Only about 31% of brokers consistently provide assistance to non-English-speaking clients who want to lodge complaints, according to an online questionnaire undertaken by the insurance broking industry’s Code Compliance Committee.

About 21% offer such help most of the time, 21% seldom do and 9% sometimes do, results from the Internal Dispute Resolution Process “own motion inquiry” show.

The results are published on the Financial Ombudsman Service website.

“This appears to be an important issue,” the report says, referring to census figures showing 26% of the Australian population was born overseas and about 20% have at least one foreign-born parent.

Several brokers say they do not or cannot assist non-English-speaking clients with complaints.

“All staff speak English only,” an unnamed broker is quoted as saying. “We are unable to arrange insurance for non-English-speaking persons. Unless they have availability of an interpreter, we can’t help.”

Otherwise, the industry fares relatively well when it comes to observing its own code.

“Staff across organisations of all sizes are well trained in complaint handling,” the committee says. “Overall, the inquiry has found that insurance brokers have accessible and visible internal dispute resolution information in place and organisations have a good understanding of the importance of having clear, written internal dispute resolution procedures.”

The 51-question online survey received 299 broker responses.