The Chair of the Board of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) the Hon. Helen Coonan today announced the appointment of David Locke as the Chief Ombudsman and Chief Executive Officer of AFCA.
AFCA is the new one-stop shop complaints resolution service for the financial sector that will replace the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the Credit and Investments Ombudsman (CIO) and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT). AFCA will start accepting new disputes from 1 November 2018.
David is currently Assistant Commissioner, Charity Services at the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission, responsible for the regulation of Australia’s 55,000 charities. Before his appointment as Assistant Commissioner, David was the Chief Adviser to the ACNC Taskforce. He has played a key role both in initially establishing the ACNC and managing key functions of the ACNC’s operations since 2012.
David was formerly the Executive Director of Charity Services at the Charity Commission of England and Wales where he had responsibility for the strategic leadership and operational delivery of the Commission’s one-to-one services to 180,000 charities. David has worked as an adviser to several international governments on the regulation of non-government organisations. He qualified as a lawyer in the UK and started his career in community legal centres, spending over 10 years managing the delivery of services to the public. David has also served as a board member and volunteer for a number of charities and not-for-profits.
“David brings a very strong track record as an experienced senior leader involved in all aspects of establishing and operating complex legal and regulatory service based organisations in Australia and UK. His appointment comes at a critical time in the formation of AFCA as the new single complaints body for the financial sector,” said Helen Coonan.
“David has worked effectively with stakeholders across the spectrum from government, regulators, senior management in the business community as well as people with significant vulnerabilities.
“He will bring energy and insight to AFCA which is an important organisational response to restore consumer trust and confidence in financial services,” added Helen.
“I am incredibly excited and honoured to be given the opportunity to lead AFCA, work with Helen, the Board and the staff from the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Credit and Investments Ombudsman and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal,” said David.
“With the establishment of AFCA, we will deliver fair, accessible and high-quality dispute resolution services for consumers, small businesses and financial institutions. It is critical that there are effective mechanisms in place to deal with disputes across the entire financial services industry and I will be working to ensure that the public can have full trust and confidence in the new organisation,” added David.
The AFCA Chair, the Hon. Helen Coonan also thanked the outgoing Chief Ombudsman, Shane Tregillis, for his contributions over almost seven years in the role.
“Shane has been an outstanding leader at the Financial Ombudsman Service and has been a key driver in the success of the organisation. Shane has also played a vital role in the complex arrangements involved in the successful transition to AFCA,” said Helen.
David will commence as the Chief Ombudsman/Chief Executive Officer with AFCA on 25 June 2018.
Published: 15 June 2018
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About AFCA
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is a non-government ombudsman service providing free, fair and independent help with financial disputes. It is a one-stop-shop for consumers and small businesses who have a dispute with their financial firm, over things such as banking, credit, insurance, advice, investments or superannuation. Where an agreement cannot be reached between parties, AFCA can issue decisions that are binding on financial firms.
