2020–21 Annual Review
Contents
- About this Annual Review
- Board Chair message
- Chief Executive Officer and Chief Ombudsman message
- About us
- Strategic plan
- Year in review – strategic initiatives
- Year at a glance
- Membership
- Complaints
- Who complained to AFCA?
- Overview of complaints
- Open cases
- Complaints closed by AFCA
- Banking and finance complaints
- Scams
- General insurance complaints
- Superannuation complaints
- Investments and advice complaints
- Life insurance complaints
- Financial difficulty complaints
- Small business complaints
- Complaints lodged by consumer advocates
- Legacy complaints
- Conciliation
- Complaints outside the Rules
- Systemic issues
- Naming financial firms
- Significant events
- Stakeholder engagement
- People and culture
- Feedback about our service
- Independent Assessor Report
- Corporate information
- AFCA General Purpose Financial Report 2021
- Code compliance and monitoring
- Previous schemes
- Appendix 1
Open cases
As at 30 June 2021, AFCA had 16,423 open cases. Over half (51%) of these open cases were less than 60 days old.
The age of open cases is impacted by a number of factors. These include the referral back timeframe, which varies from 21 to 90 days depending on the product and/or issues raised by the complaint.
We have also been cognisant during COVID–19 of granting extensions of time to firms and customers who have been unable to meet deadlines and get relevant information to us.
Complaints handled through our Fast Track and Financial Difficulty processes generally have a lower age profile than those complaints that raise multiple and more complex issues.
AFCA has implemented a series of efficiency initiatives designed to deliver the fastest pathway to resolution. We know that timeliness is a key aspect of a fair process.
These measures include the development of specialist teams, strengthened workflow management and triage mechanisms, enhanced exception reporting, aged file prioritisation, key performance indicators for timeliness, and enhanced communication to keep parties informed of progress.
Open cases by age
| Age | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0–30 days | 32% |
| 31–60 days | 19% |
| 61–180 days | 28% |
| 181–365 days | 12% |
| Greater than 365 days | 9% |
Open cases by stage of the process they are at 1
| Stage | Percentage |
|---|---|
| At Registration | 36% |
| At Case Management | 38% |
| At Rules Review | 4% |
| Preliminary Assessment | 12% |
| Decision | 11% |
Open cases by product type
| Product type | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Banking and finance | 47% |
| General insurance | 25% |
| Investments and advice | 14% |
| Superannuation | 10% |
| Life insurance | 4% |
1 Percentages have been rounded and, as a result, do not total to 100%.
