Record complaints mark third consecutive year above 100,000

AFCA reported that Australians lodged a record 119,949 complaints in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, the highest annual total since AFCA began operating in 2018 and the third consecutive year complaints have exceeded 100,000. This represented a 19 per cent increase on the 100,745 complaints lodged in 2024 to 2025.

Banking and finance remained AFCA's largest complaint category, with 66,971 complaints, up 23 per cent, including a 17 per cent rise in financial difficulty complaints and a 22 per cent rise in credit reporting complaints. General insurance complaints rose 5 per cent to 36,022, with claim handling delays and claim rejections among the most common issues. Superannuation complaints rose 42 per cent to 8,755, and investments and advice complaints rose 56 per cent to 6,542, an increase AFCA attributed largely to the collapses of the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian managed investment schemes.

AFCA's Chief Customer Officer, Deborah Jenkins, said the figures reflected the impact of cost of living pressures and economic uncertainty on consumers, and that firms could use the insights from complaint trends to help prevent recurring issues. AFCA noted that complaints alleging a failure to act in a client's best interest rose 65 per cent in the investments and advice category, and that it had used a lead decision approach to manage around 1,800 related complaints arising from the fund collapses.

The figures are preliminary data as at 30 June 2026 and relate to the volume and nature of complaints received rather than findings against any particular firm.