AFCA's decision library has a date line

AFCA's published-decision page sets out a date line at 14 June 2024. Decisions published from 14 June 2024 are available via the new search function on the AFCA portal. Decisions published before 14 June 2024 can be searched below. AFCA's published-decision search page sets up the arrangement.

The easy assumption is that a search result is mainly a question of keywords. Predict what happens if a practice searches for an advice matter and gets nothing. The instinct is to conclude that AFCA has no published decision relevant to the issue.

The page points to a simpler explanation: the publication date may send the search to another location.

For decisions published from 14 June 2024, use the new search function on the AFCA portal. For decisions published before 14 June 2024, search below on the same AFCA page. A practice checking only one location risks ending the lookup before checking the relevant collection.

That matters because AFCA can consider complaints about an investment or financial advice received from a financial firm. AFCA's investment and financial advice complaints guidance sets out that jurisdiction.

When reviewing a complaint theme or a particular advice issue, identify the publication period first, then use the corresponding search function. If the search produces a relevant decision, treat it as a prompt for the practice's own review, rather than as an automatic answer for a client's circumstances.

AFCA describes its published material as de-identified determinations. That makes the fact pattern useful for questions, not a template. What feature of the advice, the client's understanding or the complaint response would be worth checking in the practice's own records? That is the point at which the search service becomes useful to a practice, through the review that follows it.

• Check the publication date before searching.
• Use the new search for decisions published from 14 June 2024.
• Search below for decisions published before 14 June 2024.

The takeaway is narrow. A blank result in an AFCA search should not end the lookup. Check the publication date, use the new search for decisions published from 14 June 2024, and search below for decisions published before 14 June 2024. The date line determines where to look. The practice then decides what, if anything, the determination says about its own work.¹