What Is a Good Equifax Credit Score in Australia?

Updated 12 April 20266 min read

For a personal loan in Australia, the threshold most lenders use is 650. A score of 650 or above means your credit score passes the first check and lenders will assess the rest of your application. A score below 650 starts to limit your options. But the number that matters for your interest rate is higher — scores of 700 and above put you in progressively better rate tiers, and 850 and above gives you access to the most competitive rates available. Here is what each band on the Equifax 0–1,200 scale means in practice.

Score bands and loan approval outcomes

Equifax score	Loan approval outcome
1,000 and above	Strong likelihood — best available rates (homeowner band)
850–999	Strong likelihood — very competitive rate position
700–849	Strong likelihood — standard rates apply
650–699	Possible — lender dependent — borderline; clean profile needed
500–649	Possible — lender dependent
Under 500	Unlikely — needs improvement — very limited lender options

The 650 mark is where most lenders draw the line between assessing an application in full and applying tighter restrictions. Below 650, the number of lenders willing to proceed narrows progressively with each score band.

Definition — Equifax credit score: An Equifax credit score is a number between 0 and 1,200 calculated from your Australian credit history. It reflects your repayment behaviour, recorded defaults, number of hard enquiries, and the age and mix of your credit accounts. Higher scores indicate lower credit risk. The 0–1,200 scale is specific to Equifax Australia — it is not the same scale used in the UK or the US.

Score bands and interest rate tiers

Your score does not just determine whether you get assessed — it directly determines the interest rate band a lender will apply if they proceed. These are the rate tiers used in the T1 Loan Repayment Calculator, based on real market rate ranges.

Homeowner rates (non-homeowner: add 2 percentage points to both figures):

Equifax score	Rate range	What it means in practice
1,000 and above	7.5% – 9%	Best rates available — low risk premium
850–999	8.5% – 10%	Very competitive — minor risk adjustment
800–849	9% – 10%	Good rates — close to the top tier
700–799	10% – 12%	Standard rates — mid-market position
650–699	12% – 16%	Higher rates — assessed but with a risk premium
500–649	14% – 20%	Specialist rates — limited lender field
Below 500	20%+	Very high rates if any lender proceeds

What the rate difference costs in dollars:

A $20,000 loan over 5 years at 10% costs approximately $425 per month and $25,500 total. The same loan at 16% costs approximately $486 per month and $29,160 total. A difference of two score bands is worth roughly $3,600 over the life of the loan — before you factor in any fees.

This is why "good enough to get approved" and "good enough to get a competitive rate" are two different targets.

Two targets: approval and rate

It helps to think about your Equifax score against two separate goals.

Target 1 — passing the approval threshold

For most standard personal loan lenders, 650 is the minimum score that puts you in contention. At 650 or above, your credit score is no longer the barrier — lenders move on to assess your income, debts, employment duration, and bank statement history.

If your score is below 650, the score itself becomes the issue — and below 500, the pool of lenders who will proceed at all is very small.

Target 2 — accessing a competitive rate

If approval is achievable and you have time to improve your score before applying, each band you move up changes your rate tier meaningfully. Moving from 650–699 to 700–799 takes the floor rate from 12% down to 10%. Moving from 700–799 to 850–999 takes the floor down to 8.5%.

A score in the 700–850 range puts you in a solid position for a standard personal loan at a market rate. Scores above 850 access the most competitive bands but also tend to be the slowest to move — the gains at the top of the scale are incremental.

How to check your Equifax score for free

You are entitled to a free copy of your Equifax credit report every three months. You can access it at myequifax.com.au — the process takes about 5 minutes and you receive your full credit report, including your current score, any defaults, hard enquiries, and your monthly repayment history under CCR (Comprehensive Credit Reporting).

Checking your own report is a soft enquiry — it does not appear on your credit file and does not affect your score. Only applications for credit by lenders create hard enquiries.

What to look for when you check:

Your current score and which band it sits in
Whether any defaults are listed — even small ones have a significant impact
How many hard enquiries appear in the last 12 months — multiple enquiries compound the effect on your score
Whether all accounts and repayment history entries are correct — errors are more common than people expect and can be disputed

What affects your Equifax score

Your score moves based on five main factors:

Repayment history is the most significant. Every on-time repayment on every credit account contributes positively. A single missed payment has a small negative effect; a pattern of late payments has a larger compounding effect. Payments more than 60 days late have more impact than those 14–30 days late.

Defaults are the most damaging single item. A default stays on your credit file for five years from when it was listed, regardless of whether you have since paid it. A paid default is better than an unpaid default, but both reduce your score significantly.

