If your bank, insurer, or super fund in Australia has charged you unfairly, denied a legitimate claim, or made an error on your loan, you don't have to fight their customer service department indefinitely or head to court. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is a free, independent external dispute resolution scheme — and critically, its decisions are binding on the financial firm once you accept them.
You have to try the bank first
Before AFCA will look at your case, the financial firm generally gets a chance to resolve it through its own Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process. AFCA generally expects a firm to respond within 30 days.
What AFCA can actually award — and why the exact number isn't one figure
AFCA's compensation caps aren't a single universal number — they vary depending on the type of complaint (banking, insurance, investment advice, and so on), and the limits are indexed and adjusted periodically. As of the current framework, the maximum value of a claim AFCA will consider is capped in the low seven figures for individual consumers, with a separate, larger limit for small business credit facilities. Superannuation complaints are treated differently and aren't subject to the same fixed caps. Rather than quoting one number as if it applies to every case, check your specific complaint type against AFCA's published current limits before assuming what you could recover.
Lodging the case
You'll need your IDR final response letter from the bank, account statements showing the error, and a clear breakdown of the financial impact you're seeking to have corrected. Confirm the firm is an AFCA member first — this is a licensing requirement, so any legitimately operating financial firm should be.
Why banks take AFCA seriously
Once AFCA accepts a complaint, the case is escalated internally at the financial firm, and the firm typically incurs its own administrative costs simply for the case progressing — which tends to create a real incentive to settle directly with you before a formal determination is issued.
If you reject AFCA's decision
An AFCA determination only binds the firm if you accept it. If you don't, you keep the right to pursue the matter in court instead — AFCA isn't your only option, just usually the fastest and free one.