Credit Reporting Policy

This Credit Reporting Policy outlines how Piper Alderman collects, uses, discloses and otherwise manages credit-related information. It should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy, which can be accessed here. This Policy applies when you or an entity or organisation with which you are associated applies for or are extended credit with us.

This Policy is made pursuant to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

1. What comprises “credit-related information”?

1.1 For the purpose of this Policy, “credit-related information” means the following types of information:

a. Credit information;

b. CP-derived information;

c. Credit eligibility information

1.2 “Credit” is a contract, arrangement or understanding under which payment of a debt owed by you (or your associated entity or organisation) to us is deferred, or a contract, arrangement or understanding under which you (or your associated entity or organisation) incur a debt to another us and defer the payment of that debt.

1.3 We provide credit when we provide you (or your associated entity or organisation) with services and we allow a time in excess of seven (7) days to be paid the amount due and payable in consideration for the provision of such services to be made to us.

1.4 “Credit information” about an individual includes personal information that could identify the individual, information regarding the type of credit (and the amount of credit) that the individual has made in an application to a credit provider, repayment history, default information, repayment information, information about new payment arrangements, court proceedings and insolvencies, and publicly available information recorded on the National Personal Insolvency Index.

1.5 Credit reporting bodies generally provide us with “credit eligibility information” concerning an individual.

1.6 The information that we derive from such credit eligibility information is generally regarded as “CP-derived information”. This could include (as an example) a credit score associated with an individual.

2. How do we collect credit-related information about you?

2.1 We may collect credit-related information about you in a number of ways, including:

a. When you make an inquiry about us or about the services we provide to you or to an organisation or entity with which we are associated;

b. When you meet with us (including face-to-face meetings and remote or online meetings), when you communicate with us via email or over the phone, or when you otherwise engage with us or with any of our staff;

c. When you or the organisation or entity with which you are associated engage us to provide legal services;

d. When you are otherwise related to or involved in the legal services we provide to our clients; or

e. When you otherwise have business dealings with us.

2.2 Additionally, we may collect credit-related information about you from a credit reporting body, as detailed below. We may also collect credit-related information about you from third party sources, including publicly available sources or government sources (such as the National Personal Insolvency Index and records maintained by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission).

3. Why do we collect, use and disclose credit-related information?

3.1 We collect, hold and use such information in order to provide our legal services to you. This extends to incidental or ancillary purposes, such as assessing an application for the provision of credit and deciding on whether to extend such credit to you or to an organisation or entity with which you are associated.

3.2 We may disclose such information to a credit reporting body for the purpose of us obtaining from that body credit reporting information for a purpose related to the provision of credit to you (or to an organisation or entity with which you are associated) in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

3.3 The information we disclose to the credit reporting body includes:

a. Information about your identity;

b. The fact that you have entered into an agreement with us to acquire services from us; and

c. The fact that we are or could be a credit provider to you or to an organisation or entity with which you are associated.

3.4 We generally disclose information to the following credit reporting bodies:

Equifax
Phone: 1300 850 211
Web: www.equifax.com.au

Illion
Phone: 1300 734 806
Web: www.illion.com.au

Experian
Phone: 1300 784 134
Web: www.experian.com.au

3.5 In the course of providing our legal services to you, we may collect credit-related information about you. We may collect such information directly from you and we may also collect such information about you from third parties. We also collect credit-related information from credit reporting bodies or from other credit providers in circumstances where such collection is authorised or required by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

3.6 We use the information we collect to assess your financial position for our internal management purposes that are directly related to our provision of credit to you, and also where permitted or required by law.

3.7 We may disclose certain credit-related information about an individual to a debt collector for the primary purpose of the debt collector collecting payments that are overdue in relation to credit provided by us to you. Such information can include identification information about you, court proceedings information about you and personal insolvency information about you.

3.8 We may also disclose repayment history information to credit reporting bodies in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We may also disclose to credit reporting bodies information concerning defaults on credit, except where an exception under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) applies and when overdue payments previously disclosed by us to the relevant credit reporting body have been made.

3.9 We do not disclose credit-related information to a third party that is not located in Australia.

4. Quality of credit-related information

4.1 In accordance with our statutory obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), we take reasonable steps to ensure that the credit-related information that we collect is accurate, up-to-date and complete. We also take reasonable steps (in accordance with our statutory obligations) to ensure that the credit-related information that we use or disclose is, having regard to the purpose of the use or disclosure, accurate, up-to-date, complete and relevant.

4.2 If you have any concerns about the accuracy, currency or completeness of the credit-related information we hold about you, please see below for the process of getting in touch with us to have those concerns addressed.

5. Security of credit-related information

5.1 In accordance with our statutory obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), we take reasonable steps to protect such credit-related information that we hold from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

5.2 Once we determine that the information is no longer required for any purpose for which we may use or disclose such information under the Privacy Act, and we are not otherwise required by or under any Australian law, or an order from a court or tribunal, to retain the information, then we take reasonable steps to destroy the information or to ensure that the information is de-identified, as required by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

6. How can you access the credit-related information we hold about you?

6.1 In accordance with our statutory obligations as a credit provider, we will provide you with access to the credit-related personal information that we hold about you and the opportunity for you to correct such information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

6.2 If you submit a request to access the credit-related information we hold about you, we will endeavour to provide you with such access within a reasonable period of time after our receipt. Generally, we will endeavour to deal with an access request thirty (30) days of our receipt of the request. However, it may be necessary for us to take a longer period of time to provide you with the access you have requested.

