In May 2016 the Federal Government announced the establishment of an independent expert panel to lead the review into the financial system’s external dispute resolution and complaints framework. Our joint consumer submission strongly supports mandatory external dispute resolution. We believe the final dispute resolution framework in the financial system should empower a single industry-funded external dispute resolution scheme.
We are opposed to the establishment of a new banking tribunal. The consumer experience of tribunals has not been positive and are very concerned that a new tribunal may in fact deliver worse outcomes for consumers.
While there is certainly room for improvement, the existing EDR schemes are world class and an extremely important alternative to the court system. A robust, well-resourced single ombudsman scheme with appropriate scope and design, together with a well-funded regulator and a statutory scheme of last resort, will provide a free, fair, accessible and effective dispute resolution framework in the banking and financial sector.
