Too many Australians dealing with financial services firms have faced gruelling processes, long delays, lack of access to information, inappropriate service and increasingly, scams and fraud. Transparency of breaches and complaints drives firm accountability by allowing the media, policy makers, consumer advocates and the public at large to scrutinise firm behaviour and highlight major issues and trends. It is also very useful to have public records that demonstrate the impact particular laws are having on the sector and its consumers that can be used for research and evaluation purposes to support public policy development and law reform. In this way, transparency deters poor practices and supports better outcomes for consumers. We have long called for the publication of reportable situations and internal dispute resolution data at a firm level. We therefore strongly support ASIC’s proposal to finally shed further light on well-hidden systemic problems in this sector and urge ASIC not to delay publication any further.
