Information for mental health advocates

Consumer advocates and mental health service professionals play an important role by referring people to AFCA or by providing representation throughout the complaints process.

Your support can help close the gap between people experiencing mental health conditions and financial services like AFCA, that can improve financial wellbeing.

You can find other helpful information for consumer advocates here.

How AFCA can help

AFCA – Australia’s financial ombudsman – provides individuals and small businesses with fair, free and independent dispute resolution for financial complaints.

Our service is impartial, which means we don’t take sides. If an agreement cannot be reached by negotiation or conciliation, we will decide on a fair outcome.

Decisions we make are binding on the financial firm. We can award compensation for losses suffered because of a financial firm’s error or inappropriate conduct, however we do not impose fines or award compensation to punish financial firms.

Our service is free to the public and your client does not need to pay someone for help when lodging an AFCA complaint.

Supporting complainants with mental health conditions

If you are supporting a client with a mental health condition, you can either refer them to AFCA or represent them in their complaint with us.

Our people are trained to handle complaints with compassion and safety. We can tailor our ways of working depending on your client’s individual circumstances.

AFCA also considers complaints involving financial hardship and we allocate them to a dedicated team.

Where appropriate, we encourage you to share information about AFCA’s free external dispute resolution service. You will find links to order brochures for your office, along with our logo pack for your website under ‘Resources’ below.

If you would like to connect with our Community Engagement team, contact us at community@afca.org.au.

Resources

AFCA has more information for consumer advocates who are supporting people with a mental health condition.

Our publications are free to order online. Find all our publications including our complaint form and brochures here.

Case studies

Click on the tiles below to read more.

Case study – Communicating frequently to relieve stress

Maureen was in her 70s, living alone in her family home. Maureen had been out visiting family when she returned to find a burst water pipe and flooding. She quickly contacted a plumber, a drying service, and her insurance company. However, Maureen was overwhelmed, as it took a lot of work to dry out the property involving two different companies and many weeks of effort. The final straw came when her insurance company rejected her claim.

Maureen, who struggles with depression and anxiety, found it challenging to communicate with the insurance company, and she noticed her mental health symptoms worsening. By the time Maureen contacted AFCA for help, she was exhausted and burnt out.

Maureen shared information about her mental health conditions and AFCA discussed strategies with her to help her manage her stress during the complaints process. This included taking Maureen’s complaint over the phone and ensuring she would receive additional time to prepare information. AFCA also offered information about other support services and suggested Maureen consider working with a representative. Maureen decided to appoint her son to act as her authorised representative whilst remaining involved. She said that regular updates would also help her manage her anxiety. AFCA made note of the adjustments they agreed to.

During the process, AFCA regularly contacted Maureen and her son to provide updates and ensure that Maureen understood the progress of her complaint. The extra contact from AFCA and support from her son helped Maureen to manage not only her complaint, but also her stress.

Ultimately, Maureen and her insurer agreed to a settlement, allowing Maureen to repair her family home.

Case study – Acknowledging stress when we assess a complaint

Jamila was excited about her upcoming overseas trip. She had a stressful year, leaving a domestic violence situation and a job where she experienced workplace bullying. Emotionally exhausted and with heightened anxiety, Jamila needed a break and organised her trip, including travel insurance.

While in Japan, the country faced two natural disasters, causing Jamila considerable trauma, which led to a mental health breakdown. Jamila found it difficult to get in contact with her insurer, and in absence of a response from them, she decided to return home. However, when attempting to claim non-refundable costs from her travel insurance, the company rejected her claim. The insurer said her anxiety was a pre-existing condition, something that was not covered under the insurance policy.

Jamila turned to AFCA for help to resolve the complaint. AFCA found that although the insurance policy was clear about exclusions, there were steps the insurer could have taken to ease Jamila’s distress, such as helping her to access a mental health practitioner while she was travelling.

Jamila was not able to claim all her lost expenses, however AFCA did award non-financial loss compensation, acknowledging the unusual level of stress and inconvenience she experienced at the time, without access to a mental health practitioner in a medical emergency.

Case study – Adjusting how we communicate and sharing information with a firm to create understanding

Alex lived alone in a small flat with his therapy dog but had to move out due to extreme weather damaging his property and causing mould. Alex contacted his insurer for help. They began processing his claim, including arranging temporary accommodation.

Alex had become distressed because the first accommodation option didn’t suit his needs. His dog was not allowed to stay with him and the property was not accessible with his walking frame.

When Alex raised these issues with the insurer, they found alternative accommodation, but would only book the accommodation two days at a time. This caused significant disruption to Alex's life, as he was not always available at check-in time due to work or other commitments.

With no friends or family in the area to help, if he was too late to check in, he had no other option but to sleep rough.

Alex reached out to AFCA to expedite his settlement and increase the length of stay at the temporary accommodation. AFCA talked to Alex to understand what he needed from us to help him manage his complaint. He needed more structure and stability because he was finding the constant and unexpected contact from the insurer very stressful.

AFCA adapted our approach to provide planned updates once a fortnight and sent summaries of our conversations in writing so Alex could review them when his head was clear. With permission from Alex, we shared the issues he was experiencing with his insurer, and they quickly resolved the complaint.

Alex was relieved, and he found AFCA's approach helped his mental wellbeing.

Case study – Leveraging a trusted relationship to resolve a complaint

Remi was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 21 and it has impacted every aspect of his life. When his father passed away, Remi was the beneficiary. His father left him a house and had arranged a trustee to manage his finances. After multiple break-ins at his home, Remi struggled to feel safe. Despite his attempts to communicate with the trustees for new security installation, they refused his request, leading to a breakdown in trust.

Remi would call regularly and each time the trustee did not answer, he became more concerned about how they were managing his funds.

Hearing about AFCA on the radio, Remi contacted us. However, due to paranoia symptoms, he was reluctant to provide information about his complaint and did not trust AFCA either.

We asked what steps we could take to help Remi feel comfortable and explained our privacy policy and how we share information.

Remi wanted his sister to represent him, however she was overseas and unreachable. We offered flexible due dates, explaining the importance of gathering information for his complaint, and how we store it securely, although Remi remained unsure.

Through conversation, we discovered that Remi’s care provider also offered financial counselling and was trusted by him. We suggested a financial counsellor could help Remi communicate with the trustee, and also work with him to prepare a budget. With the help of a financial counsellor’ we successfully resolved Remi’s complaint, preparing the budget that was needed to install additional security at Remi’s home.

Other places to get help

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 000 for police and ambulance help.

Beyond Blue (1300 22 46 36) – 24-hour confidential information, counselling and support

1800 RESPECT (1300 737 732) – 24-hour confidential information, counselling and support for people impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence

13 YARN (13 92 76) – 24-hour crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

QLife (1800 184 527) – Counselling and referral services for LGBTQI+ people

MensLine (1300 78 99 78) – 24-hour confidential counselling and referral services for men

SANE Helpline (1800 18 72 63) – Free counselling service for people with recurring, persistent or complex mental health issues and trauma, and for their families, friends and communities

National Debt Helpline (1800 007 007) – Free and confidential financial counselling services

Australian Health Department – Find a list of national organisations, websites and services that offer support, counselling, research and information about mental health and suicide prevention

How AFCA can help

Supporting complainants with mental health conditions

Resources

Case studies

Other places to get help

1800 931 678 (free call)

1300 56 55 62 (Members)

​​Information for mental health advocates​

How AFCA can help

Supporting complainants with mental health conditions

Resources

Case studies

Other places to get help

1800 931 678 (free call)

1300 56 55 62 (Members)

AFCA chat service terms and conditions

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