Most Australians would not shy away from allowing lenders to access their entire credit history if it meant getting a better home loan deal, a new survey has found.

A poll by leading mortgage broker Loan Market Group, which includes X Inc Finance, found 72 per cent of respondents supported positive credit reporting, which allows lenders to scrutinise an applicants full credit history.

Only 19 per cent of those who took part in the online poll were unsure about allowing access to so much of their financial details, while nine per cent were opposed because they had “too many financial skeletons in the closet”.

Loan Market Group chief executive officer Jennifer Nielsen said the survey results showed there were merit in introducing comprehensive credit reporting in Australia despite the Australian Law Reform Commission rejecting the full proposal last month.

“It’s been a proven success in developed countries around the world,” she said.

“At present Australia’s negative credit reporting system disadvantages the vast majority of people who have built a spotless credit history over many years or decades.

“With positive credit reporting, lenders can identify low-risk borrowers and reward them with lower rates on mortgages.”

Ms Nielsen said a clean record could allow people to lock in a mortgage well below the standard rate.

“The mechanism already exists for commercial clients, where the lenders now actually use a credit scoring mechanism that drives the interest rate a borrower pays,” she said.

Under the existing negative credit reporting system, credit bureaus are limited to collecting negative data only, such as loan defaults.

“If credit bureaus are able to gather a broader range of information they can develop a better understanding of risk, which may assist low-risk borrowers to obtain lower interest rates and help people on lower incomes to obtain finance,” she said.

AAP