Australian Financial Complaints Authority welcomes changes to authorisation conditions

David Locke

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) welcomes a federal government decision that will enable it to consider the actions of “receiving banks” in scam complaints, as well as the news that scam reports to government agencies fell 26 per cent last year.

The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, said today that he had approved a change to the conditions of AFCA’s authorisation as ombudsman service for the financial sector that would enable it to investigate and consider the actions of receiving banks in scam complaints.

Currently – and until the change comes into effect in 12 months’ time – AFCA does not have jurisdiction to look at the actions of a “receiving bank”, where the proceeds of a scam are transferred. It can only consider the actions of the bank that has the direct customer relationship with the person or entity who has lodged a complaint.

“This authorisation condition change means that in the future, the actions of receiving banks can be considered as part of the full chain of events in a scam,” Mr Locke said.

“We welcome this direction from the Government. AFCA will work with industry and consumer groups over coming months on the changes required to AFCA’s Rules to ensure a smooth transition to implement this change.”

Meanwhile, it was encouraging to see from the National Anti-Scam Centre’s latest Targeting Scams Report that losses to scams had fallen 26 per cent in 2024, and the volume of scam reports by 18 per cent.

“This improvement demonstrates the positive impact of all stakeholders working together to tackle this crime,” Mr Locke said. “However, the numbers remain large, with nearly 500,000 scam reports and $2 billion lost, and there is much more to be done.”