You’re in safe handsMaintaining your privacy is our top priority. We’re committed to keeping your personal information secure at all times.
You're in controlYou have the right to access your personal information held by Pioneer, and can request that your details be corrected or updated if necessary.
You’re well protectedPioneer is bound by the Privacy Act 1988, Australian Privacy Principles, and other relevant legislative requirements to keep you protected.
Why it’s important to engage with us
We want to help you put an end to debt stress, so we start by getting to know your needs. We’ll always try to contact you directly so that we can work through things together and come up with a solution that’s right for you. If we don’t hear from you, we may reach out to other people who can help us get in touch. Find out how we protect your privacy in these cases.
Our policy
Our Privacy and Credit Information Policy Statement outlines the information we may collect, hold, and use. It also covers why we require this information, and your rights as a consumer.
Version 13.1, Last updated 7/12/2023.
In line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014 (Version 2.3) (CR Code), (and, if your account(s) originated in New Zealand, the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 (NZ Act), New Zealand Information Privacy Principles (NZIPPs), and the New Zealand Credit Reporting Privacy Code (NZ Code)), this Privacy & Credit Information Policy Statement (Privacy Policy) highlights the manner in which Pioneer deals with your personal information and the choices available to you to access or correct your personal information.
Within this policy statement (excluding the section 'If you are a Pioneer shareholder'), “you” and “your” means a Pioneer customer. In the section 'If you are a Pioneer shareholder' 'you' and 'your' means a Pioneer shareholder.
Personal information is information or an opinion whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.
Sensitive information is a subset of personal information that is generally afforded at a a higher level of privacy protection other than personal information because of the nature of the information. It includes information or an opinion about an individual's racial or ethical origin, vulnerability, health or genetic information, some aspects of biometric information, criminal record, political opinions or associations, religious or philosophical beliefs and trade union membership or associations.
We will only collect your personal information where it is reasonably necessary in connection with the services we are providing you. The types of personal information we collect include:
- your name, date of birth, residential and postal address, contact numbers, email address and employment details
- information about your account(s), including, where applicable, your contract(s) with your original or previous credit provider(s) and any personal information you provided in your credit application(s) to your original credit provider(s), details of payments or default(s), default listing(s), correspondence and telephone contact between you and the original or previous credit provider(s), court proceedings and personal insolvency information
- information which you provide us about your financial situation such as your current income and expenses, queries made by you, complaints lodged, repayment history and transaction details
- home ownership details, rental information and information about your assets
- bankruptcy and insolvency information
- business information including directorships and business ownership
- your personal information and credit (including consumer and commercial risk) information held with various credit reporting bodies such as:
o identification information about you including your current and prior names and addresses, any known alias you may have, your date of birth, your current or last known employer and your driver's licence number
o a statement that an information request has been made about you by a credit provider, mortgage insurer or trade insurer
o your repayment history and any defaults
o credit requests (including amount and type) you have made to other credit providers
o payment information
o certain administrative information relating to credit, such as account and customer numbers
o variations to credit arrangements following a default
o court proceedings and personal insolvency
o the opinion of credit providers about credit infringements committed by you
o other credit reporting information we receive from a credit reporting body - information that we derive from the credit reporting information we receive from credit reporting bodies
- credit eligibility information
- information that we believe will assist us in locating you where we do not have current contact details, for example in circumstances where we need to collect a debt from you or speak to you about you about a current account you hold with us
- sensitive information (such as criminal records, health information or membership of a professional or trade association/union) which we have collected with your consent, and
- your answers to our security questions, which will allow us to identify you over the phone.
Where reasonable and practicable, Pioneer will collect your personal information from you. If we are unable to collect personal information from you, other sources which Pioneer collects your personal information from include:
- the credit provider(s) who assigned your account(s) to us
- credit reporting bodies
- any third party who we believe may be able to assist us in making contact with you (where you have not been readily contactable directly)
- any third party authorised by you to be your representative (including your broker, if you are a Pioneer shareholder) or
- publicly available sources of information, including information which is publicly available online, or databases subscribed to by Pioneer such as people search databases, property and tenancy databases.