6.3 Please note that we reserve the right to verify your identity prior to granting you access to the credit-related information that we hold about you and to seek information concerning your entitlement to access the information.

6.4 Please note that we may deny your access request on grounds permitted by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Where we deny the access request, in accordance with our statutory obligations, we will set out the reasons for the refusal (except to the extent that, having regard to the grounds for the refusal, it would be unreasonable for us to do so) and we sill state that, if you are not satisfied with our response to your request, then you may make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner concerning our response to your request.

6.5 We do not charge for the making of an access request to us. However, we reserve the right to charge an administration fee for providing you with access to the credit-related information we hold about you in response to your access request. We will ensure that such charge is not excessive. However, we reserve the right to require payment of the amount prior to the provision of access to the credit-related information we hold about you.

6.6 Where we provide you with access to the credit-related information that we hold about you, in accordance with our statutory obligations, we will present the information clearly and accessibly and provide reasonable explanations and summaries of the information to assist you to understand the impact of the information on your credit worthiness.

6.7 We will also advise you that, in order to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information, you should additionally request access to the credit reporting information credit reporting bodies hold about you, and how you can request this information from credit reporting bodies.

7. How can you request correction to the credit-related information we hold about you?

7.1 If we hold credit-related information about you, you may request that we correct such information about you where you believe that the information we hold about you is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We reserve the right to verify your identity before processing your request to correct the credit-related information we hold about you.

7.2 You are entitled to make a correction request in relation to either a single piece of credit-related information, or multiple pieces of credit-related information.

7.3 We do not charge for the making of a correction request to us.

8. Complaints process

8.1 If you have reason to believe that we have not complied with our statutory obligations concerning credit-related information about you, you have the right to make a complaint to us.

8.2 You are free to make a complaint to us in any manner you consider appropriate, including verbally. However, if you make the complaint to us verbally, we may request that you follow up with a written complaint so as to enable us to deal more efficiently with the complaint in a timely manner and in accordance with our statutory obligations. You do not need to make the complaint in writing.

8.3 Please note that we reserve the right to verify your identity when you make a complaint.

8.4 Once we have received the complaint, we will investigate the complaint efficiently and fully. We will endeavour to resolve the complaint as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within thirty (30) days from our receipt of the complaint.

8.5 Where we determine that we will not be able to resolve the complaint within thirty (30) days of receiving the complaint, we may communicate this to you and ask that you agree to extend the period of time to resolve the complaint.

8.6 Where we consider it necessary or appropriate, we reserve the right to consult with a credit reporting body or another credit provider in order to investigate and resolve your complaint.

8.7 If the complaint is not resolved and we disclose information to a third party that is the subject of your complaint, then we may advise the third party about the complaint.

8.8 Depending on the nature of the complaint, we may be required to notify a credit reporting body or another credit provider of the making of the complaint and our decision.

8.9 If you are not satisfied with how we investigate or resolve your complaint, then you may submit a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.

9. How to contact us

You can contact us using the following contact details:

Tracey Whyte

Director of Business Development & Marketing

+61 7 3220 7777

[email protected]

Statement of Notifiable Matters under the Credit Reporting Privacy Code

As a credit provider, we are required to comply with the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2025 (Credit Reporting Code). In particular, the Privacy Act requires us, at or before the time we collect personal information about an individual that we are likely to disclose to a credit reporting body, to notify you of certain matters.

The matters are as follows:

1. If we make an information request to a credit reporting body:

1.1 and we are required to disclose personal information about you for the purpose of that information request, then we do not need your consent to the disclosure being made;

1.2 a record of the information request may be used and, as relevant, disclosed for the purposes of the credit reporting body or a credit provider assessing your credit worthiness, including the calculation of a credit score or credit rating (subject to other statutory use or disclosure limitations);

1.3 the fact that we have made an information request to a credit reporting body may affect the credit score or credit rating that the credit reporting body has calculated in relation to you (i.e., it is possible that the fact we have made such an information request may see your credit score or credit rating go down, particularly if there are multiple information requests made in a short period of time);

1. The credit reporting body may include the information in reports provided to other credit providers to assist them to assess your credit worthiness;
2. If you commit a serious credit infringement (as that phrase is defined in the Privacy Act), then we may be entitled to disclose this to the credit reporting body;
3. You can obtain our policy on the management of credit-related personal information by contacting us using the contact details set out in this statement of notifiable matters;
4. You can obtain a copy of the credit reporting body’s policy about how they manage credit-related personal information by visiting the websites of the credit reporting bodies to which we may make an information request, as listed in further detail below;
5. You have the right to request access to the information we hold about you, to request us to correct the information and to make a complaint to us. The processes for exercising such rights are set out in detail in our credit reporting policy;
6. You have rights to request that the credit reporting bodies do not use their credit reporting information for the purposes of pre-screening of direct marketing by a credit provider, and not to use or disclose credit reporting information about you, if you believe (on reasonable grounds) that you have been, or you are likely to be, a victim of fraud.

The credit reporting bodies to which we may make information requests are listed below, and you can access their credit reporting policies through their websites:

Equifax
Phone: 1300 850 211
Web: www.equifax.com.au

Experian
Phone: 1300 784 134
Web: www.experian.com.au

We publish a copy of this statement of notifiable matters on our website. You can ask for a hard copy of the statement to be provided to you, using the contact details set out below.

Our contact details for the purposes of this statement of notifiable matters is as follows:

Tracey Whyte

Director of Business Development & Marketing

+61 7 3220 7777

[email protected]