Skip tracing — the process of locating a debtor who has moved or is avoiding contact — is a standard function in debt recovery. In Australia, the methods available to creditors and recovery agents are significantly more constrained than in the United States, where skip tracing historically drew on a range of public and semi-public databases. Australian privacy law limits what information can be accessed and how it can be used.
What information is legitimately available
The following sources are available to creditors and their authorised agents for locating debtors:
- ASIC Connect: searches for company officeholder information, registered addresses, and related entities. If the debtor is a company director, their address as recorded with ASIC is publicly available.
- ABN Lookup: shows the registered address associated with an ABN — useful for business debtors.
- Electoral roll: in Australia, the electoral roll is not generally publicly available. The Australian Electoral Commission provides it only to authorised parties (registered political parties, candidates, and certain other bodies) — it is not accessible to private debt collectors.
- Property registers: state land title offices provide public access to property ownership records, which can confirm whether a debtor owns property at a particular address.
- Social media: public information on LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms can provide location clues. Reviewing publicly available profiles is generally permissible — attempting to access private information through deception is not.
- Business networks and directories: for business debtors, industry directories, professional registration bodies (AHPRA, legal practitioner registers), and trade association directories may provide current contact information.
What is not permissible
The Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles prohibit accessing or using personal information through methods that involve deception. "Pretexting" — contacting a third party under a false pretext to obtain information about a debtor — is prohibited and can expose both the collector and the creditor to civil liability and regulatory complaint.
Accessing telecommunications data (call records, subscriber information) requires a warrant or other lawful authority — not available to private creditors or collectors.
The role of credit bureau data
Credit reporting bodies hold address information provided by credit applicants and by their members. Credit bureau searches by authorised subscribers can sometimes provide updated address information when a debtor has moved and provided their new address to another lender or supplier. Access to this information is regulated — it must be for a permissible purpose under Part IIIA of the Privacy Act (for consumer credit) or under applicable commercial credit rules.
When standard skip tracing is exhausted
If a debtor cannot be located through legitimate means, the practical recovery options narrow: proceedings may be served by substituted service with court approval, or the debt may be written off if recovery is not feasible. A decision to pursue further is always a cost-benefit calculation relative to the amount owed.
Contact Merion about locating and recovering from debtors who are avoiding contact — we operate within Australian privacy law constraints.