AFCA reappoints Locke, hits $1bn mark

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

14 April 2023

The Board of Directors of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) announced it has reappointed David Locke for another five-year term as Chief Ombudsman and CEO.

The announcement also comes as the non-government financial dispute resolution ombudsman had reached the milestone of securing $1 billion in compensation for consumers since it commenced operations in November 2018.

AFCA has also resolved close to 350,000 complaints since inception as of 30 March, with previous renditions including the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Credit and Investments Ombudsman and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal only accounted for 52,000 complaints in their last year of operations.

AFCA is also on target to receive almost 100,000 complaints this financial year. Since 2018, the ombudsman also identified and resolved 236 systemic issues or those with ramifications beyond the individual complaint, resulting in $278 million worth of refunds to 4.7 million customers.

“As AFCA’s inaugural Chief Ombudsman, David has met the challenge of bringing together three separate dispute resolution bodies to build a new, world-class scheme,” AFCA Board Chair, Professor John Pollaers OAM, said.

“He has also led the organisation through a period of significant growth in complaints as a result of the COVID pandemic, natural disasters and scams.

“AFCA provides a vital service. Consumers, small businesses and financial firms can participate in the financial system with confidence that a robust process is in place in the event of a dispute. The Board is delighted that David has accepted our invitation to continue to lead this important work.”

Locke, who will commence his new term on 28 June, has led several initiatives including the publicly searchable AFCA Datacube “which allows firms and consumers to compare complaints performance”; a new funding model which facilitates a “fair, user-pays approach”; a review of the AFCA Rules; and the continuing IT transformation.

“AFCA plays a very important role in Australia’s financial services system, and it is a great privilege to lead such an amazing group of people who are passionate about access to justice and fairness to all,” Locke said.

“We expect to register close to 100,000 complaints this financial year, up from 70,000 complaints just a year ago. AFCA’s services have, sadly, never been more needed.

“We will continue to work in partnership with financial firms, consumer bodies, and regulators to share lessons from our work and drive improved practices. We want to see financial firms resolve more disputes themselves, so fewer matters have to be escalated to AFCA.”