In the 2022 – 2023 financial year, the Australian
Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) received a record 96,987
complaints, being a 34% increase from the previous year.
According to AFCA, the increase in complaints could be
attributed to a number of factors, including:
- Growing financial stress in the community related to rising
interest rates;
- The continued burden of scams; and
- Issues with insurer claims handling.
Banking and Financial Firms
Over the 2022 – 2023 period, banking and finance
complaints rose 27% and within that, complaints involving financial
difficulty rose 9%. Mr Locke is encouraging firms to improve their
procedures for assisting customers dealing with financial hardship,
including implementing steps to identify and support these
customers at an earlier stage.
