About Credit Reports

A credit report is a record of your credit history. It may include information on applications for credit that you have made in the past as well as information relating to your history of repaying credit card debts, personal loans and mortgages (including modified repayment arrangements due to hardship). Your credit report may also include publicly available information, such as court writs and judgements related to bankruptcies, personal insolvencies and debt agreements.

Credit reports are available to all consumers who have a credit history. These reports are built using information provided by credit providers as well as public record information.

You can get a copy of your Free Credit Report here or you may consider our monthly subscriptions which include Credit Scores and Alerts. 

They are essentially the same thing. Your Credit File is information about your credit activity that is held by a credit reporting body (such as Equifax). When you ask to see your Credit File, the document that is sent to you is usually referred to as a credit report. To put it another way, your Credit Report is an extract of the information held on your Credit File.

In your Credit Report you will find information about your history with credit. Your Credit Report is divided into a number of sections:

1. Personal information / identity details
This includes information like your name, date of birth and names you may be also known as. It also includes your driver’s licence number, as well as a list of places you have worked and addresses where you have lived or operated a business from.

2. Consumer credit information
The consumer credit information section includes:

Details of credit enquiries that have been made on you by a credit provider when you have made an application for consumer credit. Consumer credit relates to loans for household or family purposes as well as for the purchase, renovation or re-financing of a residential investment property. Well-known types of credit include credit cards, mortgages, personal loans, car loans and credit contracts. (Credit contracts are typically used by businesses – such as utility providers and telecommunications companies – that provide a good or service upfront and get paid for it at a later date.) The ‘buy now pay later’ store finance and store cards many retailers offer are also a type of credit.

Consumer credit liability accounts – this may be an account that you currently have open or have had open in the past. Your Credit Report may include information about the type of consumer credit liability account you had or have, as well as its credit limit and open and/or close date. Please note that not all credit providers supply consumer credit liability information to credit reporting bodies (such as Equifax).

Monthly repayment history on credit accounts such as mortgages, personal loans and credit cards. This reflects whether you have paid the minimum amount required on time each month or not. It will also include information on any defaults or financial hardship arrangements in relation to your accounts. Please note that not all credit providers supply repayment history information to credit reporting bodies (such as Equifax).

Overdue accounts such as defaults, new arrangements on your defaults as a result of financial hardship and serious credit infringements

Public record information like:

• Court judgements

• Directorship details

• Proprietorship details

• Bankruptcy, debt agreement and personal insolvency

3. Commercial credit information
This is information about credit enquiries that have been made on you for commercial credit. Common types of commercial credit are a work-mobile-phone contract, business loan and business credit card. It also includes details of any overdue commercial credit accounts and other debts.

4. File access information
This is information about third parties that have accessed your Credit Report. These third parties may include brokers, credit repair agencies and Equifax. (For instance, if you request a copy of your Credit Report from Equifax, the fact that Equifax has accessed your Credit File in order to provide your Credit Report will be noted.)

Get a copy of yoru Free Credit Report here or consider our monthly subscriptions which include Credit Scores and Alerts.

Once you have received a copy of your Equifax credit report it is important to review it carefully to make sure everything is correct. Below is a guide on what to look out for.

1. Personal/identity information – make sure that your name and personal details are correct. The address details will show the address you were living at when you last applied for credit, which may not be your current address. Please let Equifax know if your address is wrong or your name is misspelled or your date of birth is incorrect.

2. Your Equifax Credit Report contains a credit overview, which is a good place to start. This section gives you a snapshot of the number of credit enquiries made on you, any accounts – including overdue ones – you have and details of commercial credit you may have. (You can review the information in the credit overview in the main body of your Credit Report.) You should check that the credit information listed on your Equifax Credit Report is accurate.

3. If you come across anything that is inaccurate while reviewing your Equifax Credit Report, it is important that you have it investigated. (This is will be done at no cost to you). You can either contact the credit provider by referring to the a list creditor contacts here or contact Equifax using our corrections process.

Equifax takes reasonable steps to ensure that your credit report is accurate. However, as we rely on information provided by a number of different sources, errors can occasionally occur.

Learn more: CreditSmart provides some information about what to check in your credit report.

If you have applied for credit under more than one name (e.g. you have changed your name by Deed Poll or after you got married) there will probably be more than one credit file (aka credit report) for you on Equifax’s database. In these cases, Equifax keeps two separate files but creates a link between them. When you request a copy of your Equifax Credit Report you will also be provided with the credit reports in the other names that, to Equifax’s knowledge, you are “also known as”.

If you change your name, you’ll probably end up with two credit files (aka credit feports) – one in your old name and one in your new name. This is rarely a cause for concern, as Equifax has processes in place to link different credit files for the same individual. If you ask Equifax for your Credit Report, you will receive copies of the credit reports in your old and new names.

