How do I get a free credit report in Australia?
Short answer
Ask each credit reporting body directly. Under the Privacy Act you can get your consumer credit report free once every three months from Equifax and Experian, and again free within 90 days of being refused credit or after a correction. Request it on the body's own website or by phone, never through a paid subscription.
Verified · 8 cited sources
The entitlement is statutory, not a marketing offer. Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988 governs consumer credit reporting, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner states the rule plainly: a credit reporting body must give you access to your consumer credit report for free once every three months. You also get a free copy if you have been refused credit in the past 90 days, or if your credit-related personal information has been corrected. Outside those situations a body may charge a fee, but the OAIC says it must not be excessive.
You ask the credit reporting bodies themselves, not your bank and not a comparison site. The OAIC lists Equifax on 138 332 and Experian on 1300 783 684. Equifax also takes requests online or by post to GPO Box 964, North Sydney NSW 2059, and says you will usually have the report within one business day once it can verify your identity; you need to be 18 or over. Experian takes requests through its own consumer portal and says most people receive the report instantly after verifying their identity. The OAIC's warning is the one to act on: credit reporting bodies may hold different information about you, so you may need to request a copy from each one.
The number of bodies is in flux, and the two companies do not describe it the same way. Experian states that the integration of the illion and Experian credit bureaus is complete, that you no longer need to request two reports, and that you will receive combined credit information in a single report branded as Experian. Equifax's own page, meanwhile, still tells readers there are two other credit reporting bodies in Australia and names both Experian and illion, and the OAIC's fraud guidance still lists three bodies when explaining how to place a ban.
Watch the subscription trap. The free report is a one-off snapshot of your file; the products sold alongside it are monthly monitoring services, and Equifax's own pricing table shows Credit Protect and Identity Protect at $9.95 a month each and the combined Credit and Identity Protect at $14.95 a month, for alerts, score tracking and identity monitoring. None of that is required to exercise your access right. A free 'credit score' from a lender or comparison website is also not the same document — it is a number derived from a file, not the file itself.
Read the report for the things that block a loan or a rental application. The OAIC sets out how long each item stays: credit enquiries five years, repayment history two years, defaults five years, court judgments five years, serious credit infringements seven years, current consumer credit obligations two years from the end of the credit, and financial hardship information one year. Bankruptcy stays for the later of five years from the day you became bankrupt or two years from the day you stopped being bankrupt. Every entry has an expiry date you can check the file against.
Corrections cost nothing. You can approach the credit provider or any credit reporting body — the OAIC calls this the 'no wrong door' approach, because if the one you asked cannot assist it is required to consult the others. If they are satisfied the information is incorrect they must take reasonable steps to correct it within 30 days, or a longer period you agree to, then send written notice to you and to anyone they had disclosed it to. If they are not satisfied, they must write to you explaining why and tell you that you can use an external dispute resolution scheme or make a complaint. The OAIC answers its own question 'Is there a charge?' with a flat 'No', and takes complaints on 1300 363 992.
Know what document you are asking for. The OAIC describes a consumer credit report as one a credit reporting body produces from information supplied by credit providers and other sources: identifying details such as your name, date of birth, address and employer, how you have handled past and current consumer loans and debts, your repayment history, and any failures to meet repayment obligations such as defaults, court judgments or bankruptcies. Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988, the Privacy Regulation 2013 and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014 govern how it is handled — including any credit score derived from it. The bodies are prohibited from disclosing your credit reporting information to third parties except to entities and for purposes Part IIIA prescribes, and it is an offence for an entity to obtain it otherwise. If you are checking because you suspect fraud, ask for a credit ban in the same request.
