The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has rolled out a set of changes to its Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) data dashboard, adding complaint figures from the second half of 2025 (H1 2025) and introducing features that give users more ways to slice and export the underlying data. The most substantive addition is a demographics page, which breaks down complaint trends by age group, gender, and location of the complainant. The breakdown is only visible at the aggregate level – firms cannot use the dashboard to view demographic data tied to a specific competitor or peer institution.
A downloadable data file has also been made available for the first time, letting users pull selected complaint metrics directly from the platform for use in their own reporting or research workflows. ASIC indicated the file is intended to support cross-period comparisons and help firms measure where they stand relative to the broader industry on complaint volumes, product categories, issues raised, and resolution outcomes. The dashboard itself is an interactive tool that draws on IDR complaint data submitted by financial firms across Australia. It is updated periodically as new reporting periods close.
Under the structure of Australia’s financial dispute resolution system, internal dispute resolution is the first mechanism a consumer or small business must exhaust before escalating a matter to an external body. ASIC sets the standards that govern how firms are required to run their IDR processes and is responsible for monitoring whether the system is functioning as intended. Making IDR data publicly accessible, according to ASIC, serves two purposes. It creates a degree of public accountability for how firms handle complaints, and it gives those same firms a structured way to assess their own performance relative to the rest of the market. The regulator has framed the dashboard as a tool that can help drive behavioural change by making performance differences visible. The IDR dashboard sits alongside the external dispute resolution data that AFCA publishes separately. Together, the two datasets are intended to give a full-spectrum view of how complaints move through the Australian financial system – from the first contact with a firm through to any external adjudication.
The dashboard update arrives at a time when dispute numbers at the external level are moving in one direction. AFCA recorded 111,373 complaints in the 2025 calendar year, a 14% rise from the prior year. Over that same period, consumers and small businesses recovered $643 million in compensation and refunds through the authority – a 120% increase on the previous year. The rise was not confined to one product line. Complaints increased across banking and finance, insurance, investments and advice, and superannuation. Investment and advice-related complaints climbed 58%, with a significant portion tied to the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds, which alone generated 2,162 complaints. Superannuation complaints rose 29%, reaching 7,687, with delays in claims processing and disputes over claim decisions identified as the main drivers.
AFCA chief ombudsman and CEO David Locke pointed to broader structural shifts in the regulatory environment as context for the complaint figures. “This data highlights the sustained demand for our service, and with a new Banking Code now in force, and major reforms underway across general and life insurance, this is a pivotal moment for the financial services sector to lift standards and deliver more consistent, accessible, and customer-focused outcomes for their customers,” Locke said. The combination of ASIC’s refreshed IDR dashboard and AFCA’s annual complaint figures offers a more detailed picture of where pressure points are emerging – and how performance is being measured at both stages of the resolution process.
