Credit reporting in Australia, explained

Three bodies (Equifax, illion, Experian) hold your Australian credit file. Lenders, telcos, utilities, and some other businesses can list payment behaviour against it. Defaults stay on file for 5 years; serious credit infringements for 7 years.

What can be listed

  • Payment defaults — debts of $150 or more, more than 60 days overdue, where you've been notified twice in writing.
  • Serious credit infringements — clear-cut indicators of fraud or misrepresentation.
  • Court judgments — if a debt has resulted in a court order against you.
  • Repayment history information (RHI) — for credit accounts only (not utility / telco / generic trade debt).

What can't be listed

  • A debt you genuinely dispute (until the dispute is resolved).
  • A debt that hasn't met the statutory notification requirements.
  • A hardship-paused arrangement that you're complying with.
  • A debt under $150.

Disputing an incorrect listing

  1. Raise it with the lister — they have 30 days to investigate.
  2. Escalate to the credit reporting body if not resolved.
  3. AFCA for the underlying credit-product matter.
  4. OAIC for privacy / inaccurate-data complaints.

Most incorrect listings come from administrative error rather than malice — first contact resolves the majority.

How resolving a debt affects your file

Paying a default doesn't remove the listing from your file — it changes the status to "paid" but the listing remains for 5 years. That said: a paid default looks materially better to lenders than an unpaid one, and most lenders apply different scoring weights accordingly.