What Am I Not Allowed to Do When Collecting?

No harassment or coercion

Australian regulators are clear that you must not harass or coerce a debtor. In practice this means avoiding excessive contact, intimidating language, threats of violence or unwarranted consequences, and any conduct intended to humiliate or frighten. Importantly, the test is not simply your intention — it is the effect your conduct could reasonably have on the recipient. A genuine debt does not licence unlimited pressure.

Repeated calls, an aggressive tone, contact late at night, or pursuit that continues after a matter is resolved can all be characterised as harassment even where every statement is technically true. The same volume of contact may be reasonable for one debtor and oppressive for another, so judgement and restraint matter. When you are unsure whether your approach is firm or excessive, err toward the measured option; the cost of a harassment complaint almost always exceeds the value of the extra pressure.

No misleading or deceptive conduct

You cannot mislead a debtor about the amount owed, the consequences of non-payment, your identity, or your authority to act. Implying that you are a court official, a government body, or that you will take steps you have no intention or power to take, are classic breaches that regulators treat seriously. Even a half-truth that creates a false overall impression can amount to misleading conduct.

Statements should therefore be accurate, complete enough not to mislead, and consistent across every channel you use — a claim made by phone should match what your letters and messages say. If you would struggle to substantiate a statement with your records, do not make it. The discipline of saying only what is true and provable protects you and tends to make your demands more credible, not less.

No misuse of personal information

Personal information collected to recover a debt must be handled lawfully throughout its life cycle. Disclosing the debt to third parties who have no need to know, using data for purposes unrelated to recovery, or failing to keep it secure can each breach privacy obligations and, in some cases, expose you to defamation risk as well. The fact that a debt is real does not entitle you to broadcast it.

Keep the circle of disclosure as small as the matter allows, confirm you are dealing with the right person before discussing details, and store records securely with access limited to those who need it. These are simple habits that prevent most privacy failures. Merion's Trust Centre sets out how a disciplined provider keeps data handling within bounds as a matter of routine.

No empty or unlawful threats

Threatening bankruptcy, court action, credit listing or asset seizure when you do not intend to follow through — or when the law does not permit it — is both a compliance risk and a credibility risk. Empty threats are a recurring source of breaches because they tend to combine inaccuracy with coercion, the two failings regulators most readily act on. A threat you cannot or will not execute also weakens your hand once the debtor calls your bluff.

The safer course is to state only what you genuinely intend and are entitled to do, and to let your conduct rather than your rhetoric carry the weight. Where the gap between what you want to say and what you can lawfully do is wide, a commission-only professional partner can keep your messaging both firm and defensible, escalating only where escalation is real.