The Australian Privacy Commissioner today released its findings that Veda Advantage Information Services and Solutions Ltd (Veda) had breached its obligations under the Privacy Act by selling its commercial products to consumers attempting to obtain a free copy of their credit report.

Under Australian law, consumers are entitled to access their credit report for free once per year. The Commissioner found that Veda failed to ensure that consumers knew that they were entitled to a free copy of their credit report if they had not accessed their credit report in the previous 12 months.

Consumers can access a free copy of their credit report from Veda by visiting Veda’s website MyCreditFile. The free report can take up to ten days to be dispatched. Veda currently charge consumers $79.95 to access their credit report in one business day.

If you were charged by Veda to access your credit report, and you had not accessed it in the preceding 12 months, you can call our telephone advice line on (08) 9221 7066 for free legal advice.

Financial Counseling Australia, Financial Rights Legal Service, Consumer Action Law Centre and the Australian Privacy Foundation released a joint media statement about the Commissioners findings. The full statement can be found here.

Consumers should note that as of 12 December 2016 Veda’s external dispute resolution scheme is the Credit & Investments Ombudsman (CIO). Any complaints made to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) prior to 12 December 2016 will continue to be investigated by FOS. All new complaints should be directed to CIO.