Free credit report
How do I get a free copy of my credit report?
In Australia, everyone has the right to one free credit report every three months (previously every 12 months) from each of the 3 main credit reporting bodies. Your credit report now also includes a credit rating which is an indication of the 'band' that the credit score sits in (e.g. 'below average', 'average', 'good' etc).
If you're not eligible for a free credit report you can pay a small fee to access it. The different reporting bodies have different options and tools for keeping track of your credit position.
Get a copy before you apply to borrow money or buy something on credit.
This will let you know whether there's something on your report that will make it harder for you to borrow.
There are three main businesses that hold credit reports. They're known as “credit reporting bodies”.
It's good to get a copy of your credit report from each of those businesses; some credit providers may only use one or two of the businesses and you'll want to make sure you see all the information that they have about you.
Checking your own credit report has no impact on your credit report or credit score when viewed by a credit provider.
Keeping your credit report and credit score secure
The credit reporting bodies are under strict obligations to keep your information secure, so you'll be asked to provide information to identify yourself (usually a driver's licence or something similar). You should get the credit report within 10 days (although it quite often comes sooner).
If you've already made an application for credit but were refused, you also have a right to get a free copy of your credit report within 90 days of being refused. The credit provider will let you know how to get a copy of your report if this happens.
Paying for credit reports
You'll find that some of the credit reporting bodies also offer to sell you copies of your credit report. This is for extra services that you might be happy to pay for, such as if you want to get it more often than once every three months or want to access some of the monitoring services offered by the credit reporting bodies.