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The Australian Retail Credit Association (Arca) said the recommendations are designed to help standardise the corrections process across the industry while reducing the burden on consumers who have fallen victim to fraud, as well as other uncontrollable circumstances.
Under the guidance, credit providers and credit reporting bodies are encouraged “to take a streamlined approach”, making greater use of information they already hold before requesting additional evidence from consumers.
The recommendation’s aim is to reduce the need for Australians to repeatedly provide the same information or recount a past issue when seeking to correct multiple fraudulent credit inquiries arising from a single fraud event.
Richard McMahon, general manager of government and regulatory at Arca, said that the process should be consistent across the board, regardless of which organisation a consumer contacts.
He said that consumers who have already experienced fraud should not face unnecessary hurdles when trying to correct their credit reports.
“The process of correcting a credit report should not create additional stress for someone who has already experienced fraud,” he said.
“Where appropriate, organisations should work together, make use of information already available to them and avoid placing unnecessary burdens on consumers.”
Arca has previously said brokers are uniquely positioned to identify risks and support clients as they navigate refinancing, renegotiation, or new credit applications.
While the guidance places a focus on fraud-related correction requests, it also outlined recommendations for other situations where credit information has been affected by circumstances outside an individual’s control, including domestic abuse, natural disasters, hospitalisation, incarceration, and banking errors.
In those cases, Arca said organisations should “assess each request holistically and consider whether the information continues to provide an accurate reflection of an individual’s creditworthiness or whether another response, such as correcting the information or backdating a hardship arrangement, is more appropriate”.
“No two correction requests are the same, particularly where people have experienced significant life events outside their control,” McMahon said.
“These recommendations provide a practical framework that helps industry respond consistently while recognising each person’s individual circumstances.”
The recommendations support changes introduced through the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code following reforms approved by the OAIC in 2024.
[Related: Rising rates put credit health back in focus]
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