Where a complaint actually goes
A complaint about an authorised representative is normally made against the licensee that authorised them — which means the answer depends on a date.
The rule
Under AFCA's rules a financial firm includes its representatives. So if you received advice from an individual adviser or an advice company, the complaint is normally lodged against the licensee that authorised them, because that is the firm which is an AFCA member. Authorised representatives themselves are sometimes but not generally members.
AFCA is explicit that it will not do this step for you: “AFCA cannot tell you who to complain about”. It points you at ASIC's professional registers instead.
Why the date decides, and how often it bites
An authorisation has a start and an end. The licensee answers for advice given between those two dates — not before, not after.
That would be a detail if people stayed put. They do not: 57,876 of 237,078 representatives (24.4%) have been authorised by two licensees or more, and one by 22. AFCA warns about it in the same breath: “you may need to submit a complaint for each issue”.
Reading an entry here, the table of authorisations is the whole answer. Find the row whose dates contain the day you were advised; the licensee on that row is the one to name.
If the licensee is gone
103,074 of the 362,694 authorisations on this register (28.4%) were granted by a licence number that is not in ASIC's current AFS Licensee dataset. We do not know why in any individual case, and we have no cancellation dates — so this site never says “cancelled”. It says only: not in the current file, and marks the row.
What it can mean matters. If a licensee has become insolvent, an AFCA determination in your favour can go unpaid. The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, which began on 2 April 2024, pays up to $150,000 on an unpaid AFCA determination relating to personal financial advice, credit intermediation, securities dealing or credit provision, subject to its own eligibility rules. You still need the AFCA determination first.
The order of operations
- Complain to the firm first. AFCA generally expects the firm to have had a chance to resolve it through its internal process.
- Find the licensee for the date. Search the person here and read the authorisation table.
- Lodge with AFCA. It is free to complainants, and you do not need a lawyer or a paid representative.
- If the determination goes unpaid and the firm is insolvent, look at the CSLR.
Time limits apply, and they are AFCA's to state, not ours — check them on AFCA's own site before you rely on anything here. This page explains how to read a public register; it is not legal advice.
Not sure who to name?
Tell us who advised you and roughly when. We will point the enquiry at people who take these cases. We are not lawyers, we take no share of anything recovered, and we promise no outcome — lodging with AFCA yourself is free.
Your details are used to reply and to pass the enquiry on, nothing else — see the privacy page.