Australian AFCA Names John Pollaers OAM as Next Independent Chair

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority’s (AFCA) Board of Directors announced that it has appointed Professor John Pollaers OAM as its Next Independent Chair.

This appointment comes after the Hon Helen Coonan’s term of office as AFCA’s inaugural Chair.

John is Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology, Chairman of the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council and Chairman and Founder of Leef Independent Living Solutions Pty Ltd.

He was formerly Chair of the Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce for the Federal Government, Chairman of the Australian Industry and Skills Committee and a member of the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce. He has had a distinguished executive career in both retail and advanced manufacturing industries. 

Commenting on the appointment, Ms Coonan said: “John is an experienced Chair and leader whose career is characterised by a commitment to strong governance and visionary strategic leadership. He has always created strong, effective relationships between industry, government and consumer bodies in all sectors he has been involved in. John’s independence and experience will be instrumental in driving AFCA’s vision to be a world-class ombudsman service into the future.”

“John will make an excellent Chair. I wish both John and the Board well as they continue to deliver against AFCA’s vision and strategy”, she continued.

Talking about his new role, John said: “AFCA provides an essential service to the community. AFCA’s role to effectively work with financial firms, consumers and small business to resolve financial complaints, often in complex situations, is critical. I am delighted to be working alongside a committed and experienced Board to support Chief Ombudsman and CEO David Locke as we continue to deliver on AFCA’s core purpose to provide fair and independent solutions for financial disputes, and support our members to raise standards and minimise disputes.”

Fazzaco earlier reported AFCA added 34 financial firms to list of non-complaint members​.