During the complaint process, further issues may be raised or be identified. When this occurs, AFCA will determine whether to address these further issues and if so, decide whether to include them in the existing complaint or treat them as a new complaint. 

As a first step, AFCA will consider whether the further issue falls within its Rules. This is because AFCA cannot consider claims that fall outside its jurisdiction, unless the financial firm consents to jurisdiction. 

If AFCA identifies a further issue not raised by a party, it will consider whether it is fair and appropriate to introduce and deal with the issue. AFCA does not advocate for complainants or financial firms, and so we will not inappropriately introduce claims that are not readily evident from the complaint. Accordingly, we will only introduce further issues: 

• that relate to a key question of law or fact that needs to be decided in order to fairly deal with the central claims raised in the complaint, or are readily ascertainable from the information provided by the parties, and
• where it is fair in all the circumstances for AFCA to introduce the issue. 

How we approach further issues that we can consider 

Where AFCA can consider a further issue raised by a party or where it is appropriate for AFCA to introduce a further issue, we will follow the below decision tree to determine whether the further issue should be combined with the existing complaint or treated as a new complaint.

We may also consider whether it is appropriate to join another party to the complaint as a result of a further issue.

Where further issues are combined with an existing complaint, AFCA will ensure procedural fairness by:

• confirming the addition of the further issue with all parties
• exchanging all relevant information, and
• providing all parties with a reasonable opportunity to make submissions on the further issue.

If the further issue becomes the subject of a new complaint, procedural fairness will be provided as part of our standard process.