As part of a new effort to shine a light on client complaints, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reported that firms are currently resolving most of the objections they receive within a day.
The ASIC requires firms to report data on internal dispute resolution (IDR) to the regulator. It has begun publishing that data to provide transparency into industry complaint handling performance. This inaugural report covers the period from July 2023 to July 2024.
It found that firms fielded more than 4.7 million complaints during the period. Service was the largest source of complaints (45%), followed by fees and charges (22%) and transactions (11%).
More than 75% of all complaints were resolved within a day, the ASIC noted — with 43% involving an explanation, an apology or no remedy at all, and 39% requiring a “service-based” fix.
It also reported that 13% of complaints required a monetary remedy, representing a total A$375 million.
“This inaugural industry-wide report is a key milestone,” the regulator said.
“Collecting, and ultimately publishing, internal dispute resolution data provides greater public visibility of where consumers may be having difficulties. It provides ASIC with an important data set to assist with regulatory decision making and will drive firms to improve IDR practices,” it noted.
At the same time, the ASIC said that it’s concerned that some firms are not reporting IDR data properly, based on variations in the data among comparable firms, and the fact that over 5,000 firms reported no complaints during the period.
As a result, the regulator said that it will review compliance with the reporting requirements by firms that reported zero complaints.
“The gaps we’ve identified suggest there may be inconsistent IDR reporting practices across the industry,” said ASIC commissioner, Alan Kirkland, in a release.
Kirkland also said that the ASIC is taking action to strengthen compliance with the regime.
“Where we become aware of problems, we will engage with firms to understand the causes, and whether they stem from deficiencies in the firm’s underlying IDR processes or in IDR data reporting,” he said.
Starting in 2025, the ASIC will publish firm-level IDR data, which will allow customers to compare the data reported by individual firms.
“While there may be reasonable explanations for some of these variances, we encourage firms to carefully review our report and guidance to assist in reporting complete and accurate IDR data. Starting from next year, we’ll be publishing data about complaints received by individual firms. It is crucial that firms act now to address any gaps in IDR reporting processes, because we will publish the data as it is reported to us,” Kirkland said.