Australia's AFCA Appoints Two New Lead Ombudsmen

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) announced that it has appointed Emma Curtis as Lead Ombudsman Insurance, Suanne Russell as Lead Ombudsman Small Business, which take effect in early August.

Ms. Curtis comes to AFCA from ASIC, where she has been Senior Executive Leader, Insurers. Ms. Russell joins from Westpac, where she has been Head of Business Bank Legal. 

AFCA is the ombudsman service for the financial services sector, handling complaints in four areas: banking and finance, investments and advice, insurance, and superannuation. In addition, a dedicated small business ombudsman* oversees complaints from small business.

AFCA provides free, fair and impartial complaints handling for consumers and small businesses who have been unable to resolve a dispute directly with a financial firm. It handles more than 70,000 complaints a year. Its five lead ombudsmen are responsible for AFCA's approach to decision making and they head teams totalling more than 80 ombudsmen and adjudication panel members.

AFCA Chief Ombudsman David Locke said, "Emma and Suanne will bring significant financial sector and legal experience to these important roles. They will add great diversity and depth of experience to our leadership team. Emma is well known and respected in the insurance industry. She brings many years of experience in consumer law and insurance. Suanne is a leading banking and finance lawyer and her experience in the small business and consumer banking sector will be invaluable." 

Fazzaco recently reported that AFCA withdrew memberships​ of five financial firms(FF) and authorised credit representatives(ACR) who have failed to pay their AFCA membership levy and/or other fees.