Your Rights With Credit Bureaus (And What They Cost: Nothing)

A surprising number of people pay for things the National Credit Act already gives them for free. If your credit record matters to you — and it does if you're planning to apply for anything, or recovering from a difficult period — these are the rights worth knowing.

1. One free credit report every twelve months

The National Credit Act entitles you to request your credit report from the credit bureaus once every twelve months at no cost. Your report sets out your borrowing and repayment history and gives you a view of your current credit status — including accounts you may have forgotten about.

2. Disputing incorrect information is free

If something on your report is wrong, you can lodge a dispute with the credit bureau to have it investigated and corrected. You do not pay the credit bureau to challenge information or to have your profile corrected. There is no need to pay a third party for the act of lodging a dispute itself.

3. The Credit Ombud is free too

The Credit Ombud is a recognised industry ombud scheme that resolves disputes between consumers and subscribing members of the non-bank credit industry, including credit providers and credit bureaus. Its services are free to consumers. If a dispute with a bureau isn't resolved properly, that's an escalation route available to you.

Why this matters for “debt review removal” offers

Knowing these rights makes it much easier to judge an offer. Under section 126A(3) of the National Credit Act, a business offering to help remove information from your credit record generally cannot take payment from you before that service has actually been carried out. Combined with the fact that disputes themselves are free, a large upfront fee for a promised quick fix deserves real scepticism.

That's not to say legitimate help doesn't exist — exiting debt review properly, for example, follows defined legal routes and can genuinely require professional assistance. The point is that you should know what you're paying for, and what you could do yourself at no cost.

A sensible order to do this in

Get your free report first. Read it properly and note anything that looks wrong or unfamiliar. Dispute genuine errors directly with the bureau. Then, if you need help with your actual debt position rather than with the record itself, speak to a consultant about your options.