Privacy fact sheet 31
How you can access your credit report
May 2014
Credit reporting ‘know your rights’ series no. 6
This fact sheet is the sixth in a series that outlines what you need to know about how your personal
information can be handled in the Australian consumer credit reporting system. It tells you how you can
get access to your consumer credit report. There are lots of technical terms used in the credit reporting
system and we refer to some of those terms in this series. You can find more information about these
terms in no. 2 (Privacy fact sheet 27) of this series.
How can you get a copy of your credit
report from a CRB?
You should be aware of what information is held about
you in your consumer credit report. This is because
credit providers will refer to that information when
deciding whether to give you credit.
You can find out what personal information is
contained in your consumer credit report by making a
request to a credit reporting body (CRB).
To make sure you get the most accurate and up-todate copy of your consumer credit report, you should
make your request for access to a CRB.
Different CRBs may collect different information about
you for inclusion in your consumer credit report. For
this reason, it is a good idea to request a copy of your
consumer credit report from each of the three main
CRBs.
A request for access can be made:
•
via a CRBs website, or
•
by contacting the CRB directly.
For contact details and links to the websites of the
three main CRBs see Privacy Topics – Credit and
Finance: How do I get a copy of my credit report?
How can you get access to information
about your consumer credit activities that
a credit provider holds?
In some circumstances, you may wish to find out what
information about your consumer credit activities a
credit provider holds.
Every credit provider is required to have (and make
available for free) a policy that outlines how you can
access this information. This policy will usually be
available on the provider’s website.
If you have made an application for credit that has
been refused by a credit provider, the notice of refusal
will also contain information about how you can access
your consumer credit report from a CRB.
Can you access your credit report for free?
Credit reporting bodies
A CRB must give you access to your consumer credit
report, including information derived from the
information in that report (for example your credit
score), for free once every twelve months. In addition,
a CRB must also provide free access to this information
in the following circumstances:
•
if you have been refused credit, within the past 90
days, or
•
if your request for access relates to a decision by a
CRB or a credit provider to correct information
included in your consumer credit report (for more
information about how to make a correction
Privacy fact sheet 31: How you can access your credit report
request, please see no. 7 (Privacy fact sheet 32) in
this series).
consumer credit report (that is, offer to provide you
with access in less than 10 days).
Importantly, if you access your consumer credit report
for free in either of these two circumstances, that will
not be counted as your free copy in that 12 month
period.
Before paying for access to your consumer credit
report, you should consider whether the free access
service offered by the CRB would meet your needs
and, in particular, whether:
When making an access request to a CRB, you may be
required to provide the CRB with evidence that
establishes your identity and that you have had your
application for credit refused within the past 90 days.
•
you require access in less than 10 days, and
•
you need the other services that the fee-based
service provides.
Credit providers
What will you be given following a
request for access?
A credit provider can charge you a fee for giving you
access to information about your consumer credit
activities that the provider holds, provided that charge
is not excessive. However, a credit provider cannot
impose a charge for making the request.
Whether a charge is excessive will depend on the
nature of the credit provider, including the provider’s
size, resources and functions (for more information
about when a charge may be considered ‘excessive’,
see the APP Guidelines – APP 12 – access to personal
information).
Credit reporting bodies
If you make a request to a CRB for access to your
consumer credit report, the CRB will give you:
•
a copy of all the personal information contained in
your consumer credit report
•
your credit score, and
•
a summary and explanation of the information to
help you understand the impact that your
consumer credit report has on your ability to
access credit.
How long will you have to wait for access?
Credit reporting bodies
Credit providers
The CRB must provide you with access to your
consumer credit report within a maximum of 10 days
of receiving your request.
If you make a request to a credit provider for access to
the information about your consumer credit activities
that the provider holds, the provider will give you:
Credit providers
•
a copy of all the personal information contained in
the copy of your consumer credit report that the
credit provider holds
•
any assessment made by the credit provider, using
the information in your consumer credit report,
about your consumer creditworthiness (including a
credit score, where one has been created by the
credit provider), and
•
a summary and explanation of the information to
help you understand the impact that your
consumer credit report has on your ability to
access credit.
A credit provider must provide you with access within
a reasonable period, and usually within 30 days.
What is the difference between CRBs’ free
access service and their fee-based access
services?
Some CRBs also offer a fee-based access service. Such
fee-based services often bundle access to your
consumer credit report with other services, such as
online access and regular updates about information
contained in your consumer credit report. Fee-based
services may also offer quicker access to your
Importantly, CRBs and credit providers are not
required to provide you with detailed information
Privacy fact sheet 31: How you can access your credit report
2
about the methods used to produce your credit score,
or other measures of your creditworthiness.
Can you request that your credit report be
provided in a special form to meet your
needs?
A CRB is required to take reasonable steps to provide
you with access to your consumer credit report in a
way that meets your needs and the needs of the CRB.
What happens if you are refused access to
your credit report?
If a CRB or credit provider refuses your request for
access, the body or provider must give you written
notice of that refusal. That notice must:
•
set out the reasons for the refusal, and
•
explain that if you are not satisfied with the
response, you can make a complaint to an External
Dispute Resolution scheme that the credit provider
or CRB is a member of, or to the OAIC (for more
information about how to make a complaint see
no. 8 (Privacy fact sheet 33) in this series).
For further information
telephone: 1300 363 992
email: [email protected]
write: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
GPO Box 2999, Canberra ACT 2601
Or visit our website at www.oaic.gov.au
Privacy fact sheet 31: How you can access your credit report
3