Key deadlines for complaints

Making a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is a free way to get your money back from a financial business that broke the law. Most people who invested in the Shield or First Guardian Master Funds dealt with a financial adviser or a super fund (or both). If your financial adviser or super fund did something wrong, you can complain to AFCA and ask for them to pay you back. But, there are deadlines starting as early as 31 March 2026 to make complaints against some businesses. You should make a complaint as soon as you can. If you miss the deadline, you won’t get any money from the business. Don’t miss your chance to get your super back!

What is my deadline?

If you want to make a complaint about a financial adviser, you need to lodge your complaint with AFCA by 5:00 pm on the date for the advice business in the table below. If you aren’t sure which advice business is the right one, use our financial adviser lookup tool to find out.

Why is there a deadline?

You can only make a complaint against a business that is a member of AFCA. All but one of the advice businesses who were involved in selling Shield and First Guardian Master Funds have shut down. Because they are no longer in business, their AFCA memberships will expire in 2026. You need to get your complaint to AFCA before the business’ membership expires in order for AFCA to be able to deal with it. 

What if I miss the deadline?

If you miss the deadline, AFCA cannot deal with your complaint. That also means they cannot award you any compensation for losses in Shield and First Guardian. 

What about super funds?

All of the super funds are still in business, so the deadline is 6 years from when you first became aware of the loss, or 2 years after receiving a final response from your super fund if you complained to them directly – whichever is earlier.