Foreword from AFIA CEO Diane Tate

AFIA is committed to advancing a world-class finance industry and our members are at the forefront of creating more efficient, competitive and innovative finance for Australians. 

AFIA members participate across the entire finance industry in Australia and include banks, finance companies, vehicle and equipment financiers, vehicle and fleet providers, and fintechs that operate in consumer, business and commercial lending markets. 

This Code is Australia’s first non-bank lending and specialist banking industry code. It sets out the standards of practice and expected customer service outcomes for our members and reflects our members' commitment to customers through the promotion of a culture of integrity, transparency and fairness in the finance industry in Australia. 

AFIA has introduced this Code to help support positive outcomes for customers and financial firms by promoting good practices that support compliance with legal obligations, reflect customer and community expectations, and strengthen trust and confidence in the finance industry. 

This Code provides a framework for prudent, responsible and ethical conduct, fosters transparency and fairness, promotes accountability and explains how our members will comply with their legal obligations. It also explains what our members will do if things go wrong, including how our members will manage complaints, support customers experiencing financial difficulties, and help customers experiencing vulnerability. 

By adhering to this Code, our members contribute to an efficient, competitive, sustainable, inclusive and resilient finance industry, which ultimately benefits customers, financial firms and the economy. This Code will continue to evolve in line with industry developments and customer and community expectations.

Part A – Introduction

The Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA) Code of Practice (the Code) was published on 16 September 2025 and is effective from 1 October 2026 (the Effective Date). Compliance with the Code is subject to transitional arrangements until the Effective Date. The transitional arrangements are set out below at paragraph 18.

The words “we”, “us” and “our” apply to an AFIA member and/or an entity in an AFIA member's group who is a Code Member.

The words “you” and “your” refer to you as our Customer.

Other words and phrases that have special meaning are identified with capital letters and are set out in the Definitions section.

Scope of this Code

A list of Code Members can be found at [link to AFIA website code page].

This Code applies to credit, finance and novated lease products and services we provide to Consumer and Small Business customers in Australia, subject to the exclusions set out in this Code. For simplicity, we refer to these collectively as “products” in this Code. This Code also applies to guarantors and co-borrowers where we specifically refer to them.

How we define ‘Small Business’

For the purposes of this Code, we have adopted the Unfair Contract Terms legislation definition of Small Business which means a business that:

  • employs fewer than 100 people at the time the contract is signed; or
  • has a turnover for the last income year of less than $10,000,000; and
  • the upfront price payable under the contract does not exceed $5,000,000.

These products include but are not limited to:

  • secured and unsecured consumer finance, including credit cards, personal loans, lines of credit or overdrafts, mortgages for residential and investment purposes (including home loans and chattel mortgages) and vehicle finance;
  • secured and unsecured business finance, including lines of credit, debtor and cashflow finance, asset and equipment finance, fleet and vehicle finance; and
  • novated leases.

This Code applies so long as we are the issuer of your product. If another entity becomes the issuer of your product and that other entity is not a Code Member, this Code will not apply to that other entity. This Code sits alongside the overarching laws, licensing obligations (where applicable) and regulatory frameworks that apply to us. If there is any conflict between this Code and relevant laws, those laws prevail.


Exclusions from this Code

This Code may offer some guidance more broadly, but it does not apply to products we provide to commercial property, government or semi-government customers, or Large Corporate Customers. This Code also does not apply to bailment facilities because bailment is a common law relationship between a bailor and a bailee, and not a credit, finance or novated lease product as per paragraph 6.

This Code does not apply to AFIA Members who provide commercial finance predominantly for large commercial vehicles and equipment manufactured by their company or an associated company, such as trucks and machinery used in transport, construction, mining and resources, farming and agriculture.

This Code does not apply to AFIA Members who are signatories to an equivalent industry code that applies to Consumer and Small Business finance and lending activities in Australia. The AFIA Board will, acting reasonably, determine the criteria for an equivalent code. For these purposes, AFIA Members who are signatories to the Banking Code of Practice or the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice are not subject to this Code. However, these AFIA Members may still elect to become a signatory to this Code.

This Code does not apply to other entities we own or related bodies corporate who do not provide products covered by this Code to Consumers or Small Business.

AFIA has separate codes of practice for Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL Code), Online Small Business Lenders (AOSBL Code) and Insurance Premium Funding (IPF Code). Customers who deal with AFIA Members who are signatories to the BNPL, AOSBL or IPF Codes will continue to have the protections afforded by these codes until they are transitioned into this Code.

AFIA also operates the Car Rental Code of Practice, which will remain separate from this Code.

Structure of this Code

AFIA members participate in different finance sectors and markets, and for this reason we have divided this Code into different sections to help you find the customer protections relevant for your circumstances.

This Code contains general and specific commitments by us to you. They are found in:

  • Parts B, C and D – these contain our general commitments and apply to all Consumer and Small Business customers covered by this Code. These sections explain how we will engage with you and what you can expect from us.
  • The Schedules – the Schedules at the back of this Code contain specific commitments in relation to consumer finance, novated leasing and small business finance. The Schedule applies if we provide you with a product that is described in that Schedule.

