AFCA Electrical Business Complaint: Does the 100-Employee Limit Apply?

Yes—the employee threshold is relevant to an electrical business’s eligibility for AFCA’s small-business complaint process. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) generally treats an organisation with fewer than 100 employees as a small business and says it cannot consider a complaint if the relevant group of related companies has 100 employees or more (figures checked 1 October 2026). If staffing fluctuates around the threshold, AFCA requires substantiation, such as wage records, of employee numbers when the events giving rise to the claim occurred.

What business structures can fall within AFCA’s small-business definition?

AFCA says a small business may be a partnership, incorporated trustee or company. Its treatment also depends on whether the organisation is a registered charity, not-for-profit organisation or club.

Meeting the employee threshold establishes small-business status only. AFCA can assist a small business with a complaint about a financial firm, but the complaint must still satisfy AFCA’s Rules.

How does AFCA aggregate related-company employee numbers?

A related-company structure can change the answer even if each legal entity appears to be below the threshold when viewed alone. AFCA aggregates employee numbers across the relevant group of related companies for this test and says it cannot consider a complaint where that group has 100 employees or more.

Registered charities have a separate position: AFCA can consider their complaints regardless of their own employee count or whether they carry on a business. Where a registered charity belongs to a relevant related-company group, the separate group exclusion still needs to be checked with AFCA.

If the corporate structure or employee position is unclear, AFCA recommends submitting the information anyway so it can review whether the complaint is within scope.

What evidence matters when staffing fluctuates?

AFCA says the position is clear for most businesses above or below the threshold. The evidence question becomes more important when staffing moves around it.

The timing matters. A current payroll total may not, by itself, establish how many employees the business had when the disputed events occurred. Wage records covering that earlier period are therefore the example AFCA specifically identifies.

Does the employee test settle an electrical insurance complaint?

No. Passing the employee threshold does not determine whether AFCA has jurisdiction over the particular insurance product or cover.

AFCA says it can consider complaints about an insurance broker’s conduct in following instructions or arranging a policy, as well as an insurer’s decision or conduct concerning a small-business insurance product. However, it says it cannot consider complaints about cover for:

• Contractors All Risks
• Fidelity Guarantee
• Legal Liability, including Public Liability and Products Liability
• Professional Indemnity
• Industrial Special Risks

Excluding those cover types does not mean AFCA has no jurisdiction over every aspect of those policy types. In particular, AFCA says it may consider certain cover within an Industrial Special Risks policy.

What can an electrical business do if eligibility is unclear?

• Check the current AFCA small-business guidance.
• Submit complaint information even if AFCA eligibility is uncertain.
• Use AFCA’s online complaint form or Live Chat if help is needed.
• Create an account to manage the complaint throughout the AFCA process.
• Be ready to substantiate employee numbers from the relevant period if staffing fluctuates around the threshold.

AFCA’s service is free to access. After a complaint is lodged, AFCA refers it to the financial firm. The firm must review it and attempt direct resolution within a set timeframe; if it remains unresolved, AFCA progresses the complaint for further consideration. Any AFCA determination is binding on the financial firm.

This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Check AFCA’s current page before lodging a complaint and your policy’s PDS for the applicable cover and terms.

Sources

• Small Businesses with a financial complaint | AFCA

FAQ

Does AFCA use a different employee limit for electrical businesses?

AFCA’s published small-business guidance applies the general fewer-than-100-employee definition. The electrical trade does not create a separate employee threshold, but the business must still satisfy AFCA’s organisational, related-group and complaint requirements.

What employee count matters when the workforce fluctuates?

AFCA requires evidence of the employee count when the events giving rise to the claim occurred. It gives wage records as an example of substantiation, so a current headcount may not answer a complaint based on an earlier period.

Does each related company receive its own employee test?

AFCA frames the exclusion around the relevant group of related companies and aggregates their employee numbers. If the group has 100 employees or more, AFCA says it cannot consider the complaint.

Are registered charities subject to the ordinary size test?

AFCA gives registered charities a separate category and says it can consider their complaints regardless of employee count or whether they carry on a business. If the charity is part of a relevant group with 100 employees or more, ask AFCA how the separate group exclusion applies.

Does meeting the employee test guarantee AFCA will accept the complaint?

No. Employee count is only one part of eligibility. The complaint must still meet AFCA’s Rules, and insurance jurisdiction may also depend on the product type and cover involved.