"A good start": Credit unions, building societies welcome recommendations on more comprehensive credit reporting
11 August 2008
Credit unions and mutual building societies welcomed the recommendation for today of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to expand the credit reporting information that can be held by credit reporting agencies as “a good start”.
The recommendation was part of the ALRC’s report For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice and noted that “it was hard to justify the present, artificial limitations, which do not accord with standard practice in the rest of the industrial world.” The Report recommended that the credit reporting regime should be expanded, but only after an adequate framework imposing responsible lending obligations had been implemented.
“Credit unions and mutual building societies lead the field in terms of responsible lending – access to enhanced credit reporting information will improve our ability to make the right lending decisions for our members” said Louise Petschler, Chief Executive Officer, Abacus – Australian Mutuals.
Abacus – Australian Mutuals is the industry body for credit unions, mutual building societies and friendly societies. Abacus has 169 members that collectively have more than $70 billion in assets under management and provide services to more than 6 million members across Australia.
“Getting access to information confirming a potential borrower’s existing commitments is not unnecessarily intrusive. It is basic information that allows responsible lenders to make prudent lending decisions” said Ms Petschler.
“The ALRC recommendations are definitely an improvement – a good start.”
“However, we urge the Government to consider making further information available to credit reporting agencies – notably information on account balances and payment histories.
Credit unions and mutual building societies are Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) regulated by APRA under the Banking Act 1959 and are also regulated by ASIC. They offer a full range of retail banking and financial services products to their members. Friendly societies are also regulated by APRA and ASIC.
For more information, contact:
Louise Petschler
Chief Executive Officer
0408 239 226 or (02) 8299 9034
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mark Degotardi
Head of Public Affairs
02 8299 9053 or 0419 998 201
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
