The Law Handbook 2024

453 NOTE The law in this chapter is current as at 1 September 2023. Introduction Most people think about their credit report when applying for a car loan, home loan or credit card – a creditor usually reviews a person’s credit report when assessing an application for credit. Credit reports are compiled by credit-reporting bodies from information provided by credit providers. In Australia, credit reports aim to capture all applicable credit repayment history, rather than only negative information (e.g. if a person has defaulted on repayments). Australia has three credit-reporting bodies: Equifax, Experian and Illion (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter). These credit-reporting bodies generate and hold consumer credit reports for people, and commercial credit reports for businesses. Credit report regulation In Australia, credit reporting is regulated by: • Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (‘ PA 1988 ’); • the Privacy Regulation 2013 (Cth) (‘ Privacy Regulation ’); • the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014 (Version 2.3) (‘ CR Code ’), which is a legally binding code (see ‘CR Code amendments’, below) – a breach of the CR Code is treated as a breach of the PA 1988; • the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Mandatory Credit Reporting and Other Measures) Act 2021 (Cth) (‘ NCCP Act 2021 ’); • the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Debt Management Services) Regulations 2021 (Cth) (‘ NCCP Regulations 2021 ’). Who can add information to a credit report? Only credit providers can add information to credit reports. ‘Credit provider’ is defined in section 6G of the PA 1988. Credit providers include: • banks; • organisations that provide credit, if providing credit is a substantial part of the business; • retailers that issue credit cards in connection with the sale of goods or services; • businesses that provide credit in relation to the supply of goods or services where the repayment of the amount of credit is deferred for at least seven days (e.g. utilities companies and telecommunication providers); • businesses that provide credit related to hiring, leasing or renting goods where repayment is deferred for at least seven days; • assignees of credit providers. What information is in a credit report? Overview A credit report can contain information about a person’s: • previous credit applications; • credit repayment history, including financial hardship information; • late payments on credit contracts; • relevant court judgments; and • whether the person is or has been bankrupt or entered into another form of personal insolvency, such as a debt agreement. For more detailed information about what is permitted to be included in a credit report, see ‘Permitted disclosures’, below. Credit reporting 5.9 Contributor: Gerard Brody, Chair, Consumers' Federation of Australia