Australia: Complaints data reporting to ASIC starts this year – Are you ready?

If you haven't already, now is the time to ensure your firm is ready to collate and report your Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) data to ASIC.

When does reporting commence?

In 2023 all Australian Credit Licensees and Australian Financial Services Licensees who provide financial services to retail clients will be required to report their IDR data to ASIC. The data must cover the following reporting periods:

• 1 January – 30 June
• 1 July – 31 December

The first reporting period runs from 1 January to 30 June 2023 and firms must lodge their data with ASIC by the end of the following month. However, for this first reporting period, ASIC has extended the due date by an additional month. See table below:

What do I need to do?

Collect and Collate Data

ASIC has released a Data Dictionary which prescribes the data elements to be reported by financial firms. At the very least, financial firms must collect this information for their own internal purposes. In terms of collating the information for ASIC, the data elements are either:

• Mandatory – meaning the data must be reported;
• Conditional – meaning the data must be reported if a certain answer has been provided at another element; or
• Optional – means the firm can elect whether to report this data element.

The data elements include:

• A unique identifier;
• Name of brand the complaint is about;
• Type of complaint;
• Gender, age and postcode of complainant;
• Current status of the complaint;
• Method via which the complaint was received;
• Date complaint was received and closed (where applicable)
• Number of days taken to resolve the complaint;
• Whether the complaint is about a representative;
• Product or service that the complaint is about;
• Issued raised by the complainant;
• Complaint outcome (where applicable); and
• Monetary remedy provided (where applicable).

Financial firms should refer to ASIC's Data Dictionary to ensure their responses to these data elements align with ASIC's requirements, particularly in relation to any numerical codes ASIC has developed. For example, when inputting the type of complainant, ASIC has a numerical code attributable to each various client type.

The Data Glossary developed by ASIC will assist financial firms to further understand the terminology used in relation to:

• the products or services that the complaint is about;
• the issues raised by the complainant; and
• the complaint outcome.

ASIC has provided a template spreadsheet to ensure the information collated by financial firms is in the correct format and will pass ASIC's data validation process. You can access the template report here. We suggest either:

• using this template as your complaints register; or
• reviewing your complaints register to ensure it aligns with this template.

This will help to ensure you are collecting the appropriate detail for ASIC.

Report to ASIC

Financial firms must report IDR data to ASIC in relation to each complaint made to the firm that:

1. is required to be covered by the firms IDR procedure; and
2. was made during the reporting period and was not closed as at the start of the reporting period.

Complaints are closed when the firm has:

• Provided an IDR response to the complainant;
• Resolved the complaint;
• Provided an explanation or apology to the complainant.

Financial firms are required to lodge their report via the ASIC Regulatory Portal. ASIC suggests using its template when lodging your report. It is crucial that financial firms also review the Data Dictionary and Data Glossary, to better understand the data elements to be collected and collated, and to ensure that their reporting to ASIC uses the defined terminology and numerical codes required to pass ASIC's two stage validation process.

Further Reading

ASIC's IDR Data Reporting Template

ASIC's IDR Data Validation Rules Examples

IDR Data Reporting Handbook, including the Data Dictionary and Data Glossary

Regulatory Guide 271: Internal Dispute Resolution