The Bill to establish an Australian Financial Complaints Authority has completed its passage through Federal Parliament. It is the culmination of 20 months of public consultation and a review into the dispute resolution framework, led by Professor Ian Ramsay of the Melbourne Law School.The operator of the new scheme will be authorised by the Minister, and subject to ongoing oversight by ASIC.AFCA will start accepting complaints no later than 1 November this year.Higher monetary limits and compensation caps than are available under the previous dispute resolution schemes, including for primary production businesses, will give more consumers and small businesses access to a free and independent forum to resolve their complaints."The … single scheme for all financial services and superannuation complaints is a very positive development, building on the outcomes achieved over many years by the existing three schemes: the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Credit and Investments Ombudsman and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal," ASIC's deputy chair Peter Kell said.Anna Bligh, CEO of the Australian Bankers Association, was also positive over the outcome, while noting that "the first preference for customers [is] to resolve issues directly with their banks, who have been putting in place extra measures such as 'customer advocates' to improve how they handle complaints."Until arrangements to run the "one stop shop" are finalised, ASIC will retain direct oversight of the FOS and CIO.  Separate arrangements are in place for the ongoing operation of the SCT, in order for it to deal with existing complaints.