AFCA reappoints its Chief Ombudsman, with complaints compensation reaching a new high

AFCA has reappointed Mr David Locke as the Chief Ombudsman and Chief Executive Officer for a second five-year term. AFCA Board Chair Professor John Pollaers OAM believes the organisation is delivering positive results for consumers in a difficult environment.  

“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,” he 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.” 

During his tenure, Mr Locke has overseen significant initiatives. These include – the development of the publicly searchable AFCA Datacube that allows firms and consumers to compare complaints performance, a new funding model, a significant review of the AFCA Rules, and an ongoing IT transformation that will help ensure a more efficient and user-friendly experience for firms and consumers.  

Mr Locke begins his new term on 28 June 2023 and said he is honoured to be reappointed Chief Ombudsman.  

“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,” he said.  

“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.” 

In other positive news, AFCA also announced that the amount of compensation that it has been able to secure for consumers since the organisation’s inception has now crossed $1 billion. Since opening its doors AFCA has: 

• Closed more than 320,000 complaints 
• Seen about 70% cases resolved via agreement 
• Worked with more than 26,000 people in financial difficulty 
• Worked with more than 5,000 victims of about 50 weather disasters Handled more than 17,000 COVID-related complaints. 

For more details on Mr Locke’s reappointment as Chief Ombudsman, please visit the AFCA website.