The Basics

Australia has three main credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and illion — each holding a credit file on you and each producing its own score, commonly on a 0–1,000 or 0–1,200 scale. Lenders check one or more of these files when you apply for a credit card, loan or mortgage. You can request a free copy of your report from each bureau; doing so regularly is the cheapest financial hygiene there is.

Comprehensive Credit Reporting Changed the Game

Australia now uses comprehensive credit reporting: your file records not just black marks but positive behaviour — open accounts, limits, and up to 24 months of repayment history showing whether you paid on time. That cuts both ways. A card paid in full every month actively builds your file; a single late payment is now visible to every future lender for two years.

What Card Applications Do to Your Score

Every application generates a hard enquiry, visible on your file for five years. One enquiry is a small, short-lived dent. Several enquiries in a few months signal credit hunger to scoring models and to human assessors — this is the mechanical reason we tell churners to space applications three to six months apart (see the churning strategy guide). Planning a mortgage? Stop new card applications at least 12 months before you apply; brokers consistently report that recent enquiry clusters complicate approvals.

What Else Moves the Number

  • Repayment history: the heaviest factor under comprehensive reporting. Autopay the full balance and this factor works for you. See what happens if you miss a payment.
  • Credit utilisation: running a $10,000 limit at $9,500 looks stressed even if you pay in full. Higher limits with low balances read better.
  • Account age: older accounts help. Keep one long-held no-fee card — the 28 Degrees Platinum is a popular anchor — rather than closing your oldest account.
  • Credit mix and defaults: defaults, court judgments and hardship arrangements are the serious negatives, lingering five years or more.

Checking and Fixing Your File

Request your reports, then check every entry: accounts you never opened, enquiries you didn't authorise, and defaults that should have aged off are all correctable by disputing with the bureau and the credit provider. Errors are common enough that an annual check is worth the half hour. Improving a score is otherwise unglamorous: pay on time, keep utilisation low, apply sparingly, and let time do the compounding.

Your Score and Your Next Card

Premium cards assume clean files and declared income — the Qantas Premier Platinum, for instance, lists a $65,000 minimum income (as at October 2026). If your file needs work, a modest card paid perfectly for 12 months is the fastest legitimate repair there is. Start with how to choose a card.