Hard enquiries each have a small negative effect individually. Multiple enquiries in a 90-day window compound the impact — lenders see credit-seeking behaviour and treat it as a risk signal.

Account age matters. Older accounts contribute positively to your average account age. Closing long-standing accounts, even ones you do not actively use, can mildly reduce your score.

Credit utilisation — how close your balances are to your credit limits — factors in. High utilisation (consistently near the limit on credit cards) is treated as financial pressure.

For a complete guide to how each of these factors is calculated, how CCR works, and step-by-step improvement strategies, see Equifax Credit Score Australia Explained.

See what your score means for your repayments

The Loan Repayment Calculator takes your Equifax score, loan amount, term, and homeowner status and returns your estimated rate band and monthly repayment. Enter your current score to see where you sit — and adjust the score input to see what a higher score would mean for your repayment.

See what your Equifax score means for your rate and repayment — use the Loan Repayment Calculator →

If your score is below 650

A score below 650 means you are in the Possible — lender dependent band or lower on the credit score dimension. The practical options depend on which band you are in and what other factors are present.

550–649 — Possible — lender dependent: Some lenders will assess applications in this range; others will not proceed below 650. The rest of your application needs to be solid — stable employment, clean DTI (debt-to-income ratio), no payday loans or wage advances. A broker with a wide lender panel knows which lenders assess this band and can route your application accordingly.

500–549 — Possible — lender dependent: Your credit score alone puts the application in the Possible band, and the lender options narrow further. The interest rate applied, if a lender proceeds, will be at the higher end of the market (14–20%).

Below 500 — Unlikely — needs improvement: Very few lenders will proceed. Combined with certain bank statement factors — two or more payday loans in the last 90 days, or any wage advance — the outcome is Unlikely — needs improvement regardless of other factors.

If your score is below 650, the most effective next step is to understand what is driving it down before applying anywhere. Use the Loan Approval Calculator to see how your score interacts with your employment, income, and bank statement profile — not just the score in isolation.

For detail on how each score band maps to practical loan options, see Personal Loan With Bad Credit Australia.

Browse all credit score articles in the credit score hub.

Not sure how your score affects your application?

If your score is in the 500–699 range and you want to understand which lenders are likely to assess your full profile, a broker with a wide panel can give you a direct answer based on your specific situation.

Speak to a specialist →

Frequently asked questions

What Equifax score do I need to get a personal loan in Australia?

The threshold most lenders use is 650. At 650 or above, your credit score passes the first check and lenders assess the rest of your application — income, employment, debts, and bank statement history. Below 650, the number of lenders who will proceed narrows. Below 500, very few standard lenders will assess the application at all.

Is 700 a good Equifax score in Australia?

Yes — a score of 700 puts you in the 700–799 band, which maps to standard market rates (10–12% for homeowners) and a Strong likelihood outcome on the credit score dimension. It is a solid position for a personal loan application, assuming your income, employment, and bank statement history also pass. If you can reach 800 before applying, you access a better rate tier (9–10%).

Is 600 a good Equifax score in Australia?

A score of 600 puts you in the Possible — lender dependent band. Some lenders will assess applications in the 550–649 range; others draw their line at 650. If your employment, income, and bank statement history are all solid, some lenders may still proceed. The interest rate applied in this range is higher (14–20%), reflecting the credit risk. A broker who knows which lenders assess the 600 range is the most effective path.

How long does it take to improve an Equifax score from below 650 to above 650?

It depends on what is keeping the score below 650. If the issue is a cluster of hard enquiries from recent applications, the impact fades over 12–24 months as on-time payment history accumulates. If there is a default on file, that stays for five years from listing date but carries less weight as it ages. Consistently making on-time repayments across all active accounts over 6–12 months is the most reliable path to moving a borderline score above 650.

Does checking my own Equifax score lower it?

No. Checking your own credit report at myequifax.com.au is a soft enquiry — it is invisible to lenders and has no effect on your score. Only hard enquiries, generated when a lender accesses your file as part of a credit application, have any impact on your score.

What is the average Equifax score in Australia?

Equifax does not publish an official national average. Most Australians with any credit history sit in the 500–900 range, with scores in the 700–800 range common for people who have borrowed before and managed their accounts without incident. The distribution is not uniform — people who have never had credit have no score (not a zero score), while those with long positive histories tend to cluster in the 700–900 band.

Your Equifax score is a starting point — not a ceiling. The score you have today tells you where you are; the thresholds above tell you where you need to be. For most personal loan applicants, 650 is the minimum worth targeting before applying, and 700 is the threshold at which rate tiers start to become meaningfully more competitive.

This is general information only and not financial advice. Results are indicative and may vary by lender.

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