There have been many steps undertaken to ensure we have a cohesive approach to everything we do now that we are one organisation. These include clearly articulating our underlying principles and core values and developing systems and processes that align our operations.
Much of that work lay in creating our new Terms of Reference (TOR). It was critical to ensure the TOR were well understood and met the needs and expectations of a diverse group of key stakeholders. This was a challenge and I thank the wide variety of people who took the time and effort necessary to give careful consideration to the principles of effective alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for the financial services industry and contributed to the debate. The result is that the new TOR was settled by the Board on 30 May 2009 and will provide a solid foundation for the future.
Flowing from the decisions made about the TOR and the new requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 139, the organisation turned its attention to addressing the many aspects of implementation of new processes and procedures.
We have the opportunity to use the extensive experience drawn from several ADR schemes, each of which was successful in its own right. We are able to reap the benefits from the cross pollination of ideas and practices on a range of matters integral to an effective external dispute resolution (EDR) scheme.
The areas in which we can use this expertise include management of systemic issues, responding to natural disasters and exercising the core skills of dispute resolution through conciliation, negotiation, mediation and decision making. The opportunities continue to arise.
As we continue to develop our single case management system across all areas, we are also building our capability to understand the trends and issues that are facing consumers and financial services providers (FSPs) across many products and services sold through many channels. We see this capability as critical to our development of effective communication to consumers and the industry about avoiding conflict and creating resolution. It informs our ability to make meaningful contributions to Government policy development about the issues that need addressing to continue to build effective relations between FSPs and their customers.
An important step we must take is to identify a new funding model that covers the broad spectrum of participants. The model needs to be simple to understand and administer. It needs to help drive resolution earlier rather than later and it must operate fairly. We are fully cognisant of the many views and needs of industry as we move to finalise our new model.
The year in review has been a demanding one for FSPs as they deal with significantly increased case loads in their internal dispute resolution groups and with us. As consideration is given to the model FSPs will adopt to deal with these cases, the requirements of Australian Standard 10002 remain at the forefront of assisting in the development of an approach which ensures there are sufficient resources to meet the needs of customers. We too are finding that our resources have been severely stretched to meet the demand for our services.
The energy, ideas and commitment to dispute resolution in the financial services industry was epitomised by the discussions, good will and contributions by all the speakers and participants at our first conference held this year. Thanks to all who supported our inaugural conference.
My thanks to the transitional and new Boards, our Advisory Committees, my fellow Ombudsmen and our dedicated staff for their hard work and commitment to the ideals of EDR and to our mission – to serve the community and industry by resolving disputes between consumers and financial organisations in a way which is trusted.
Colin Neave
Chief Ombudsman