There may be circumstances where Pioneer is legally required by an Australian or New Zealand law or court or tribunal order to collect your information under Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing laws, State and Territory laws, tax legislation and codes of practice in Australia and New Zealand. Pioneer may be required to do this without your knowledge and consent.
Any unsolicited information we receive about you will be destroyed or de-identified unless it is information we could have collected in the manner described above.
Where practical and reasonable we will obtain your explicit consent before collecting sensitive information.
Pioneer uses your personal information for the following purposes:
- to allow us to appropriately manage your account(s), which includes identifying you and arranging for payment of the outstanding balance on your account(s)
- to inform you of services or offers from us which may interest you, via direct marketing (you can tell us not to contact you for this purpose at any time)
- to conduct checks with credit reporting bodies such as Equifax, Experian and Illion
- to facilitate Pioneer’s daily operational processes, including necessary record keeping
- to comply with Pioneer’s contractual obligations with the credit provider(s) who assigned your account(s) to us
- to comply with legal or regulatory requirements or as authorised by legal or regulatory requirements, regulations and binding codes of practice in Australia and New Zealand, including under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) and Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (Cth), and, if your account(s) originated in New Zealand, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 and associated regulations
- to prevent or investigate any actual or suspected fraud, unlawful activity or misconduct
- for compliance, quality assurance and staff training purposes, for example when we communicate with you through phone calls, we may record or monitor the telephone conversation for this purpose, to determine whether services offered by us may be appropriate for your circumstances, and provide you access to these services such as assistance on how to pay off your debt
Pioneer may also provide information such as personal information, credit account information or your repayment behaviour to other credit providers under comprehensive credit reporting obligations.
We will generally not use or disclose your personal information for any other purpose without your consent, but may do so where: - it relates to an activity above and such use or disclosure would be reasonably expected
- we need to take appropriate action for suspected unlawful activities or serious misconduct
- it is used to locate a reported missing person
- required to establish, exercise or defend a legal or equitable claim
- required in connection with a confidential alternative dispute resolution process
- we reasonably believe it is required for enforcement related activities of an enforcement body, or
- as otherwise required or permitted by law or regulatory requirement or pursuant to court order.
In the course of our business, Pioneer may disclose your personal information to outsourced service providers, which in some cases may be overseas (outside of the country in which you live or from where we collected the personal information), such as our operations in the Philippines, and potentially to recipients in other countries from time to time as well.
We take our privacy obligations seriously and are committed to ensuring the protection of your personal information no matter where you are located. The types of personal information we may send overseas are outlined in this Policy and the countries to which we may send personal information may vary from time to time depending on the location of the recipients of the information. We take reasonable steps to ensure that such recipients respect your privacy in a similar manner.
Pioneer may also disclose your personal information for the purposes set out in this Statement or as otherwise notified to you to:
- any of our related entities or affiliates
- a credit reporting body, in any manner that is permitted under the Act, the CR Code or the NZ Act or the NZ Code (see below for further details)
- the credit provider(s) who assigned your account(s) to us
- our accountants, auditors, lawyers
- your representatives (authorised party, broker (for Pioneer shareholders), lawyer, financial adviser, executor, administrator or trustee)
- any person to whom such disclosure is otherwise permitted or required by law or regulatory requirement or pursuant to court order
- Pioneer’s service providers, agents or contractors appointed to provide services to Pioneer or its related, associated or affiliated companies. We ensure that these third parties observe similar security measures as adopted by Pioneer
- parties where you have given your consent; or
- mail houses contracted to print and distribute statements and other documents and communications.
Yes. Pioneer maintains the security of your personal information by implementing up-to-date security control systems designed to prevent:
• misuse, interference and loss of your personal information; and
• unauthorised access, modification or disclosure of your personal information
If Pioneer becomes aware of a breach which affects the security of your personal information we are required to assess whether that breach may likely cause serious harm to you. If we believe there is risk of serious harm Pioneer will notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and/or the Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, as applicable, and take all reasonable attempts to contact you directly.
