From 1 November 2018, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) will replace the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the Credit and Investments Ombudsman (CIO) and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT). More information is available about these predecessor schemes.
All new complaints made to AFCA will be handled under the AFCA Rules. The AFCA Rules have higher claims limits and compensation caps, and they provide jurisdiction for AFCA to consider and resolve superannuation complaints.
Disputes with FOS or CIO
All existing disputes with FOS and CIO will be resolved by AFCA. This is because AFCA is currently operating both the FOS and CIO schemes.
On 1 November 2018, if you have a current dispute with the FOS or CIO, the following transitional arrangements will apply to your complaint:
- Complaints with FOS will continue to be handled by AFCA under the FOS Terms of Reference.
- Complaints with CIO will continue to be handled by AFCA under the CIO Rules.
Superannuation complaints with the SCT
On 1 November 2018, new superannuation complaints will be received and dealt with by AFCA.
Unlike the CIO and FOS, there will be no transfer of complaints between the SCT and AFCA. The SCT will continue to operate beyond AFCA's commencement to resolve existing complaints that were lodged with the SCT before 1 November 2018.
Complaints cannot be withdrawn from the SCT and re-lodged with AFCA. If you believe an exception should be made, please call us to discuss your situation on 1800 931 678.
For more information download: Superannuation complaints fact sheet [PDF]
From 1 November 2018
From 1 November 2018, if you happen to lodge a complaint with CIO or FOS, that service will ask you if you would like the complaint to be forwarded to be dealt with by AFCA, so that AFCA can consider your complaint. If you lodge a complaint with the SCT, it will return the complaint and advise you to lodge your complaint with AFCA.
From 1 November 2018, new complaints will be able to be lodged directly with AFCA, using AFCA’s online complaint form, by sending a complaint by email or mail to AFCA, or by phoning AFCA on 1300 931 678.
