The first check is the card itself: in New South Wales an agent must hold a current licence for any face-to-face contact and show it on request, and in Queensland a licensee must display it. The second is a register. Queensland’s can be searched online for free, NSW Fair Trading keeps one of every licensed commercial agent, and Western Australia offers an online licence search.
General informationAbout checking a licence and making a complaint, not legal advice about any debt or dispute. The registers and complaint pages belong to Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading, NSW Fair Trading, the WA Government and Consumer Affairs Victoria.
The card in the hand
A New South Wales licence for an individual carries a photo, taken at a Service NSW Centre after approval. Until the photo licence arrives, an approved agent works under an interim letter, so for a time an approved agent may hold the letter rather than the card.
Names matter too. In South Australia an agent may carry on business only in the name on the licence, or in a registered business name the Commissioner has been told about in writing beforehand.
The registers, place by place
- QLD
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A public register of licensed field agents and registered subagents can be searched online for free. It is for information only and cannot be used as evidence in legal proceedings.
For a record of the search, an official extract can be requested online or from the Office of Fair Trading, for a fee, and is sent within 10 working days.
- NSW
NSW Fair Trading keeps a public register of all licensed commercial agents. A successful applicant’s name or business is added to it, and a renewal updates the entry.
- WA
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The WA Government’s online licence search finds licensed debt collectors: a licence number can be checked to see whether it is still valid, or licensed people found by licence type.
The Act also requires the Commissioner to keep a register, which anyone may inspect while the office is open, on paying the set fee.
- SA
SA.GOV.AU’s investigation agent licence page refers to the Consumer and Business Services licence register.
- VIC
There is no licence to look up. A prohibited person or corporation needs the Business Licensing Authority’s permission to collect debts.
- TAS
Consumer Affairs Tasmania offers a search of licensed occupations that includes security agents, but its security and investigation agent page does not mention debt collectors.
- NT
The Act read for this guide sets the licence categories; no Northern Territory register page was read.
- ACT
No ACT government page on licensing debt collectors was found for this guide.
Reading what a register shows
Queensland’s extract gives the licence’s status as one of five words: current, expired, refused, cancelled or suspended. Two rules elsewhere explain how a licence can stop without anyone handing it back. In Western Australia a licence is suspended if the bond or bank guarantee behind it ends or is cancelled, until a new one is lodged, and a person disqualified from holding a licence is treated as not holding one for as long as the disqualification lasts.
What a client business can look for
A creditor that hands debts to a collector is checking more than a card, because the guideline says it will generally answer for what its agent does within the agent’s authority. A few state rules show what a sound arrangement is meant to include.
- In Queensland an agent must be appointed in writing to act for a client and must give the client a copy; failing to do either carries a maximum of $34,540 for an individual, as at the page’s update of 1 July 2026.
- Queensland’s penalties page also lists failing to appoint an auditor, or to lodge an audit report on time, as offences.
- In Western Australia the collector’s bond or bank guarantee protects clients: anyone who loses money through a collector’s actions can claim against it.
- In New South Wales, money from the work goes into an account the agent opens and holds for that purpose, with records kept for at least 3 years.
Where a complaint goes
| Place | Who takes it | What the regulator says it does |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | NSW Fair Trading, from anyone, anonymously and confidentially if they wish | Suggests raising the problem with the agent first; then may give information to help resolve it, record it for future compliance work, or contact the other party . Enquiries: 13 32 20, 8:30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday |
| Victoria | Consumer Affairs Victoria, for harassment or coercion into paying | Points to a court or VCAT for compensation for humiliation or distress, and to VCAT for a declaration that money is not owed |
| Queensland | The Office of Fair Trading | Its inspectors may carry out random checks, investigate reports and take enforcement action; an enforceable undertaking is one alternative to court |
| Western Australia | The Commissioner, in writing, about a licensee or former licensee | The Act sets out cancellation and disqualification |
| Australia-wide | The ACCC, as a report of misconduct | Uses reports to inform its enforcement work, and does not resolve individual disputes |
A breach of privacy law by a collector or creditor goes to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The first guide sets out who needs a licence in the first place.