Credit reporting disputes and systemic issues have always been a core part of our credit and debt work at Financial Rights. In 2025 credit reporting was a major focus for our policy team as we tried to clearly articulate the consumer detriment we regularly hear about through our casework.

Financial Rights has been leading the consumer sector’s credit reporting law reform priorities for the last ten years, and in the 2025 financial year our leadership was critical.

Emily’s story

Emily contacted National Debt Helpline as she was being chased by a debt collector for $24,000 via her employer. She lodged a complaint in the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and sought assistance from us.

We discovered the loan had never really been affordable. She had made a valiant effort to pay off the loan but ultimately surrendered the vehicle. The debt was made up of the shortfall plus over $10,000 in interest. We updated the AFCA complaint to include the responsible lending breaches and the removal of the repayment history information from her credit file as it was a consequence of poor lending practices. We also sought compensation breaches of the debt collection guidelines.

We were successful in getting the $24,000 debt waived and the credit report updated prior to AFCA reviewing the matter.

September 2024

We led a substantial Joint Submission to the Statutory Review of Australia’s Credit Reporting Framework. The Submission was endorsed by 13 other consumer groups, contained 52 recommendations and 29 client stories.

The Final Independent Report either fully or partially supported 36 of our 52 recommendations.

March 2025

A new Credit Reporting Code was registered by the Privacy Commissioner which included strong new protections resulting from our consistent advocacy. New protections include a free alert system for victims of fraud, easier corrections for financial abuse victims and the long-sought ability to achieve multiple corrections in one request.

April 2025

We published an updated version of the Credit Reporting & Economic Abuse guide. This is a practical guide for financial counsellors and community workers. It was first developed jointly in 2022 by Financial Rights and the Economic Abuse Reference Group and has been a very popular and useful tool for caseworkers.

Frances’ story

Frances experienced domestic violence which included her ex-partner setting up debts in her name. She only became aware of these debts when she recently accessed her credit report. We were able to assist with getting about $4,000 in total debt waived and her credit report cleared of all defaults.

If you're looking for more resources on credit reporting you should read our fact sheet or visit CreditSmart.

Read more of our achievements in our 2025 Annual Report.