Your credit score is one of the numbers lenders use to decide whether to approve you for a loan, credit card, or even some phone and utility contracts, and on what terms. If your score isn’t where you’d like it to be, there are genuine, practical steps you can take to improve it over time. This guide walks through what actually moves the needle — and is honest about what won’t.
Australian Specialist
Credit Clean Australia
Find What Is Hurting Your Credit Score
Understand what's affecting your credit score and what options you may have to fix it by booking a credit file assessment below.
Your Assessment Includes:
- Both Equifax & Experian credit files audited
- Potentially incorrect or disputable listings identified
- Understand what’s affecting your credit score
- Clear options and next steps
ASSESSMENT
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Open selected time in a new tabWhat You Get in Your Assessment
Next Steps
Next Steps After Your Assessment
Investigation
We investigate the circumstances behind each listing on your credit file, identifying potential breaches of the Privacy Act or non-compliance with the Credit Reporting Code. This is completed with you over the phone through 40+ simple yes, no, or unsure questions, along with your personal circumstances at the time.
Approved or Denied
If our investigation identifies multiple potential breaches, you may be approved for our credit restoration services. If not, your application will be declined, and your consultant will explain why, providing complete clarity.
Note: Approval does not guarantee the removal of any listing.
Disputes & Result
Formal removal requests are lodged with Equifax, Experian, and relevant credit providers, with escalation to AFCA, the OAIC, courts, or other bodies where required.
If a breach is confirmed, listings may be removed, in most cases boosting your credit score and helping future finance applications.
Start by checking your credit file
You can’t fix what you can’t see. Before doing anything else, it’s worth getting a clear picture of what’s actually on your credit file across Australia’s three credit reporting bureaus — Equifax, Experian and illion. Each bureau can hold slightly different information, so a listing that appears with one may not appear with another. A credit file assessment that reviews all three gives you a fuller picture than checking just one, and helps you spot anything that looks wrong, out of date, or unfamiliar before you start working on the rest of this list.
Pay on time, every time
Payment history is generally the single biggest factor in your credit score. Under Australia’s comprehensive credit reporting system, lenders can see up to 24 months of repayment history on credit accounts, including whether payments were made on time, late, or missed. A single missed payment can affect your score, and repeated missed payments compound the impact. Some practical habits that help:
- Set up direct debits for at least the minimum repayment on every credit account
- Use calendar or app reminders a few days before each due date
- Contact your lender before a payment is missed, not after, if you’re struggling
There’s no way to undo a late payment once it’s reported, so consistency going forward is what counts.
Reduce the number of credit applications you make
Every time you apply for credit — a credit card, personal loan, car loan, buy-now-pay-later account, or even some phone contracts — the lender generally makes an enquiry on your credit file, and that enquiry stays listed for five years. A cluster of enquiries in a short period can suggest to a lender that you’re relying heavily on credit, even if that’s not the case. Where possible:
- Space out credit applications rather than applying to several lenders at once
- Use pre-qualification or eligibility checks where a lender offers them, as these typically don’t count as a formal enquiry
- Only apply for credit you actually need and are likely to be approved for
Correct errors and out-of-date listings
Not everything on a credit file is accurate. Listings can be duplicated, attached to the wrong person, left on file past the legal timeframe, or recorded incorrectly by the credit provider. Under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Credit Reporting Privacy Code, defaults are generally only permitted to remain listed for five years and serious credit infringements for seven years, regardless of whether the debt has since been paid. Where a listing is inaccurate, out of date, or listed in breach of the rules, it may be possible to challenge it with the credit provider or the bureau directly. It’s worth being realistic here too: a listing that is accurate and correctly recorded generally can’t be removed simply because it’s inconvenient — the dispute process exists for genuine errors, not for erasing a valid record. If a dispute isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, you can escalate it to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). Our guides hub has more detail on how disputes work in practice.
Think a listing on your file could be challenged?
Book a $39.95 credit file assessment — we audit both your Equifax and Experian files and tell you straight what can and can’t be disputed. If we can’t help, we tell you that too.
Lower your credit utilisation
Credit utilisation is the amount of credit you’re using compared to your total available limit — most commonly looked at on credit cards. Running a card close to its limit each month, even if you pay it off in full, can weigh on your score more than carrying a smaller balance on a card with plenty of headroom. Where you can, paying down card balances, spreading spending across accounts rather than maxing out one, and asking for a limit increase you don’t intend to use can all help bring utilisation down over time.
Keep older accounts open where it makes sense
The length of your credit history matters too. Closing your oldest credit card or loan account can shorten your average account age and, in some cases, affect your score — even if closing it feels like the tidier option. If an older account has no ongoing fees and isn’t causing problems, it can be worth keeping open and using occasionally rather than closing it outright. This is particularly relevant if you’re planning ahead — for example, our guide on how to improve your score before applying for a home loan goes into more detail on timing decisions like this.
Give it time
Credit scores tend to move gradually rather than overnight. There’s no reliable way to guarantee a particular score by a particular date, and anyone promising fast or guaranteed results should be treated with caution. What tends to help is consistent, unremarkable behaviour over months: paying on time, keeping utilisation low, limiting new applications, and correcting genuine errors as they come up.
This article is general information only and doesn’t take into account your personal circumstances — it isn’t personal financial or legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to improve a credit score in Australia?
There’s no fixed timeframe, and it varies from person to person depending on what’s on their file and their ongoing credit behaviour. Positive habits such as on-time payments and lower utilisation tend to have a cumulative effect over months rather than producing an immediate jump, and some older negative listings will only drop off once they reach their legal time limit.
Can I get an accurate default removed from my credit file?
Generally, no. If a default or other listing is accurate, correctly recorded, and listed within the legal timeframe, it’s expected to remain on file until it lapses — five years for most defaults, seven for serious credit infringements. Disputes and challenges are for listings that are inaccurate, out of date, or listed in breach of the rules, not a way to remove a valid debt record.
Do I need to check my credit file with all three bureaus?
It’s worth it if you want a complete picture. Equifax, Experian and illion each hold their own records and don’t always match, so a listing, error, or enquiry that shows on one file may not appear on another. Reviewing all three is the only way to be confident you’ve seen everything a lender might see.
Does checking my own credit score lower it?
No. Checking your own credit file or score is recorded as a “soft” check and doesn’t affect your score, no matter how often you do it. It’s only formal applications for credit made by lenders — “hard” enquiries — that are recorded in a way that can influence your score.
If you’d like a clear, professional look at what’s actually on your file across all three bureaus, you can book your $39.95 credit file assessment with Credit Clean Australia.
Start with the facts about your own file
A $39.95 credit file assessment shows you every default, judgement and enquiry on your Equifax and Experian files — and which ones may be open to challenge.
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