The personal information collected will be retained by Pioneer for the duration permitted or required under law. If specific personal information is no longer needed, Pioneer will take steps to destroy the information or ensure the information is de-identified.
Yes, but if you do not provide Pioneer with some personal information, we may not be able to assist you.
Yes. You have the right to access your personal information held by Pioneer. You may obtain a copy of any personal information we hold about you by contacting us below. To make this request please notify the Privacy Officer via email or post, using the contact options under the heading ‘Our contact details’ within this Policy Statement.
If you are in Australia, no fee will be imposed to process your request, including deciding whether or not the request is to be granted, but a fee may be imposed to give you access to the personal information you require. In certain circumstances as set out in the Act you will not be able to access your personal information. For example when:
- the information is relevant to legal proceedings between us and could not be obtained by you through the discovery process for those proceedings
- disclosure would be unlawful
- we reasonably suspect you have engaged in unlawful activity or serious misconduct relating to our activities and giving access would prejudice our ability to take appropriate action in respect of your conduct, or
- granting access would prejudice one or more enforcement related activities conducted by an enforcement body.
If your account(s) originated in New Zealand, no fee will be imposed to process your request, including deciding whether or not the request is to be granted, but a fee may be imposed to give you access to the personal information you require. In certain circumstances as set out in the NZ Act you will not be able to access your personal information. For example when: - disclosure would be unlawful, or
- disclosure would prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial.
Whether you are in Australia or New Zealand, if we do not grant you access to all or some of your personal information we will provide you with a written statement explaining why we denied your request for access.
Yes. We aim to keep your personal information on our records accurate, complete and up-to-date.
You have the right to request your personal information be corrected / updated if the information held by us is incorrect, incomplete or not up to date. To make this request please notify the Privacy Officer via email or post, using the contact options under the heading ‘Our contact details’ within this Policy Statement. No fee is charged for lodging a request for correction.
We will respond to your requests for access or correction (a), if your account(s) originated in New Zealand, in line with the timeframes as set out in NZ Act, or (b) if you are in Australia, as soon as practicably possible and in any event no later than 30 days after receiving your request.
We may collect statistical information regarding the use of any of the websites owned by Pioneer such as:
- a record of your IP address
- the date and time of your visit
- pages accessed and documents downloaded
- the length of time spent on specific areas of a website
- the referring webpage (if applicable)
- the type of browser and operating system used should you decide to contact us via any of our websites.
- marketing
Pioneer may use remarketing services (or similar audience-targeted feature) in any of its websites for the purpose of advertising and displaying content online
In addition, we may also use interest based advertising to encourage traffic to Pioneer’s website
We use Goole Analytics to help analyse how you use our websites. Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies, which are stored on users' computers. The information generated is used to create reports about the use of our websites. Google will store this information.
If you do not want your website visit data reported by Google Analytics, you can install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. For more details on installing and uninstalling the add-on, please visit the Google Analytics opt-out page at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Some of the content on our websites may include applications made available by third parties, such as social media buttons or links that allow you to share content or links to our websites through the relevant third party platforms. These third party applications themselves may facilitate collection of information by those third parties, through your interaction with the applications and sometimes even if you do not interact directly with them. We are not responsible for the technical operation of these applications or the collection and use practices of the relevant third parties. Please visit the relevant third party websites to understand their privacy practices and options they may make available to you in relation to their collection of your personal information.
This section relates to shareholder information only.
As a public listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange, Pioneer collects the personal information of its shareholders, either through the application form completed by you or through its share registry Link Market Services. Personal information of shareholders, which includes information provided upon application for shares is held by Link Market Services and is separate to customer records referred in this policy statement.
Pioneer may use and disclose your personal information in the following manner:
- to process your share application and provide services to you as a shareholder
- facilitate dividend payments and other administrative functions
- provide you with updates including Pioneer's annual reports, financial results, information regarding future offers of securities and other disclosures required by law
- your personal information may be disclosed to Pioneer's associated or affiliated companies, outsourced service providers, agents or contractors appointed to provide services to Pioneer or its related, associated or affiliated companies.