A credit enquiry may be added to your Credit Report when a lender conducts a credit check on you as part of an application for credit. It is listed on your Credit Report as a 'credit enquiry'.

A credit enquiry may include the date, the type of credit you have applied for (a personal loan, credit card, mortgage or phone contract), whether you are a sole or joint borrower (including acting as a guarantor for another loan), as well as the amount.

See below for an example of how a credit enquiry works in the real world.

David is buying a new car and he applies for a car loan with ABC Car Finance. David completes his application form and as part of the assessment on whether to accept his application, the credit provider conducts a credit enquiry.

As a result of this credit check, David's application for a car loan will be recorded on his Credit Report. It is important to note the application is recorded on David’s Credit Report – and that this information remains on his Credit Report for five years – no matter what happens. Even if David doesn’t proceed to take out a loan from ABC Car Finance, the fact he applied for one remains on his Credit Report and may affect his Credit Score.

The type of credit applied for, the amount of credit and the number of credit enquiries over a period of time can all have an impact on your Credit Report.

Many people are unaware that shopping around can negative consequences where credit is concerned. If you make several credit applications in a short space of time, this may be seen as a sign you are in financial difficulty and have a negative impact on your Credit Report and Credit Score.

Did you know....? Many applications in a short space of time can be an indicator of credit stress.

As the name suggests, your repayment history is a record of when you have paid your minimum monthly repayments on your credit cards and loans. Whether you meet your minimum monthly repayments on your credit card and loans each month can be recorded on your Credit Report as repayment history. The repayment history information section of a credit report includes whether your minimum monthly repayments have been made on time or how many days overdue the payment is.

There is a 14-day grace period before an overdue monthly payment can be reported by a credit provider and included as part of the repayment history section of your Credit Report

Regularly making your minimum repayments on time each month is a good way to demonstrate good credit behaviour. While one late repayment, depending upon how late the payment is, is unlikely to significantly impact your credit worthiness, a number of late payments could be an indication you are in financial stress and may negatively impact your Credit Report.

Repayment history information is recorded on your Credit Report for a period of two years.

From 1 July 2022, we will also display hardship flags for applicable accounts under the Accounts, Repayment History and Financial Hardship Information section of the credit report, including the following:

Temporary relief / deferral Financial Hardship Arrangement (FHA) Payment obligations are temporarily reduced or deferred as a result of a financial hardship Variation Financial Hardship Arrangement (FHA).

Variation Financial Hardship Arrangement (VHA) A variation made to the terms or conditions as a result of a financial hardship arrangement. The repayment history will be measured against the new payment going forward.

A default is also known as an overdue debt. There are two types of defaults; consumer and commercial payment defaults.

Consumer payment default
A consumer payment default can be reported by a credit provider and listed on your Credit Report. This can only occur if you have an overdue debt of equal to, or more than, $150 that is more than 60 days overdue. For example, if you have a mobile phone bill of over $150 and it was due more than 60 days ago, your phone company can have it listed on your Credit Report as a payment default.

Before reporting a consumer default, the credit provider must take a number of steps. In particular, it must send two separate written notices to your last known address. The first notice will be a final request for payment and the second will be a warning that the overdue payment will soon be listed with a credit reporting body (such as Equifax).

Commercial payment defaults
In the case of commercial credit, the minimum default amount is $100. Before listing commercial defaults or overdue debts, commercial credit providers (or their agents) must send a notice to your last known address stating their intention to list the default amount with a credit reporting body (such as Equifax).

Potential credit providers may look unfavourably on applicants with a history of overdue accounts. If you want to maintain your creditworthiness, it’s a good idea to avoid defaults getting onto your Credit Report. To do this, make your repayments and pay your bills on or before the due date.

Both consumer and commercial payment defaults may stay on your credit report for five years, even when you have paid the entire overdue amount. When you have paid a default, the status is updated to ‘paid’ which can be looked upon more favourably by lenders but it will remain as part of your credit history.

If there is a new arrangement in place that is wholly and partially related to any of your defaults, this will also be displayed in the Overdue Accounts section of your credit report.

Learn more: CreditSmart and MoneySmart have information to help you understand defaults.

Comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) means there is more ‘positive’ information that can be included on consumers’ credit reports. This provides a more detailed picture of an individual’s credit history and creditworthiness. CCR refers to the type of consumer credit information that can be collected by credit reporting bodies (CRBs) and can be used by credit providers when making a lending decision. The positive CCR data that can be included on credit reports includes:

• Your account information, such as the type of accounts you have and the dates they were opened and closed

• Your credit limits

• Your repayment history for the past 24 months. (Only licenced credit providers can contribute to or review this repayment history.

