Credit reporting is a system that helps credit providers make an informed decision about a customer’s ability to manage debt. Credit providers, such as banks, non-banks and other lending institutions, share personal credit-related information about customers with credit reporting bodies, who then publish this information to the customer’s credit report. This credit report can be accessed by other credit providers when they run a credit check for that customer.

The Australian credit reporting system has been in place since the late 1960s. Up until recently, this focused on negative information, which meant a person’s credit file only listed ‘bad’ credit events such as a default, bankruptcy or serious credit infringement.

This has changed with Comprehensive Credit Reporting, which records both positive and negative credit behaviour to a person’s credit report.

Today, there are strict rules about how your consumer credit-related personal information can be collected, used and disclosed for the purposes of credit reporting, as well as what types of organisations are able to access your credit report.

Credit providers include banks, non-banks, other lending institutions and utility providers who provide credit (such as a mobile network provider or electricity company).

Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) is an enhancement to Australia’s previous credit reporting system, where only negative information such as defaults and missed repayments could be seen on your credit report. With CCR, your credit report shows both positive and negative aspects of your credit history, providing credit providers with a more accurate and balanced assessment of your financial history.

Additional information shared with CCR includes:

• Repayment history of accounts such as credit cards, loans, and bills.
• Types of credit accounts opened including Buy Now Pay Later products.
• The name of the lender where you have applied for credit.
• The dates you've applied for, opened, and closed credit accounts.
• The current limits on your credit products.

Homeloans will be moving customers to CCR in November 2023. This will involve sharing credit-related information about your current Homeloans loan account(s) with credit reporting body Equifax, including the repayment history and financial hardship information on those accounts from 1 October 2023 onwards, and we will continue to share your data on a monthly basis thereafter to ensure your credit report is accurate, complete and up to date.

However, this information will not be published to your credit file or visible to other credit providers until we switch CCR on, which is scheduled for late January 2024.

Most lenders already have CCR. Following significant upgrades to our technology infrastructure in FY23, we now have the digital framework in place to integrate with Comprehensive Credit Reporting. CCR enables us to uphold our responsible lending obligations while facilitating a fairer and more accurate assessment of a customer’s creditworthiness.

Under CCR, we will be sharing additional information about your Homeloans loan account(s) activity to credit reporting bodies on an ongoing basis, including your repayment history and any financial hardship information. This information will be saved to your credit report and accessible by other credit providers when we switch CCR on, which is scheduled to be in late January 2024.

Due to technical limitations, we are only able to able to supply three months’ worth of your most recent data (from October 2023 onwards) to Equifax prior to switching on CCR. However, we will continue supplying your credit information on a monthly basis from then on to ensure your credit report is accurate, complete and up to date.

If your repayment is more than 14 days past the due date, this can be recorded on your credit report as a late payment under CCR, and it can stay in your file for up to two years. But the two-year timespan can work in your favour, too. With two years’ worth of repayment history now visible in your credit report, credit providers can also see if you’ve made all of your other repayments on time, which could make the one missed repayment less of an issue.

Payments that are equal to or more than $150 and at least 60 days overdue are classified as a default.

There has been no change to the way defaults are reported to credit reporting bodies under Comprehensive Credit Reporting.

As with the previous credit reporting system, the following is required before credit providers can list a default on your credit report:
 1)  The payment has been due for at least 60 days;
 2)  The overdue payment is equal to or more than $150;
 3)  A notice has been sent to your last known address to inform you about the overdue payment and request payment;
 4)  A second notice was sent at least 30 days later to inform you that if you don’t make a payment, the credit provider intends to disclose the default to a credit reporting body; and
 5)  The credit provider has waited at least 14 days after issuing the second notice before listing the default


Once the credit provider lists the default on your credit report, it will remain there for five years – even if you subsequently pay the overdue amount. However, if you do pay the amount owing, the credit provider can update the default listing to indicate that the payment was made.

There are several credit reporting bodies used in Australia being Equifax, Illion and Experian. Homeloans uses Equifax as a credit reporting body.

The credit reporting system is governed by the Privacy Act and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code. We have adhered to all of the requirements for collecting and disclosing customers’ personal information. Our Privacy Policy can be found here: www.homeloans.com.au/privacy-policy

No, you cannot opt out of Comprehensive Credit Reporting.

Credit reporting bodies are only allowed to give a copy of your credit report to specific organisations and only for certain purposes (such as to assess your credit application).

These organisations include:

• Another Australian credit reporting body
• A credit provider (defined on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website here: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/your-privacy-rights/credit-reporting/credit-reporting-terms#CreditProvider
• A mortgage insurer
• A trade insurer
• A debt collector acting as an agent for a credit provider.

Note: the following are not credit providers: real estate agents, general insurers and employers.

Homeloans uses Equifax as a credit reporting body. Equifax protects the credit reporting information that it holds from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, using a variety of administrative, physical and technical controls which are monitored and audited. The Equifax environment is protected using a layered security approach including endpoint security and network controls. Only authorised employees are granted access to your credit reporting information. Equifax trains the employees who handle your credit reporting information to ensure that your credit reporting information is handled appropriately, and they audit and monitor employees’ access to, and handling of, personal information.

If you believe there is an error on your credit report regarding information we have shared with Equifax, you can contact us directly and ask for it to be investigated. Equifax also offers a free service to help you correct your credit report using its Corrections Portal. See here for more information: https://www.equifax.com.au/personal/corrections-portal

If you’re having trouble making your repayments at any time, please contact us as soon as possible on 1300 793 741.

To learn more about Comprehensive Credit Reporting, you can visit Equifax’s Credit Reports Help Section: https://www.equifax.com.au/personal/help-centre/credit-reports.