AFIA Industry Guidelines

AFIA has published industry guidelines, protocols and other documents on some areas of the Code or related matters that may help members understand how to interpret and apply the Code or develop new approaches to systems, policies or processes. These industry guidelines, protocols or documents do not form part of this Code. AFIA’s current industry guidelines are published on the AFIA website.


After the publication of this Code, we have a period of time until the Effective Date to ensure that our arrangements to provide our products to you meet the requirements set out this Code. These transitional arrangements will end after the Effective Date of this Code.

This Code will apply to a new product or a guarantee for which you enter into an agreement with us on or after the Effective Date.

For ongoing products that we were providing you as at the Effective Date, or where a guarantee was in place before the Effective Date, or where documentation was sent to you before the Effective Date, the existing terms and conditions of that product or guarantee will continue to apply. If we provide you with revised terms and conditions after the Effective Date, those revised terms and conditions will comply with this Code.

Part B – Our Key Commitments to You

We will be fair and honest in our dealings with you

We will act honestly and with integrity. We will be fair and responsible in our dealings with you. We will be clear in our communications with you.

We will focus on customers

We aim to deliver a positive customer experience over the life cycle of your product.

We will provide you with different ways to contact us – for example, by phone, or through our website or app, or through other communication channels. For some products, we may have more specific or limited ways to communicate due to the manner in which your product is offered, including for example, where a product is entirely online or managed by a third party.

We will use plain language and avoid using unnecessarily complex legal and technical words as much as possible when communicating with you. However, there may be times where this is unavoidable (such as when the law requires us to use particular words or to communicate with you in a particular way).

We will comply with our industry and legal obligations

We will comply with our obligations under the law and this Code. If we don't, and you are impacted, we will correct this in accordance with our legal obligations and our agreement with you.

26. If you are a Consumer and your contract with us is regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (NCCP Act), we will make an assessment about whether the credit contract is 'not unsuitable' for you. Schedule 1 of this Code provides additional information about how we will do this.

27. Loans that are for predominantly business or commercial purposes are not regulated under the NCCP Act. We will only provide our products to you where we believe you meet our product and lending requirements. Schedule 3 of this Code provides additional information about how we will do this.

We will deliver high standards of service

28. We will take reasonable steps to ensure our products are reasonably fit for their intended purpose and are as described in our terms and conditions, disclosures, marketing materials, and agreements with you.

29. We will respond to questions about the features of our products and how they work. We may do this in different ways (such as by publishing FAQs on our website or app).

30. We will not engage in pressure sales tactics.

31. We may require you to obtain independent advice before entering into a contract with us. We will tell you if this applies to you. You may need to get your own financial, legal or taxation advice if you have queries or questions about how our products may impact your financial or personal circumstances.

We will provide clear information about our products

32. We will give you clear and useful information about our products to help you make an informed decision about whether to use them.

33. Before you enter into a contract with us for a product, we will give you information about:

  • a. our product terms and conditions;
  • b. fees and charges;
  • c. interest (if this is applicable), or the total amount payable and the repayment amount (although this does not apply to revolving facilities, for example, where the total amount to be repaid depends on your use of the facility);
  • d. any other pre-contractual disclosures required by law; and
  • e. how we will notify you about any changes.

34. We will continue to provide you with clear and useful information over the life cycle of your product, including about any changes to the product, and any changes to your or our obligations.

35. We may give this information to you in different ways where the law allows us to (for example – in electronic and digital formats). Our terms and conditions will describe how we will communicate with you.

36. We will ensure disclosures about our fees and charges are up to date and accurate.

37. We will review our policies (such as credit assessment procedures, and the design and distribution framework for our products) in accordance with our review procedures or whenever events indicate that a review is required to ensure that our policies are current, comply with the law and align with our commitments in this Code.

We will ensure our staff and representatives are trained and competent

38. We will ensure that people who are authorised to act on our behalf (for example, our employees, agents, and authorised credit representatives (ACRs) where applicable) are adequately trained and are competent to engage with you in relation to our products.

We will tell you about commissions and other benefits we pay to Intermediaries

39. We (or our Intermediaries if we require it under our arrangements with them) will make information available about commissions and other benefits that might be paid to the Intermediary in connection with the distribution or referral of our products. For the avoidance of doubt, this does not include remuneration paid in relation to marketing and advertising of our products.

40. If you are a Consumer, we will disclose the amount of remuneration or other benefit if it is ascertainable at the time we make the disclosure.

41. If you are a Small Business customer or your product is not regulated under the NCCP Act, our terms and conditions, term sheet or other document related to your contract will refer to commissions or other benefits that we may pay to an Intermediary in connection with the distribution or referral of our products.

We will deal fairly with complaints

42. We will handle complaints promptly and fairly. We will make information about how you can make a complaint and how we manage complaints available on our website, app or other platforms we use, including information about timeframes for considering and responding to complaints.

43. We will provide you with clear information on what to do if we do not resolve your complaint in a way that is acceptable to you. This information may be different depending on the product we provide to you. See Part D of this Code for more information.

We will support and promote this Code

44. We will make this Code publicly available including, for example, via links to the AFIA website on our website or in our app or digital platform.

45. We will support the monitoring, supervision and ongoing effectiveness of this Code and ensure our staff are trained to put it into practice.

46. We will implement systems and processes to support our compliance with this Code, including taking steps to address any issues if necessary.