Australian Financial Complaints Authority consults on updated approaches to family violence and financial elder abuse complaints

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has opened a stakeholder consultation on two updated Approach documents covering complaints involving family violence and financial elder abuse, aimed at clarifying how such matters are assessed and resolved when they escalate to AFCA. The updated Approach to family violence is intended to promote consistency in handling complaints involving family violence or financial abuse, including setting expectations for both financial firms and complainants and outlining how AFCA deals with common issues in these disputes. The updated Approach to financial elder abuse addresses elder abuse across product areas with a focus on banking and finance, including challenges in identifying warning signs, examples of good industry practice, and how AFCA assesses complaints and common issues it sees. AFCA noted that its Approach documents explain what to expect from its processes and how it applies legal principles, industry codes, regulatory guidance and better practice in decision-making. The consultation runs from 17 March to 4 April 2025, after which AFCA will consider submissions and publish a response to the feedback received.