A new ASIC dataset has revealed which institutions attract complaints, how long they took to resolve, and what outcomes customers received.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has unveiled a new complaints dashboard, which publishes firm‑by‑firm data on how financial institutions handle customer grievances, shining a light on problem products and lagging response times.
The regulator said the online tool drew on mandatory reports from financial firms about issues they managed through their own dispute processes, spanning products such as home loans, credit cards, insurance, superannuation, and financial advice.
ASIC said the site allowed users to search individual institutions, compare multiple firms, and examine complaint volumes.
Introducing the initiative, ASIC commissioner Alan Kirkland stressed that publishing the information was aimed at strengthening the financial system itself.
“Transparency is crucial to supporting a fair, strong, and efficient financial system. The launch of our new internal dispute resolution data dashboard marks a significant step in improving public scrutiny of the system,” Kirkland said.
Beyond firm‑specific metrics, the dashboard also features broader trends, including shifts in complaint volumes over successive reporting periods and changes in how quickly cases were resolved.
ASIC said it had released explanatory material alongside the figures that outlined how the data was compiled, what each measure meant, and how users should interpret the results.
Transparency, oversight, and early signals
Kirkland framed the dashboard as a way to strengthen both “consumer empowerment” and regulatory oversight.
He also highlighted the benefits of being able to observe individual firms in the context of the wider sector, rather than in isolation.
“Beyond providing for a comparison between firms, this dashboard provides a bird’s-eye view of how the Australian financial sector handles complaints,” he said.
“This makes it easier to identify key trends, including the reasons complaints are lodged, increases or decreases in complaints handling times, and the sorts of products that attract the most complaints.
“This in turn allows us to flag emerging issues for industry attention before they become serious problems.”
Yet ASIC cautioned that headline complaint numbers alone did not prove that a firm was mistreating customers, noting that factors, such as scale and business mix, could influence the data.
Even so, the regulator made clear that the combination of complaint volumes, resolution speed, and monetary remedies would help it pinpoint outliers.
Part of a broader data push
The complaints dashboard forms part of a wider effort to publish more comprehensive information about how financial institutions deal with customer harm and compliance failures.
ASIC said the move was designed to complement statistics released by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) on cases that moved beyond internal processes, creating a more complete view of how disputes progress.
ASIC has also recently rolled out an online tool focused on reportable situations, which aggregates self‑reported breaches by financial and credit licensees.
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