Credit Enquiries in Australia — How They Affect Your File and What to Do When One Shouldn't Be There

Every time you apply for credit in Australia — a home loan, a credit card, a personal loan, a buy now pay later account — a record of that application is added to your credit file. These records are called credit enquiries, and they stay on your file for five years. Most people know they exist. Fewer understand exactly how they affect lending decisions, or that some enquiries on their file may not have been authorised at all.

What is a credit enquiry?

A credit enquiry is recorded when a credit provider requests access to your credit file as part of assessing a credit application. In Australia, credit providers are required under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code to have a permissible purpose for accessing your credit file — and that purpose must generally be connected to a credit application you have made or consented to.

The enquiry records the name of the credit provider, the type of credit applied for, the amount, and the date. This information is visible to any lender who accesses your credit file when you apply for credit in the future.

How credit enquiries affect your credit score and lending decisions

A single credit enquiry has a relatively minor impact on your credit score in isolation. The problem arises when multiple enquiries appear in a short period. Lenders interpret a cluster of recent applications as a potential signal of financial stress — the reasoning being that someone applying for credit repeatedly may have been declined elsewhere, or may be taking on more debt than they can manage.

This interpretation can work against you even when the applications were made for entirely legitimate reasons — comparing home loan options, for example, or shopping around for a better rate. The credit file doesn't record whether the application was approved or declined, only that it was made. A period of active credit shopping looks the same on paper as a period of repeated declines.

Enquiries from certain types of lenders also carry more weight than others. A cluster of enquiries from non-prime lenders, fintechs, or short-term credit providers can raise more concern in a lender's assessment than equivalent enquiries from major banks — even if the amounts involved were small.

Enquiries you didn't authorise — a separate issue entirely

Beyond the question of how many enquiries are on your file, there's a more specific issue that many people don't know to look for: enquiries that were recorded without your proper authorisation.

Credit providers are only permitted to access your credit file in connection with a credit application you have made or a purpose you have consented to. Where an enquiry appears on your file and you have no recollection of making that application — or where consent was obtained in a way that was unclear, buried in fine print, or not properly disclosed — that enquiry may have been recorded without the required authorisation.

Common situations where this occurs include: a broker or intermediary running a credit check before properly explaining they were doing so; a credit application being submitted on your behalf without clear authorisation; an identity theft or fraud situation where someone else applied for credit in your name; or a lender accessing your file for a purpose that wasn't properly connected to a credit application.

Unauthorised enquiries can be challenged and, where the access wasn't properly authorised, removed from your credit file. This is materially different from the standard situation of having too many legitimate enquiries — it's a breach of the rules governing when credit files can be accessed at all.

How to identify enquiries that may not be legitimate

The starting point is reviewing your credit report from both bureaus — Equifax and Experian. You're entitled to a free copy from each once every three months. When reviewing your file, check the enquiries section for: credit providers you don't recognise or have never dealt with; applications for credit you don't remember making; multiple enquiries from the same provider within a short period; enquiries from a time when you were not actively applying for credit; or any enquiry that predates your relationship with a lender or broker who later arranged credit for you.

What can be done about it

For straightforward cases — an enquiry from a company you have genuinely never dealt with — a direct dispute with the relevant credit bureau is a reasonable starting point. The bureau will contact the credit provider to verify the access was authorised.

For more complex situations — where a broker ran checks without proper disclosure, where multiple enquiries were made across several lenders as part of an application process you weren't fully informed about, or where the authorisation question requires a closer look at how consent was obtained — professional assistance is likely to achieve a better outcome. Edit Credit investigates whether enquiries were made with the required authorisation and, where they weren't, pursues removal through formal channels including AFCA where appropriate.

A free initial assessment will review the enquiries on your file and give you an honest view of which, if any, look challengeable and on what basis. Visit editcredit.com.au/personal to get started.