What is comprehensive credit reporting?

Comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) means there is more ‘positive’ information that can be included on consumers’ credit reports. This provides a more detailed picture of an individual’s credit history and creditworthiness. CCR refers to the type of consumer credit information that can be collected by credit reporting bodies (CRBs) and can be used by credit providers when making a lending decision. The positive CCR data that can be included on credit reports includes:

• Your account information, such as the type of accounts you have and the dates they were opened and closed

• Your credit limits

• Your repayment history for the past 24 months. (Only licenced credit providers can contribute to or review this repayment history.

• Any defaults or financial hardship repayment arrangements in relation to your accounts

Previously Australia had a negative reporting system. This meant consumer credit reports could only contain information such as credit enquiries (typically applications for credit) and information from credit providers such as payment defaults and serious credit infringements. Most advanced economies in the world operate under a comprehensive credit reporting system.

CCR was introduced to Australia in 2014. (The Privacy Act 1988, which is the legislation governing consumer credit reporting in Australia, was amended to facilitate CCR.)

While CCR was introduced in 2014, limited CCR information was supplied to credit reporting bodies (such as Equifax) in the following years. In 2018, the amount of CCR information being supplied to credit reporting bodies increased dramatically as a result of Australia’s Big Four banks being required to adopt CCR reporting.