- your personal information may also be disclosed to regulators, government agencies or any person to whom such disclosure is permitted or required by law or regulatory requirement or pursuant to court order, and
- parties where you have given your consent.
If you do not provide your personal information Pioneer may not be able to process your application. Your personal information will be retained by Pioneer for the duration permitted or required under law.
If you wish to access or correct your personal information held you may do so online via the Link Market Services website at https://www.linkmarketservices.com.au/ or contact your broker. For further information you may contact the Company Secretary on 08 9232 5020.
Please refer to the above for information how you may lodge a complaint regarding a breach of privacy.
You consent to us using your personal information for sending you information, including promotional material, about us or our products and services, as well as the products and services of our related entities and affiliates and third parties, now and in the future. You also consent to us sending you such information by means of direct mail, email, SMS and MMS messages.
If you do not want to receive marketing information from us you can unsubscribed in any of the following ways:
- Clicking on the ‘Unsubscribe’ or subscription preferences link in a direct marketing email that you have received from us, or
- Contacting our Privacy Officer using the contact details set out in the end of this Statement.
Terms and conditions
The Terms of Use of the website of Pioneer Credit Ltd and its subsidiaries ("Pioneer Credit" or "Group"), https://pioneercredit.com.au includes these terms and conditions, Pioneer Credit's Privacy & Credit Information Policy Statement (our "Privacy Policy") and any other terms and conditions that appear in, or are linked to, the Pioneer Credit website ("Additional Terms and Conditions").
The Additional Terms and Conditions that appear on the Pioneer Credit Connect website will govern your use of, and access to, certain sections of the Pioneer Credit Connect website where they appear. Since these Additional Terms and Conditions form part of the Terms of Use, you are bound by them and should review them wherever they are relevant to you when using the Pioneer Credit Connect website. Using this website indicates that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the Terms of Use and the Additional Terms and Conditions.
While Pioneer Credit Connect endeavours to take reasonable care in preparing and maintaining the information on this website, it does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, adequacy or completeness of any of the website content. You acknowledge and accept that the website content may include technical inaccuracies and typographical errors. The website content is subject to change at any time without notice and may not necessarily be up to date or accurate at the time you view it.
It is your responsibility to enquire with us directly to ensure the accuracy and currency of the material or information you seek to rely upon. To the extent permitted by law, Pioneer Credit Connect disclaims all liability for loss directly or indirectly arising from your use of or reliance on the website and the website content.
Pioneer Credit Connect does not guarantee that access to the Pioneer Credit Connect website will be uninterrupted or that the website is free from viruses or anything else which may damage any computer which accesses the Pioneer Credit Connect website or any data on such a computer.
To the maximum extent permitted by law Pioneer Credit Connect will not be liable in any way to you or anyone else for any loss, expense, liability, claim, damages (including without limitation, indirect, special or consequential loss or damage), loss of income, data, contract, tort, profit, or loss of opportunity arising out of your use or inability to use, or access, the website or any of the services or in relation to any content or information obtained through the website, whether or not this is caused by a negligent act or omission.
Pioneer Credit Connect does not accept liability for any acts or omissions of others, who may provide information and data used to compile the information featured on the website.
The materials displayed on this website, including without limitation all editorial materials, information, photographs, illustrations, artwork and other graphic materials, and names, logos and trade marks, are the property of Pioneer Credit Connect and are protected by copyright, trade mark and other intellectual property laws. Pioneer Credit Connect does not grant any licence or right in, or assign any of its intellectual property rights in the content or applications incorporated into the Pioneer Credit Connect website, or in the user interface of the Pioneer Credit Connect website.
The Pioneer Credit Connect website may contain links to other websites operated, controlled or produced by third parties. Unless otherwise indicated, Pioneer Credit Connect does not control, endorse, sponsor or approve any such third party websites or their content nor does Pioneer Credit Connect provide any warranty to take any responsibility whatsoever for any aspect of those websites or their content.
