What is the Airline Customer Advocate?

Is there an airline ombudsman in Australia?

Australia’s airline industry was deregulated in October 1990, prior to which only two airlines operated interstate flights. Since deregulation, the industry has been largely untouched by government legislation. The carriers have instead been left to their own devices with no ombudsman oversight, leading to poorer outcomes for customers.

In 1995, the Australian government began the privatisation of Qantas. While the aviation industry is still somewhat regulated, the experience of customers remains almost entirely in the hands of individual carriers such as Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar.

There have been public cries for an airline ombudsman for many years. Notably, in 2009, the government published a white paper which considered the future of Australia's aviation industry. With regards to establishing an airline ombudsman, the white paper noted that the government would monitor the industry's “efforts to develop proposals to better handle consumer complaints over the coming year, and consider a more interventionist approach should this become necessary."

The airline industry was concerned by the paper and instead of risking being faced with legislation and an ombudsman with real powers, they set about establishing an industry body to address the government’s concerns.

In 2012, the airline industry banded together and established the Airline Customer Advocate (ACA) which claims to “provides a free and independent service to eligible customers of major Australian airlines by facilitating the resolution of unresolved complaints about airline services.”

The ACA was created by the airlines

It’s important to note that the Airline Customer Advocate was established by the airlines in response to a government white paper that pointed to further scrutiny for the airlines’ treatment of customers.

On one hand you might view the establishment of the ACA as a step in the right direction, however unfortunately, the ACA’s powers are very limited. Unlike formal ombudsman schemes (which you can read more about in the ‘just a bit more’ section below), the ACA isn’t able to consider your complaint and make an independent decision.

According to Alison Elliott, Head of Policy and Government Relations at CHOICE, the ACA will instead “forward your complaint to the airline, asking it to respond to you in 20 days. And that's about it.”

CHOICE awarded The Airline Customer Advocate a Shonky award in 2021 - for leaving us stranded.

Something’s just not right

According to the ACA’s 2021 annual report, they received just 599 complaints. For reference, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman reported 119,400 complaints in their 2020/21 annual report.

When Ajust looked at the ACA’s website, the following message appeared: “A customer needs to submit their complaint to the airline first, await a response, and ask the airline to review the outcome if it is considered inadequate. You must complete these steps before submitting a complaint to the ACA or it will be deemed ineligible.”

This means that a customer is unable to make a complaint to the ACA until they have heard back from their airline - so what happens if the airline doesn’t ever respond?

When Ajust spoke to a consumer who made a complaint to the ACA, here’s what we heard: “They closed it without ever responding to me or doing anything. They also ignored me when I chased them for a response”.

If you haven’t already made a complaint about your issue, one option you could consider is making a complaint using Ajust.

Ajust takes the effort out of making a complaint. It only takes a few minutes to share your story and then Ajust sends your complaint to the business.

To make a complaint to your bank, get started now with Ajust. It’s fast and free.

Making a complaint to the ACA

Before making a complaint to the ACA, one option you could consider is making a complaint using Ajust.

Ajust takes the effort out of making a complaint. It only takes a few minutes to share your story and then Ajust sends your complaint to the business. Consumers love using Ajust - check out our 5-star Google reviews.

To make a complaint to your bank, get started now with Ajust. It’s fast and free.

If you would like to make a complaint to the ACA despite their ‘shonky’ status and 1.5-star Google rating, you can head to their website and follow the steps. 

If you do make a complaint to the ACA, Ajust would love to hear about your experience - you can email us at contact@ajust.com.au.