Making a complaint

Give your complaint impact by following these steps

Great marketing and advertising goes beyond what’s legal and does what is right. Maintaining an excellent brand means marketers and advertisers should be responsive to customers, particularly if there is a complaint.

Equally, consumers need to take the right steps to ensure their complaints are acted on.

The best way to make sure your complaint generates positive outcomes is to:

• Contact the business, broadcaster or advertiser directly in the first instance.

• Keep an accurate record and files of supporting documentation about your complaint.

• Check whether there is an external dispute resolution service - for example, some companies like banks may have ombudsman or other services to help resolve complaints quickly and effectively.

• Understand whether the issue relates to scams, consumer law, spam, privacy, data security or something else if you want to take the issue further

• Discover the correct regulator or authority that administers the issue your complaint relates to - you can read our glossary or issues to get a better understanding.

• Always remain calm and polite - a positive approach to complaints gets better outcomes.

To complain about what you hear on radio or television, contact the broadcaster directly by searching for their phone number or email contact. If the complaint is about an advertisement, direct it to Ad Standards.

To report a scam or phishing attempt, use the ACCC’s reporting tool. Note, the ACCC cannot help you recover money lost.

To report spam, use ACMA’s spam reduction advice.

To report a privacy breach, make contact directly with the company first and then make a formal written complaint with the OAIC using the online privacy complaint form.

ADMA can take complaints with supporting documentation about any of our member businesses. With your permission, we can pass on the complaint so the business can get in touch with you to resolve the issue.

If ADMA can’t help resolve your complaint directly, we recommend escalating it directly to the relevant regulator or code authority concerned.

If you think ADMA can help you, email us at [email protected].