What to do today
1. Get your credit report from both credit reporting bodies. MoneySmart and the OAIC list two consumer credit reporting bodies: Equifax (138 332) and Experian (1300 783 684). They can hold different information, so ask both. Ask for the free report. A credit reporting body cannot charge you if you have not asked it in the previous 3 months, and it must respond within 10 days (Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) s 20R(3) and (5)). The OAIC says you also get a free copy if you were refused credit in the past 90 days, or after information on your file has been corrected.
2. Ask for the correction in writing. Send it to the credit reporting body, the lender that made the listing, or both. Say exactly which entry is wrong (the lender's name, the date and the amount), why it is wrong, and what you want done (removed or changed). Attach anything that helps: a payment receipt, a hardship letter, a police report for fraud. Keep a copy and note the date you sent it. That date starts the 30-day clock.
3. If you are a victim of identity fraud, ask for a ban first. It is free and stops your file being used or shared while it is in place (s 20K). Details below.
4. Diary the deadline. The body or lender must fix it within 30 days starting on the day you asked, or a longer time you agree to in writing (ss 20T(2), 21V(2)). Check your report again after that.
5. If they say no or go quiet, go to AFCA. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority is free. Lodge at afca.org.au or call 1800 931 678.
This is legal information about credit reporting in Australia, not personal legal advice.
How a correction request works
You can ask the credit reporting body (s 20T) or the credit provider (s 21V). The OAIC calls this "no wrong door": whoever you ask must deal with it, and if they need to, they must check with the other body or lender themselves. You do not have to chase each one separately.
If they are satisfied the information is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, they must correct it within 30 days of your request. If they need longer, the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2025 says they must tell you why, ask you to agree to an extension, and tell you about AFCA (para 20(5)). You do not have to agree.
Once they decide, they must tell you within 5 business days (Code para 20(15)). If they correct it, they must also tell the other body or lender and anyone they shared the wrong information with (ss 20U(2), 21W(2)). If they refuse, they must write to you with their reasons, the evidence they rely on, and your right to go to AFCA or the OAIC (ss 20U(3), 21W(3)).
It is free. Neither the body nor the lender can charge you to make the request or to correct the information (ss 20T(5), 21V(5)).
The Code also lets you ask for a default, repayment history entry or hardship flag to be corrected if it only exists because of something outside your control, such as a natural disaster, domestic abuse, a bank error with a direct debit, or fraud (Code paras 20(12) and (13)).
Correction request or complaint?
A correction request asks for wrong information to be fixed. A complaint is about how the lender or credit reporting body behaved: for example, listing a default without sending the required notices, or ignoring your correction request. The Code says a correction request is not treated as a complaint, even if you sound unhappy in it (para 20(18)). If you want both, say clearly that you are also making a complaint.
For a complaint, they must acknowledge it in writing within 7 days and tell you how they will handle it, then give you a written decision within 30 days unless you agree in writing to longer (s 23B). Complaints are free (s 23A(5)).
Was the default listed properly?
A lender can only list a default on a consumer debt if all of these are true (ss 6Q(1) and 21D(3)(d), and Code para 9):
- the amount overdue is $150 or more, and you are at least 60 days overdue
- the lender sent you a written notice telling you about the overdue amount and asking you to pay it
- at least 30 days after that, the lender sent a separate written notice saying it intended to list a default
- at least 14 days passed after the second notice before it listed (and it listed within 3 months of that notice)
- the debt was not already out of time to recover under a limitation law
A lender also must not list a default while it is deciding your hardship request, or until at least 14 days after it tells you it is refusing one (Code para 9(1)). If any step was missed, ask for the default to be removed and say which step.
Once you pay a listed default, the lender must update it to show it was paid (s 21E). The default itself stays for 5 years from when it was listed (s 20W item 4). If the debt has become too old to recover, the credit reporting body must remove the default on request (Code para 20(14)). See Statute-barred debts.
Financial hardship information
If your lender agreed to a hardship arrangement (a pause, lower payments or a changed loan), this may show against your repayment history for the months it covered. Credit reports mark it as "A" for a temporary arrangement or "V" for a permanent change (Code para 8A(13)). MoneySmart says a hardship arrangement does not affect your credit score. It is kept for 1 year from each affected payment (s 20W item 2A), compared with 2 years for repayment history. If you kept to the agreed payments in full at the original amount, no hardship flag should appear for that month (s 6QA(5)). To ask for an arrangement, see Financial hardship: ask your lender, then AFCA.
Identity fraud: ban your credit file
If you believe on reasonable grounds that you are, or are likely to be, a victim of fraud, you can ask a credit reporting body not to use or disclose your credit file. This is a ban period. It lasts 21 days from the day you ask (s 20K(3)). It is free (s 20K(6)).
- Ask each body, or ask one to pass it on. The Code says the first body you contact must offer to send your ban request to the others you nominate (Code para 17(3) and (4)).
- Extend before it ends. The body must remind you at least 5 business days before the ban ends (Code para 17(7)). If you ask before the end and the body believes you are a fraud victim, it must extend the ban for a reasonable time. There is no limit on how many times it can be extended (s 20K(4) and (5)).
- Expect light questions, not a pile of paperwork. When you ask to extend, the body can ask why you believe you are a fraud victim. It can only ask for more information if your answers suggest you are not (Code para 17(10)).
- Then fix the fraudulent entries. A ban does not remove listings. Ask for each fraudulent enquiry or default to be corrected. For enquiries caused by fraud, the Code says the body or lender must consider how hard it is for you to produce evidence (Code para 20(10)).
While a ban is in place, you may not be able to get new credit yourself.
Worked example
On Monday 12 October 2026, Priya gets her free Experian report. It shows a $640 default from a lender she has never dealt with and two credit enquiries she did not make.
The same day, she asks Experian for a ban and asks it to pass the request on to Equifax. She also emails Experian a correction request for the default and both enquiries, saying they were caused by identity fraud, and attaches her police report number.
- The ban runs until Monday 2 November 2026 (21 days after 12 October). Experian must remind her at least 5 business days before then. She asks to extend it on 27 October.
- The 30-day correction period starts on 12 October and ends on Tuesday 10 November 2026.
- Experian decides on 5 November to remove all three entries. It must tell her within 5 business days, so by Thursday 12 November 2026.
If Experian had refused, or let 10 November pass without an answer or an agreed extension, Priya could lodge a free AFCA complaint the same day.
Where to escalate
AFCA handles complaints about its member firms, and credit reporting bodies must belong to a recognised dispute scheme (Code para 21(4)). Equifax and Experian both name AFCA as theirs. A lender can only report to a credit reporting body if it belongs to a recognised dispute scheme too (s 21D(2)(a)), and a lender's refusal letter must tell you which scheme it is in (s 21W(3)). AFCA is free for consumers: Make a complaint, 1800 931 678.
The OAIC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) takes credit reporting complaints too. You can go to it after AFCA, or straight to it if you prefer. Complaints must be in writing, and the OAIC may decide not to investigate a complaint made more than 12 months after you became aware of the problem. See OAIC: Make a credit reporting complaint.
Paid "credit repair" businesses
MoneySmart warns that some businesses charge to get negative information removed from a credit report. Only wrong information can be removed, and you can ask for that yourself for free, using the steps above. Everything in this guide (getting your report, correction requests, complaints, bans and AFCA) costs nothing. If a collector is pressuring you over a debt you say is not yours, see Debt collector harassment.