You may not copy or reproduce any underlying source code or software either in full or in part, nor attempt to in any way modify, copy, reproduce, upload, post transmit, distribute, alter, reverse engineer or de-compile in any way any material from the Site including the source code or software. You are not licensed to use or install any source code or software, other than as specifically authorised by us. We reserve the right to add, remove or vary any source code or software.
Any information we provide is of a general and information nature only. We do not provide personal financial, legal or tax advice or credit assistance of any form. Any content featured on the website is of a general and informative nature only. You must consider your own individual financial circumstances before acting upon any of the information featured on the website. We encourage you to seek independent advice when considering applying for any product or service featured on the website.
You acknowledge and agree that we have the right to monitor the site and/or site content and to disclose any information as necessary or appropriate to satisfy any law, regulation or other governmental request, to operate the Site, or to protect itself or other users of the Site. We have no obligation to monitor content on the Site or to protect users of the Site.
We may monitor communications via the Site and may withdraw any communication services or facilities at any time. We reserve the right to restrict any activities on the Site that we deem to be in breach of this legal notice or any other Pioneer Credit Connect agreement or policy.
You acknowledge and agree that we have the right to monitor the Site and/or Site Content and to disclose any information as necessary or appropriate to satisfy any law, regulation or other governmental request, to operate the Site, or to protect itself or other users of the Site. We have no obligation to monitor content on the Site or to protect users of the Site.
We may monitor communications via the Site and may withdraw any communication services or facilities at any time. We reserve the right to restrict any activities on the Site that we deem to be in breach of this legal notice or any other Pioneer Credit Connect agreement or policy.
The Terms of Use and all other aspects of your use of the website shall be governed by the laws of the state of Western Australia, Australia. Disputes arising in connection with this legal notice shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Western Australia. You agree that you will notify us of any claim or dispute concerning or relating to this legal notice and/or the site.
Need to make a complaint?
At Pioneer, we like to keep things real. Though we’re committed to providing the highest quality service, we understand there may be times when we fall short. If we do, please let us know.
Exchange of information with credit reporting bodies
Pioneer uses the credit reporting services provided by Equifax, Experian and Illion. Equifax, Experian and Illion may include consumer and commercial risk information in reports to assist in assessments of credit worthiness. Equifax, Experian and Illion may use the information each of them holds about you for pre-screening for direct marketing.
Please refer to Equifax, Experian and Illion’s separate credit reporting policies for details on their management of credit reporting information. A copy of these policies can be obtained at each credit reporting bodies’ website (listed below) or by visiting the websites and obtaining instructions for requesting via post (required forms and supporting documents are explained on each website).
Australia
- Request a credit file online.
- Request credit file by post.
Equifax
GPO Box 964
NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2059
New Zealand
In Australia
- Request credit file online.
- Request credit file by post:
Illion Australia
PO Box 7405 St Kilda Road
MELBOURNE VIC 3004
New Zealand
- Request credit file online.
- Request credit file by post:
Experian Australia Credit Services Pty Ltd
Att: Consumer Support Team
GPO Box 1969
NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060
In respect of our dealings with credit reporting bodies it is important to note that:
- If you fail to meet your payment obligations in relation to consumer and commercial credit or commit a serious credit infringement, we may be entitled to disclose this to credit reporting bodies.
- You may request that credit reporting bodies:
- Do not use their credit reporting information for the purposes of pre-screening direct marketing by another credit provide
- Do not use or disclose credit reporting information about you, if you believe on reasonable grounds that you have been, or are likely to be, a victim of fraud.
Credit reporting bodies will generally be provided with information regarding your identification, your creditworthiness, the credit product held or being sought, your repayment history, any defaults and any serious credit infringements committed by you (such as fraudulently trying to either obtain credit or evade your obligations in respect of that credit). In the event we disclose default information about you to a credit reporting body, we will advise that credit reporting body when you have fully discharged the default amount.