The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), which handles and investigates complaints related to the financial industry, has tapped lawyer Paul Woodburn as lead ombudsman for superannuation.
He succeeds Heather Gray who left in May, and will serve for a five-year term, AFCA says in a statement on May 26.
Woodburn joins AFCA from legal firm Allens, where he was a consultant for superannuation and financial services. Before that, he was general counsel at Victorian Funds Management Corp.
He has also worked as head of legal and risk at UniSuper, a super fund for employees of the higher education and research sector, and general counsel at Cbus, a super fund for the building and construction industries.
June Smith, AFCA’s chief ombudsman, describes Woodburn as a “highly regarded leader with deep technical legal and superannuation expertise and a strong track record of working constructively with diverse stakeholders”.
“This is a significant appointment that reinforces our commitment to achieve fair and effective outcomes across our superannuation work,” she says.
