How do I read my Australian credit report?

Australian credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and illion are organised into sections: personal details, account information, default listings, repayment history information (RHI) for regulated accounts, hard and soft enquiries, public-record information (court judgements, bankruptcy), and any serious credit infringements. The Defaults section is the most consequential — listings remain for five years from the date of listing under the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2024.

What is a default on an Australian credit report?

A default listing is recorded by a credit provider when an amount of $150 or more has been overdue for 60 days or longer, after the consumer has been served a section 21D pre-listing notice under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and given at least 14 clear days to act. Defaults are visible to every credit provider that runs an enquiry against the file.

What does RHI mean on a credit report?

Repayment history information is a month-by-month grade (0 to 6, with X for not reporting) of how on-time the consumer has repaid each regulated consumer-credit account. It is reported each month and remains on file for two years.

Does this decoder store my credit report?

No. The Default Gone Credit-Report Decoder processes the pasted text in-memory for the duration of the request only. Nothing is written to a database, file, or log. The text is discarded as soon as the result is returned.

Credit-Report Decoder — read your Australian credit report in plain English

How to get the text of your credit report

Get a free copy of your credit report from Equifax (equifax.com.au), Experian (experian.com.au), or illion (illion.com.au) — each must give consumers one free report every 90 days.
Open the report PDF in your browser or PDF viewer.
Select all (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A), copy, and paste into the textarea below. Do not upload the PDF — we don’t accept files, by design, so nothing leaves your browser as a file.
The decoder reads the text only. It works best if you include the “Defaults / Overdue Accounts” and “Enquiries” sections.

Common questions about reading your credit report

What does “default” mean on a credit report?

A default listing is recorded by a credit provider when an amount of \$150 or more has been overdue for 60 days or longer, after the consumer has been served a section 21D pre-listing notice and given at least 14 clear days to act. Defaults remain on file for five years from the date of listing under the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2024.

What is RHI and why is it on my report?

Repayment history information (RHI) is a month-by-month grade of how on-time your repayments have been on regulated consumer-credit accounts (banks, credit cards, regulated personal loans, BNPL contracts entered on or after 10 June 2025). It runs from 0 (paid on time) to 6 (180+ days overdue). RHI is reported by the credit provider every month and remains on file for two years.

What is the difference between hard and soft enquiries?

A hard enquiry records a credit application and is visible to every other credit provider that pulls your file. A soft enquiry is you accessing your own file, or an “access seeker” (e.g. a broker on your behalf) running a pre-approval style check — soft enquiries are visible only to you.

Are all defaults worth disputing?

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) Part IIIA framework sets specific procedural and substantive tests a credit provider must satisfy before a default can lawfully be listed. We help every Australian with default listings — the only people we can’t help right now are those in an active bankruptcy, Part IX debt agreement, or Part X PIA. Outside of that gate, we work every angle that fits your case under the Privacy Act 1988 framework. Outcomes depend on the specific facts — we won’t promise removal, but we will do every bit of work that fits.

How much does it cost to dispute a default with Default Gone?

A flat A\$399 per consumer per default listing. There are no stage fees and no success fees. Each consumer’s credit file is their own — joint defaults require a separate engagement for each consumer. A 14-day cooling-off period applies after signing the service agreement.

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Understand your credit report.