ASIC’s new IDR dashboard: What it means for complaints governance

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released its new Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) Data Dashboard, making firm‑level complaints handling data publicly accessible for the first time.

The dashboard sits alongside the Australian Financial Complaints Authority’s (AFCA) external dispute resolution data and gives stakeholders greater visibility over how financial services firms handle complaints - including how long complaints take to resolve, why they arise, and what outcomes customers receive.

Used well, the dashboard can be a practical benchmarking tool and a prompt to sharpen complaints governance, operational efficiency and board reporting.

What is the IDR Data Dashboard?

The ASIC IDR dashboard is an interactive tool that publishes complaints data submitted by financial firms under their IDR reporting obligations.

At a high level, the dashboard allows users to:

• Explore complaints trends over time
• View complaints by product, issue and outcome
• See complaints handling timeframes
• Review information on monetary remedies paid
• Search for individual firms by name, licence number, ABN/ACN or brand.

ASIC has stated that the dashboard is intended to enhance accountability and transparency across the financial system. It also aims to help firms benchmark their performance and identify areas for improvement.

What can the data be used for?

ASIC has had access to this data but making it public changes how it can be used and interpreted. In practice, the dashboard may now be used by:

• ASIC: to inform supervisory activity and areas of regulatory focus
• Customers: when comparing providers or products
• Investors: as an indicator of customer outcomes, conduct risk and operational maturity
• Financial services firms: to benchmark complaints handling performance against peers.

The most immediate value lies in areas such as resolution timeframes, recurring complaint issues or compensation outcomes.

What the dashboard doesn’t tell you

While the dashboard provides useful comparative data, it does not tell the full story. Importantly the dashboard doesn’t:

• Explain the root causes of complaints
• Reflect differences in product mix, customer profiles or complaints capture maturity
• Distinguish between poor outcomes and more mature complaint identification and recording.

Why this matters for executives and boards

For executives and boards, the dashboard creates a new external reference point for complaints handling performance.

Many organisations already report complaints data to boards, but root cause analysis and decision‑focused insights are often underdeveloped. The dashboard increases the expectation that firms can clearly explain why complaints are occurring and what is being done to address them.

How BDO can help

BDO has expertise in complaint handling and IDR governance. We support financial services organisations with:

• Reviews of complaint handling functions, including operational efficiency and customer outcomes
• Independent assurance over IDR reporting to executives and boards
• Root cause and insights analysis
• Support to reduce complaint handling timeframes
• Analysis of compensation payments.

If you would like to discuss early insights from the dashboard, or explore support tailored to your organisation, please contact our team.