- Free from each credit reporting body once every three months under the Privacy Act
- Another free copy if you were refused credit in the last 90 days, or after a correction
- Equifax: order online, on 138 332, or by post — usually delivered within one business day
- Experian: order through its consumer portal on 1300 783 684; it says illion's file is now folded in
- Corrections cost nothing and must be made within 30 days, or a longer period you agree to
- Defaults stay five years, repayment history two, serious credit infringements seven
- OAIC credit reporting complaints: 1300 363 992
Go deeper
People also ask
Sources & provenance
Facts verified
- 1.Access your credit report RegulatorOffice of the Australian Information CommissionerUsed for: The free-access rule of once every three months, the extra free report after a credit refusal or correction, that any fee charged at other times must not be excessive, the Equifax number 138 332 and Experian number 1300 783 684, and the warning that bodies may hold different information so you may need to request from each
- 2.What is a credit report? RegulatorOffice of the Australian Information CommissionerUsed for: What a consumer credit report contains, the laws that govern it including the Privacy Regulation 2013 and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014, that a derived credit score is covered too, and the prohibition on disclosure to third parties outside Part IIIA
- 3.What stays on a credit report RegulatorOffice of the Australian Information CommissionerUsed for: Retention periods for credit enquiries, repayment history, defaults, court judgments, serious credit infringements, current consumer credit obligations, financial hardship information and bankruptcy
- 4.Correct your credit report RegulatorOffice of the Australian Information CommissionerUsed for: The 'no wrong door' approach and the duty to consult, the 30-day correction obligation or a longer period you agree to, the written notice to you and to prior recipients, written reasons and external dispute resolution on refusal, the answer 'No' to whether there is a charge, and the OAIC contact number 1300 363 992
- 5.Fraud and your credit report RegulatorOffice of the Australian Information CommissionerUsed for: That Equifax, Experian and illion are still listed as three separate bodies when explaining how to place a credit ban
- 6.Equifax free credit report IndustryEquifax AustraliaUsed for: Ordering online, on 13 8332 or by post to GPO Box 964 North Sydney NSW 2059, the age-18 requirement, one-business-day delivery after identity verification, Equifax's statement that there are two other credit reporting bodies in Australia naming Experian and illion, and the $9.95 and $14.95 monthly prices in its subscription table
- 7.Order your free credit report IndustryExperian AustraliaUsed for: Free access every three months or sooner after a decline or correction, instant delivery for most people after identity verification, and Experian's statement that the illion integration is complete so you receive one combined report branded as Experian
- 8.Privacy Act 1988 LegislationFederal Register of LegislationUsed for: Part IIIA credit reporting, including section 20R on access to credit reporting information and section 20K on ban periods
Not a source — AI-assisted analysis on this page
- AI-assisted analysis — how many reports to ask for — Our reading is that because Experian says the illion integration is complete while Equifax's own page and the OAIC's fraud guidance still describe three separate credit reporting bodies, you should request from every name you are pointed at rather than assume one report covers the lot. That conclusion is ours, drawn from the disagreement between the cited pages. None of them addresses the discrepancy, tells you how many requests to make, or says anything about the others being out of date.
The access rule, the extra free report after a refusal or correction, the retention periods, what a consumer credit report contains and the correction obligations are lifted from the OAIC credit reporting pages cited, with Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988 as the underlying law. The ordering channels, phone numbers, delivery times and subscription prices come from Equifax's and Experian's own pages, and the two companies describe the illion merger differently — that discrepancy is set out on the page. The conclusion to request from every name you are given is our reasoning and is flagged as such. Subscription prices, phone numbers and the state of the Experian and illion integration are the parts most likely to move; confirm with each credit reporting body before you rely on them.
Facts on this page are taken from the sources listed above — Australian government departments, regulators, statutory bodies and official statistical releases. Comparisons, judgements and "which option suits whom" conclusions are AI-assisted analysis written over those sources; they are marked in the text and listed as an AI-analysis entry in the sources, not attributed to any authority. Rates, thresholds, fees and processing times change, often at the start of a financial year; figures are current as at the review date shown and should be confirmed with the responsible agency before you rely on them for money or legal decisions.