The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has been given the authority to deal with complaints dating back to 2008.AFCA's mandate will be extended for 12 months, to allow it to deal with cases where consumers did not have access to redress. The royal commission examined cases of financial misconduct dating back to 2008. Under normal circumstances, AFCA can only deal with matters that have occurred within the past six years. When a complaint has been through a financial service provider's internal complaints process, the timeframe is reduced to two years.ASIC will have to change AFCA's rules to allow for the expanded mandate, and AFCA expects to start dealing with eligible complaints in July. It will issue guidance for members prior to July.In an interview with ABC radio yesterday, AFCA chief executive David Locke said: "Many people have not had their cases looked at. The announcement that we'll be able to go back to January 2008 is a really positive one."Locke said the authority had received 20,000 complaints since it started last November and has resolved 45 per cent of them."We've seen a 35 per cent increase already on the levels that were going to the predecessor organisations," Locke said.Forty-four per cent of complaints are related to credit. Responsible has emerged as a big issue."I think it [the royal commission] has had a big impact, and also the media attention on the issues has made people look at their own financial affairs."Locke said there had also been a shift in the way financial service providers were responding to complaints. "But it's not consistent across the piece. We still have some financial firms that are simply not getting their act together and not resolving issues as quickly as they should."