Australian credit score and credit file for expats and new arrivals

How the file is built

The OAIC explains that credit providers pass credit-related information to credit reporting bodies, which compile it into a credit report and use it to derive a credit score. A consumer credit report holds identifying details such as name, date of birth, address and employer, plus how you have handled past and current consumer credit. It can also hold defaults, court judgments and bankruptcies.

Equifax says a file is generally established at your first application for credit, which could be a post-paid mobile contract, a utility account, a credit card or store finance. It adds that to establish your own file, the application must be in your name and at your current residential address. Each reporting body keeps its own data. The OAIC names Equifax and Experian on its access page and also lists illion on its fraud page, while Equifax's help page says Australia has four bodies: Equifax, illion, Experian and the Tasmania Collection Service. Different bodies can hold different information about you.

Equifax's score is a number between 0 and 1200, and the higher the number, the lower the risk. Equifax says you may not have a score if you are not credit-active, and that some older Australians and people new to Australia may not either. Its free credit report does not include a score.

What stays on the file, and for how long

These are the retention periods the OAIC publishes.

The OAIC says a default can be listed for an unpaid amount of at least $150 that is at least 60 days overdue. Equifax adds that a credit provider must send two written notices to your last known address before listing a consumer default.

If you are leaving Australia

Three points follow from the official and Equifax pages:

• The address on file. Equifax says the address shown is the one you lived at when you last applied for credit, which may not be your current one. Notices about overdue debts go to the last known address.
• Unpaid bills. Equifax warns that if you move and do not update contact details, unpaid bills can end up as defaults. It also describes a serious credit infringement, which can be listed where a person has left their last known address without paying and has had no contact with the provider for six months or more despite attempts to reach them. The OAIC says those stay for seven years.
• Loans you keep. Equifax says repayment history on accounts such as mortgages and credit cards may be updated monthly, though not all credit providers supply it.

The moving overseas with a mortgage guide covers the loan itself.

If you are arriving or returning

Equifax says it is possible to apply for credit with no history, but the credit provider then has to use sources other than a credit report. It says you do not need a credit card to start a file, and that a post-paid mobile or an electricity contract will also start one. Equifax also says that if you have applied under more than one name, for example after a change by deed poll or marriage, it keeps separate files and links them.

On shopping around: Equifax says many applications in a short time may be read as a sign of financial stress, and NSW Government's pre-approval page says that applying to several lenders could negatively affect your credit score. Each application is recorded as an enquiry and stays for five years. The new migrants guide and the returning expats guide look at lending for those groups.

What lenders may ask for from overseas

APRA's guide lists enquiries into credit history through credit reporting bodies among the steps lenders take to verify an applicant. On foreign history, only broker material is available. Odin Mortgage's non-resident page (updated July 2024) says Australian credit checks may not apply to foreigners and that some lenders might require a credit report from the applicant's home country. That is a broker's statement, not lender policy, so ask the lender what it needs. The documents guide lists the usual paperwork, and the foreign income guide covers the income side.

Checking and protecting your file

The OAIC says a credit reporting body must give you access to your consumer credit report free once every 3 months, and also if you were refused credit in the last 90 days or your information was corrected. Equifax's help pages give two figures in different places, once a year and once every three months. The OAIC page describes the legal rule, so the 3-month figure is the one to expect unless Equifax says otherwise.

Equifax says you can request its free report online, by phone or by post, that identity must be verified, and that checking your own report does not change your score. If you suspect fraud, the OAIC says you can ask a credit reporting body to place a ban on your report, which lasts 21 days and can be extended. While a ban applies, it may be harder to apply for credit.

Frequently asked questions

Expat Finance is an independent guide. It is not a lender, mortgage broker or credit provider, it does not hold an Australian credit licence, and it does not give credit, legal, tax or migration advice. It is not affiliated with any bank, the ATO or the Foreign Investment Review Board. General information only, not legal, tax, migration or financial advice.