Wrong Default or Enquiry on Your Equifax / Experian / illion Report? How to Request a Correction

You pulled your credit report because a lender asked you to explain “the default”. There it is: a $318 energy account from an address you left four years ago, an enquiry from a lender you have never heard of, and a personal loan you paid out in 2023 still showing as unpaid. You rang the bureau. They told you to contact the credit provider. You rang the provider. They told you the bureau holds the file. Nobody has changed anything, and settlement is in six weeks.

The bureau is not a passive filing cabinet. Equifax, Experian and illion are credit reporting bodies under Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988, and the Act puts the correction obligation on them, with a clock. A written request that cites the right sections, tables the entries and states the ground for each is what starts that clock.

Your rights

Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2025 (in force since 25 March 2025) set out what a credit reporting body (CRB) must do:

• Correct on request (s 20T). When you ask, the CRB must take reasonable steps to correct any credit reporting information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, within 30 days beginning on the day you ask. It can only take longer if you agree in writing. The request and the correction are free.
• Consult, but not bounce you (s 20T(3), Code para 20). If the CRB needs the credit provider’s input, it must send the consultation within 5 business days and the provider must answer before the 30 days run out. The OAIC’s “no wrong door” rule means whichever entity receives your request owns it.
• Tell you in writing (s 20T(4), Code para 20(15)). Within 5 business days of deciding, the CRB must tell you what it did. If it refuses, it must give reasons and tell you where to complain.
• Notify everyone it told (s 20U). After a correction, the CRB must notify every credit provider and bureau it disclosed the wrong information to, and anyone else you nominate, such as the lender that declined you.
• Retention limits (ss 20W, 20X). Defaults and enquiries: 5 years. Repayment history: 2 years. Court judgments: 5 years. Serious credit infringements: 7 years. Anything older must be destroyed.
• Free report (s 20R). Once every 3 months, within 90 days of a credit refusal, and after a correction, at no charge, with your score and all derived information included (Code para 19).

This is Commonwealth law. It applies identically in every state and territory, so there is no by-state section in this post.

What to do right now

1. Get all three reports. Equifax, Experian and illion each hold a separate file. An error on one is often on two. Free, online, same day.
2. Screenshot every wrong entry with the report date visible. The bureau will ask for the reference number on the entry.
3. Pick the ground for each entry (the list below). One ground is enough; plead every one that fits.
4. Send the written dispute to each bureau the entry appears on. Email to the bureau’s published corrections address, and keep the sent copy. Day 1 is the day you send it.
5. Diarise day 30. If the file is not corrected and confirmed in writing by then, lodge with AFCA or the OAIC on day 31.

The letter, section by section

1. Identity and consent to verify. Full name, date of birth, current address, any former address the entries relate to, and the report reference. State that you attach proof of identity and that the bureau must not delay the request by demanding more evidence than is reasonable (Code para 20(10)).

2. The disputed entries, in a table. Entry number, type (default, enquiry, repayment history marker, judgment, account not yours), the credit provider named, the date shown, the amount, the reference, and the correction required. A table is what the corrections team works from; a paragraph gets summarised, and things drop out.

3. The ground for each entry. Match the facts to the provision:

• Never notified. A default cannot exist without a written s 6Q overdue notice, and cannot be disclosed without a separate s 21D(3) notice of intention to list, given at least 30 days after the first and at least 14 days before listing (Code para 9(3)–(4)). No notices, no lawful default.
• Under $150 or not 60 days overdue at listing (s 6Q, Code para 9(5)).
• Paid before listing, or paid but still showing unpaid (ss 21E, 20S).
• Not mine: identity fraud or a mixed file (s 20N). For fraudulent enquiries the Code requires the bureau to weigh the burden on you before asking for more evidence (para 20(9)–(11)).
• Wrong amount or duplicate (Code para 9(5)–(6)).
• Older than the retention period (ss 20W, 20X).
• Listed while in dispute or during a hardship request (Code para 9(1)).
• Statute-barred debt. The bureau must destroy a default where the provider can no longer sue for it (Code para 20(14)).
• Circumstances beyond your control: natural disaster, domestic abuse, a bank’s direct-debit error (Code para 20(12)–(13)).

4. The statutory basis. One paragraph: s 20S (must correct), s 20T (30 days, consult, written decision), no wrong door, free.

5. The corrections required within 30 days. One line per entry: remove and destroy; update to paid on a date; correct the amount to a figure; remove the enquiry and any derived score based on it (Code para 20(8)). Say plainly that marking an unlawful listing “paid” is not a correction: the accurate record is that no default should have been listed.

6. Free corrected report and s 20U confirmation. Ask for the corrected report under s 20R and written confirmation of who was notified of the correction, naming the lender that declined you.

7. Ban period, if fraud. If an entry is someone else’s doing, request a 21-day ban under s 20K so no new credit can be opened in your name while it is sorted (more on that in our companion post).

8. Escalation. Complaint to the bureau under s 23A, then AFCA (all three bureaus are members of a recognised dispute scheme, as the Code requires) or the OAIC under s 36, and that you will hold the bureau responsible for loss caused by continued disclosure after the date of the letter.

What to attach

The report page showing each entry. Proof of identity. For “never notified”: proof of your address at the time (lease, utility bill, electoral enrolment). For “paid”: the bank statement or receipt with the date. For “not mine”: the police report or ReportCyber reference. For “disputed with the provider”: the email or complaint reference. Number the attachments and refer to them in the table. A letter that arrives with its evidence gets actioned; one that promises evidence “on request” gets a holding reply.

Who to complain to

The bureau’s own complaints process first (s 23A; 30 days). AFCA (free, binding) for a complaint against Equifax, Experian or illion, or against the credit provider that supplied the entry. OAIC for a privacy complaint under s 36 once the bureau has had its 30 days. National Debt Helpline 1800 007 007 for a free financial counsellor who can help you gather the evidence; state services include Financial Rights Legal Centre (New South Wales), Consumer Action Law Centre (Victoria), Care Financial Counselling (Australian Capital Territory), Anglicare (Tasmania, the Northern Territory), the Financial Counsellors’ Associations of Queensland and Western Australia, and the South Australia Department of Human Services financial counselling network.

Send the dispute today — $49

Claim Done drafts your Credit Report Dispute to Equifax, Experian or illion: the entries in a table, the Privacy Act ground for each, the s 20T 30-day correction request, the free corrected report and s 20U confirmation, a ban period where you need one, and the AFCA/OAIC escalation, ready to send.

Send My Credit Dispute — $49 →

You review every word before it’s sent.

For the full process, see how to remove a default from your credit file.