Whether a licence is needed to collect debts or repossess goods depends on where the work is done. Western Australia licenses anyone who does any debt collecting task; New South Wales licenses the agents who meet people face to face, and those who employ them; Queensland licenses field agents but not collection agents; South Australia and the Northern Territory license the work under their investigation and commercial agent laws; and Victoria does not license debt collectors.
General informationAbout who must be licensed, not legal advice about whether any particular person or business needs a licence. The licensing bodies’ own pages are the place to check: NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading, Consumer Protection WA and SA.GOV.AU.
What counts as the work
The laws describe the same trade in slightly different words. NSW Fair Trading describes debt collection as finding a person and requesting, demanding or collecting money from them for whoever is owed it, and repossession as finding, demanding or seizing goods someone holds, on behalf of another person or company.
In Victoria a debt collector is a person or company that collects debts for payment or reward, which takes in collecting or asking for payment of debts owed to someone else and repossessing goods or property other than real estate.
South Australia’s Act defines an investigation agent as someone who, for fee or reward, does one or more of a list of things, including locating or repossessing goods subject to a security interest and collecting or requesting payment of debts. The Northern Territory’s Act gives a commercial agent a similar list.
Most of these describe work done for someone else, and Victoria’s rules do not apply to people collecting their own debts, or their employer’s debts as an employee.
Place by place
- NSW
-
A commercial agent who deals with people face to face while working needs a commercial agent licence; these agents are called field agents, and anyone who employs them needs a licence too. A phone or video call does not count as face-to-face contact.
An agent who is not a field agent, and employs none, needs no licence, but must not be a disqualified person and must still keep to the commercial agent rules.
- VIC
-
Consumer Affairs Victoria says no licence is needed to be a debt collector, unless the person or company is prohibited, in which case it needs the Business Licensing Authority’s permission. The second guide sets out who counts as prohibited.
Buying debts is a separate matter: ASIC licenses debt buyers, under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, and in Victoria a prohibited person must not buy, or take an assignment of, a consumer debt in order to collect it, even with an ASIC licence.
- QLD
-
A field agent licence covers repossessing goods, collecting debts and serving documents. Subagents register, and a commercial agent business needs a corporate licence. A licensee must always hold the right licence and display it where people can see it.
Collection agents do not need a licence to operate.
- WA
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Every debt collector in Western Australia must be licensed under the Debt Collectors Licensing Act 1964. Consumer Protection WA says that covers anyone who works as a debt collector or claims to be one, carries out any debt collecting task, or runs a debt collecting business. Some people and organisations may be exempt, including legal practitioners, public accountants, court sheriffs and bailiffs, and banks or friendly societies; section 4 of the Act has the full list.
Consumer Protection WA’s licensing team answers questions about whether a licence is needed on 1300 30 40 64.
- SA
-
South Australia licenses collection and repossession as investigation agent work, under the Security and Investigation Industry Act 1995. SA.GOV.AU lists collecting or requesting payment of debts, and finding or repossessing goods subject to a security interest, among the work a licence is needed for, and says an individual, partner or company doing collection or inquiry work must hold an investigation licence.
Process servers need no licence, although anyone running a process serving business must be qualified and free of the convictions described in the Security and Investigation Agents Regulations 2026.
- NT
-
The Commercial and Private Agents Licensing Act 1979 bars anyone from carrying on business as a commercial agent, inquiry agent, process server or private bailiff without a licence of the right category.
- TAS
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Consumer Affairs Tasmania, which took over from CBOS on 1 October 2026, has a page on security and investigation agent licences. It does not mention debt collectors.
- ACT
-
No ACT government page on licensing debt collectors was found for this guide.
When the work is unlicensed
| Place | Maximum penalty | Can the agent be paid? |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $22,000 or 12 months’ imprisonment or both for an individual; $110,000 for a corporation | The pages read are silent |
| Queensland | $34,540 or 2 years’ imprisonment for working without a licence or registration; corporations can face up to five times the maximum (page updated 1 July 2026) | The pages read are silent |
| Western Australia | A fine of up to $50,000 | No: anyone working without a licence is not entitled to be paid for it |
| South Australia | $50,000 for an individual, or $50,000 or 12 months’ imprisonment or both for a third or later offence; $250,000 for a body corporate | No fee unless a licence authorised the work, or a court finds the lack of one was inadvertence only |
| Northern Territory | 500 penalty units | No commission, fee or reward can be sued for, recovered or kept unless the right licence was held at the time |
| Victoria | For a prohibited person collecting debts: 240 penalty units or 2 years’ imprisonment for a person, 1,200 penalty units for a corporation. A penalty unit is $209.10 for 2026–27. | The pages read are silent |
Employing someone matters as much as working. NSW can fine an employer up to $11,000 for failing to make sure its agents follow the commercial agent rules; Queensland lists employing an unlicensed or unregistered person as an offence; and the Northern Territory’s Act forbids an agent to employ anyone in agent work without the matching category of licence.
Working across a border
New South Wales accepts equivalent licences from other states and territories under Automatic Mutual Recognition, so an interstate licensee can work there without a NSW licence unless they move their main home to New South Wales. Queensland does not take part.
Western Australia’s licence page says someone who already holds a debt collector’s licence or registration elsewhere in Australia, or in New Zealand, may be able to apply under mutual recognition arrangements.