager, one SARM contact, one Billing contact, and at least one Admin contact. There is no limit to how many contacts can be assigned a Team Manager, Case Worker, or Admin role. Contacts can be assigned to multiple roles.
We have published a guide on the new member portal contacts and role types here. The guide includes which contact types in Secure Services will migrate to new role types in the new member portal.
Importantly, the existing ‘CEO, Managing Director, Company Secretary or Equivalent’ contact will migrate to the new portal as an Admin contact. It’s important that the current ‘CEO, Managing Director, Company Secretary or Equivalent’ is correct and available at go-live (Monday 17 June), as this person will be able to assign new role types and create new contacts, including creating additional Admin contacts.
If you need additional Admin contacts on day one, you can also assign team members the existing ‘CEO, Managing Director, Company Secretary or Equivalent’ contact type in Secure Services before 31 May.
To update your contact information in Secure Services, follow the steps outlined above.
Terminology and definition changes
Financial complaints
The new member portal will be used for all complaint types and matters. Complaints about financial products and services will be referred to as ‘financial complaints’. This avoids confusing financial complaints with service complaints, Independent Assessor complaints, systemic issues and other matters.
Systemic and Reportable Matters (SARM)
Systemic Issues will be known as SARM – or Systemic and Reportable Matters. This more accurately reflects the broader matters that may be raised as SARM cases.
Raising a request
Raising a request will be how members, complainants and AFCA will communicate via the portal – significantly reducing the need for emails. There will be general requests or specific requests that cover common case management scenarios. For example, when a member disputes jurisdiction on a case via the portal, this will be done by raising a jurisdiction review request. Our portal 'how to' guides will provide more information about request options and how to raise a request in the portal.
Final response
The IDR or EDR response after Referral will be called a ‘Final Response’. Members will see ‘Final Response’ in the new member portal when they upload a response at Referral.
Notifications and case information for newly referred complaints
Newly lodged and automatically referred complaints will appear in the portal for the EDR Manager contact. If the EDR Manager contact opts to receive portal notifications by email, they will receive an email alerting them of the new complaint. Members will not receive case information, such as the complainant's summary of the complaint and expected outcome, by email (including in email notifications about new complaints). This means the EDR Manager will need to view and download case information, including documents, from the member portal.
Complaint status, stage, substage and stream
A complaint’s status will only refer to whether a complaint is ‘open’ or ‘closed’, while a complaint’s stage will refer to where the complaint is in our process.
The different stages of our complaints process have also been simplified to align with our funding model (complaint fee schedule) and to make it easier for consumers to understand. There will no longer be stages for Case Management 1 (CM1), Case Management 2 (CM2) or Preliminary View (PV).
Within each stage, financial complaints will progress through various sub-stages which will tell you more about the progress of the complaint (such as IDR or Post-IDR).
The four stages of our process will be:
- Referral
- Jurisdiction
- Case Management
- Decision
Our existing case streams (Complex, Standard and Fast Track) will remain.
Changes to case numbers
When we migrate complaints to our new systems (including the new member portal), case numbers will change.
Cases will be in the format XX-YY-ZZZZZZ, where XX will designate the type of case (with all financial complaints being “12”), YY the year of creation, and ZZZZZZ the unique case number.
Migrated cases will keep their current case number with a new prefix and have ‘00’ as the year.
For example, an existing financial complaint case 999999 will appear as 12-00-999999, and a new case created this year will be 12-24-123456.
If members need to find an existing case, they can still use the existing case number to search for it in the portal.
Viewing and managing Systemic Issues, Code Governance Committee matters and Independent Assessor cases
AFCA will not be migrating SARM (systemic and reportable matters) cases, Code matters and Independent Assessor cases at go-live – initially we are only taking across financial complaint cases.
Members and other stakeholders can continue to communicate with Code Governance Committees, the Independent Assessor, and the Systemic Issues team through the same channels they use now (such as email and phone).
Day one activities
On Monday 17 June, each member will receive an email from AFCA confirming the new member portal is live. This email will include a link to create a portal account.
If you have more than one contact associated with your membership, and each contact has a different email address, each contact will receive this email so they can create their own account.
Creating your portal account
Each member contact must register for their portal account with a unique (individual) email address. Each email address is the unique identifier for each account.
If you use a shared email inbox (generic email address), you should not use this email address to create an account if you have more than one person needing a portal account.
Once an email address is used by a contact to create an account, it cannot be used again by any other person.
When you arrive at the login page, you will be asked to enter your email address and to create a password. You will also need to complete multi-factor authentication by entering a code sent your email address.
Assigning roles to your colleagues
As outlined in our new member portal contacts and role types guide, the existing ‘CEO, Managing Director, Company Secretary or Equivalent’ contact will migrate to the new member portal as an Admin contact.
Once the Admin contact establishes their account, they can assign role types to other contacts associated with your membership – such as Case Worker, Team Manager, or additional Admin. Admin contacts can also create new profiles and send invitations to their colleagues to create a portal account.
Admin contacts, the EDR Manager and Team Managers can all assign cases to colleagues.
Go-live support
At launch, members will have access to our Live Chat in the member portal. This chat can be used for simple questions and guidance where you may need additional support or information about a new process or function.
Members can also call a dedicated phone line to speak with our Membership Services team, or email membership@afca.org.au. We may receive many emails at go-live, so we encourage you to use the Live Chat or phone line if your matter is urgent.
You can also access the learning resources at any time.