• Any defaults or financial hardship repayment arrangements in relation to your accounts

Previously Australia had a negative reporting system. This meant consumer credit reports could only contain information such as credit enquiries (typically applications for credit) and information from credit providers such as payment defaults and serious credit infringements. Most advanced economies in the world operate under a comprehensive credit reporting system.

CCR was introduced to Australia in 2014. (The Privacy Act 1988, which is the legislation governing consumer credit reporting in Australia, was amended to facilitate CCR.)

While CCR was introduced in 2014, limited CCR information was supplied to credit reporting bodies (such as Equifax) in the following years. In 2018, the amount of CCR information being supplied to credit reporting bodies increased dramatically as a result of Australia’s Big Four banks being required to adopt CCR reporting. 

Among other things, a serious credit infringement relates to overdue consumer debts where a person owes a debt to a credit provider but has left, or appears to have left, their last known address without paying that debt and without providing the credit provider with their new or forwarding address. A serious credit infringement can be listed on a credit report in this case if the person has not had contact with the credit provider for six months or more despite attempts by the credit provider to contact them.

Serious credit infringements on consumer credit remain on a credit report for seven years from the date they're listed. However, if they have been paid they revert back to a default and will remain on the credit report for five years. The fact that an amount has become overdue and then been paid still remains part of your credit history.

This all depends on the type of data. Personal identity information including your name, date of birth, gender, driver’s licence and address history is held for the life of the credit report. For other information on your Credit Report, here are some of the typical timeframes.

One year
Financial hardship repayment arrangements

Two years
Repayment history information

Five years
Any credit enquiry
Overdue accounts listed as a payment default
Overdue accounts listed as clearouts
Writs and summons
Court judgments

Seven years
Serious credit infringements

For some information the timeframe will vary.

Information about consumer credit accounts you have with credit providers is known as consumer credit liability information.  This consumer credit liability information can be held for two years after the account has been terminated or ceases to exist. This means that the account information will remain on file for the length of the loan plus two years. 

Similarly, if you are bankrupt or have a personal insolvency agreement or debt agreement the length of time this information remains on your Credit Report could vary depending on when the bankruptcy, debt agreement or personal insolvency agreement was entered into and when it ends.

There is no set frequency with which your Equifax Credit Report is updated.

Your Equifax Credit Report may be updated on a monthly basis with, for instance, information about whether you made the monthly minimum repayment on your credit card on time. It will also be updated if a credit provider lists an overdue debt you’ve incurred. Your Credit Report may also be updated whenever you apply for credit, open or close an account, change your credit limit, or agree to act as a guarantor. When Equifax receives publicly available information, such as default judgments, court writs and Bankruptcy Act information, this will also update your Credit Report.

Your Equifax Business Credit Report may be updated whenever you apply for business credit, change your credit limit or are listed as a new director. Credit providers may also update your report when they list any overdue debts you may have incurred and we may also add certain information obtained from third parties, such as default judgments, court writs and Bankruptcy Act information.

Free Credit Reports from Equifax do not include a Credit Score. This is because your Credit Score is generated using Equifax's proprietary algorithms. There are a range of monthly subscription products that you may wish to consider which includes Credit Scores and Alerts, as well as other useful tools and information. 

Checking your Equifax credit report is considered a soft credit check, and while it will be recorded (as a ‘file access’) in your credit file, it will not affect your Equifax credit score. Learn more about soft vs. hard credit checks here.

It can affect your Credit Report if the phone bill is in your name. If a bill payment is missed you should contact your telecommunications provider immediately and talk to them about the situation rather than hoping an overdue debt won’t be listed on your Credit Report.

It is unlikely that your friend can just assume the loan as that loan will still be in your name. It is also very risky to do that. If your friend fails to keep making the repayments on time, it’s your Credit Report that will be negatively impacted and you will be held liable for that loan. Be warned, having a default listed on your Credit Report will make it harder for you to get credit. In this situation, it is always best practice to pay off your car loan and have your friend arrange their own loan. 

There’s no getting around the fact that having a default listed on your Credit Report is a negative. However, it doesn’t mean you’re destined to have a bad Credit Report for life.

Firstly, your default can only remain on your Credit Report for a maximum of five years. Secondly, while you can’t have a default erased from your Credit Report, if you do eventually pay off the money you owe ­– or even just make arrangements to do so – this information will also be recorded on your Credit Report. Finally, if you are now in the habit of making your loan and credit card repayments on time, this can help lessen the damage done by having defaulted in the past.

We have also added further details in relation to your defaults, in particular, where a new arrangement is in place. A new arrangement is either:

• New consumer credit provided that relates, wholly or in part, to this amount of credit.
• Varied terms or conditions of the original consumer credit that relate to the repayment of the amount of the credit.