The ASIC Debt Collection Guideline, explained

Officially called the "Debt Collection Guideline: For Collectors and Creditors", this document is the conduct rulebook for Australian debt recovery. It's jointly issued by the ACCC and ASIC and applies to creditors, agents, buyers of debt, and platforms.

Who it applies to

Anyone trying to collect a debt from a consumer in Australia. Specifically:

  • Original creditors chasing their own debts.
  • Debt-collection agencies acting on behalf of creditors.
  • Debt buyers who've purchased portfolios.
  • Solicitors acting in pre-litigation recovery.
  • Platforms (like Adeva Plus) running automated recovery flows.

What it covers

Section 1 — accuracy and integrity. Collectors must accurately identify themselves, the creditor, the debt, and the amount.

Section 2 — contact. Reasonable hours (7:30am–9pm weekdays). Frequency caps (no more than 3 phone attempts per week). Don't contact someone at work if they've asked you not to.

Section 3 — privacy. Don't disclose the debt to third parties (employer, family) except in tightly limited circumstances.

Section 4 — disputes. Pause activity while a dispute is genuinely raised. Don't penalise the consumer for raising it.

Section 5 — hardship. Genuine hardship must be considered. Specific guidance on what makes a hardship arrangement reasonable.

Section 6 — vulnerable consumers. Specific care for consumers with disability, mental illness, language barriers, or domestic violence circumstances.

Section 7 — fees and charges. No undisclosed fees. Limits on what can be added to the debt.

How regulators interpret it in practice

  • ASIC has taken action on systematic breaches — not isolated single calls, but business-model patterns.
  • AFCA applies it to individual cases — a single bad phone call can land in a determination.
  • Plaintiff lawyers cite it in misleading-conduct claims under the Australian Consumer Law.

What modern platforms do differently

A software-led recovery platform encodes the Guideline rules into the workflow itself. Contact frequency caps are enforced by the system. Hardship-pause is automatic. Tone is calibrated by template, not by individual operator mood. The result: compliance by default rather than compliance by training.