Draft Credit Reporting Code of Conduct

The Australasian Retail Credit Association (ARCA) released for public consultation, a draft of the new Credit Reporting Code of Conduct on 3rd April 2013. Submissions for this Code have since closed on the 5th May 2013.

The Code was a result of the significant reforms made by the Australian Government in the area of credit reporting in the form of the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (the Amending Act). The Amending Act was designed to enable more extensive collection and sharing of credit reporting information within the credit industry, on condition that strict privacy controls are adhered to.

This new Code was designed to ultimately replace the existing Credit Reporting Code of Conduct by enforcing the privacy protection regimes now forming part of the Privacy Act with the passage of the Amending Act.

The draft Code has been revised to meet the privacy expectations of the Privacy Act while concurrently maintaining the current Credit Reporting Code of Conduct obligations that continue to be relevant. The aim of the draft code is to ensure that credit reporting will continue to work from a practical perspective and at the same time provide assistance to consumers to understand and interact with the credit reporting system.

Once approved by the Office of the Information Commissioner (OAIC), the final Code and the provisions of the Amended Act, including the new credit reporting system in part IIIA, take effect on 12 March 2014, the Code will replace the current Credit Reporting Code of Conduct.

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