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Who is the banking ombudsman in Australia?

If you have been searching for the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman, the Financial Ombudsman Service, or just 'the ombudsman for banks' — they all lead to one place now: AFCA, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. One national scheme, free for the person complaining, and its decisions bind your bank if you accept them.

The five things worth knowing

From the BFSO to AFCA: how five schemes became one

For most of the 2000s, an Australian with a money complaint had to work out which industry body covered their particular kind of firm. Banking complaints went to the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman. Complaints about financial advice and managed investments went to the Financial Industry Complaints Service. Insurance complaints went to the Insurance Ombudsman Service. Credit unions, insurance brokers, non-bank lenders and superannuation funds each had somewhere else again.

The first consolidation came in 2008, when the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman, the Financial Industry Complaints Service and the Insurance Ombudsman Service merged to form the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Credit Union Dispute Resolution Centre and Insurance Brokers Disputes Ltd joined on 1 January 2009. That is why searches for the BFSO still turn up so much old material: it was a real scheme with a long history, and it simply stopped being the answer.

The second consolidation is the one that matters now. On 1 November 2018, AFCA replaced three bodies at once — the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Credit and Investments Ombudsman, and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal. The tribunal was the odd one out: rather than transferring its open files, it kept operating to finish complaints lodged with it before that date, and ceased operations after 31 December 2020.

The practical effect is that every consumer-facing financial dispute in Australia now has one front door. You no longer have to identify the right scheme before you can complain — you only have to identify the firm.

What AFCA covers, and what it does not

AFCA's jurisdiction follows the firm, not the product name. It covers banks and credit providers, general and life insurers, insurance brokers, financial advisers and superannuation trustees. Held funds, wrong or duplicated charges, hardship applications handled badly, a denied insurance claim, a rollover that never arrives, a default listed on your credit file that should not be there — if a licensed financial firm mishandled your money or your matter, AFCA is the venue.

Membership is not optional for the firm. AFCA states that all Australian financial firms must be members by law, and ASIC treats AFCA membership as part of the dispute resolution system a credit licensee is required to have. So the practical answer to 'is my bank covered?' is almost always yes.

What AFCA is not is a regulator. It resolves the dispute in front of it; it does not set interest rates or fees across the market, and it does not punish a firm on the public's behalf — that is ASIC's role. Monetary limits also apply to how much AFCA can award. Those figures are indexed and published on afca.org.au, so check the current ones rather than a number you read in an old article.

There are also time limits, and they catch people out. AFCA says a complaint generally has to reach it within two years of the firm's final internal dispute resolution response, and within six years after you first became aware — or should reasonably have become aware — that you suffered the loss, whichever comes first. The lesson is simple: the day a final decision letter arrives, write the date down.

Is there a banking ombudsman in my state?

This is the question behind most of the state-flavoured searching, and the answer is the same everywhere: no, and you are not missing out. AFCA is one national scheme. What differs between states is the ombudsman for everything other than money.

If English is not your first language, AFCA can arrange an interpreter through TIS National on 131 450 — which also removes one of the reasons people assume they need a local office.

Superannuation: the tribunal is gone

Searches for 'superannuation ombudsman' and 'ombudsman superannuation' are usually looking for the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, and it no longer exists. AFCA holds the superannuation jurisdiction, and it works the same way as the rest of the scheme: complain to the trustee first, then escalate.

The timeframes are the one thing that genuinely differs. RG 271 gives superannuation trustees up to 45 calendar days to respond to most complaints, rather than the 30 that applies to a bank. A complaint about how a death benefit is to be distributed gets a longer clock again — up to 90 calendar days after the 28-day period for objecting to a proposed distribution has expired. Credit complaints involving a default notice or a hardship notice run on a much shorter clock: 21 calendar days.

Insurance held inside super is the case that confuses people most. Complain to the trustee, even though an insurer sits behind the policy — the trustee is the one responsible for pursuing the claim on your behalf.

Common questions

Reviewed 28 July 2026. Scheme rules, timeframes and monetary limits change. Check AFCA’s official guidance and ASIC’s RG 271 before you rely on a date. General information only.