One of Australia’s largest debt collection companies is continuing to operate in Victoria despite being blacklisted in the state over its unlawful pursuit of false debts, undue harassment and misleading conduct.
Panthera Finance and its subsidiaries are major players in the Australian debt collection and acquisition sector, and were paid millions by the former government to help collect welfare debts for Services Australia.
In 2020, the federal court fined Panthera Finance $500,000 for its admitted contraventions of Australian Consumer Law over its pursuit of debts from individuals who were not liable.
In Victoria, the federal court’s findings that Panthera Finance breached federal consumer law made it a “prohibited person” under the state’s debt collection laws.
That effectively blacklisted Panthera Finance from operating in the state, unless it obtained an exemption from the Business Licensing Authority (BLA).
Despite this, other Panthera entities are continuing to collect debts in the state.
Guardian Australia can reveal the regulator, Consumer Affairs Victoria, is now investigating Panthera and has been in recent communication with the company.
In a statement, Consumer Affairs Victoria said penalties for illegally engaging in debt collection include a $46,154 fine or two years’ imprisonment for a person, and $230,772 for a body corporate.
“Debt collectors must comply with Victoria’s debt collection consumer protection laws and we encourage anyone with concerns to contact us,” a spokesperson said. “Any potential breach of these laws is serious and Consumer Affairs Victoria will investigate and take action as warranted.”
Panthera confirmed to Guardian Australia that it was continuing to perform debt collection activities in Victoria.
But it said its continued operation in Victoria was lawful because it is operating in the state using a separate entity, Panthera Finance (Vic) Pty Ltd, and related companies.
The Victorian entity and related companies were not involved in the federal court proceedings, Panthera said.
The company said Panthera Finance and Panthera Finance (Vic) were separate and had their own credit licence numbers, and that Victorian consumer law “does not apply any prohibition” on the Victorian entity or its related companies, or on activities other than “engaging in debt collection”.
“Panthera Finance (Vic) Pty Ltd ACN 124 957 937 (VIC Co) operates in all states including Victoria,” the company said. “Similarly, there are related entities of VIC Co not using the ‘Panthera’ name which engage in certain debt collection activities in all jurisdictions and Victoria (Relevant Group Companies).”
Panthera Finance (Vic) Pty Ltd has a separate website. It is a copy of Panthera’s main website, with the only noticeable difference being the company’s logo.
Pantera said it had instigated the current discussions with Consumer Affairs Victoria.
“We engage with all regulators on a regular basis as part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring compliance with the relevant laws and regulations where we operate.”
Panthera is both a major debt collector and a significant buyer and seller of debt.
Last month, Panthera Finance Pty Ltd sold $24.1m worth of debt to Pioneer Credit Limited. That debt involved 32,775 customers accounts, according to disclosures made to the ASX.
The debt was largely from credit card and personal loan accounts from the Commonwealth Bank, which had a face value of $367m.
In 2022, the Australian Financial Review reported that Brookfield, a giant Canadian investment firm, had injected $150m into Panthera to help fund the company’s expansion and refinance its existing debts.
The federal court’s 2020 decision found Panthera unduly harassed three consumers over debts they did not owe and misled one of the three consumers by telling them they needed to pay Panthera $100 to have a default listing removed from their credit file.
The default listing was inaccurate and could have been removed for free.
The court said that a significant penalty had to be imposed on Panthera to make the sector take compliance with the law seriously.
“The risks of harm to the community from debt collection activities which do not comply with the requirements of the [Australian Consumer Law] and the Guidelines is real and has the specific potential to impact on members of society who may be vulnerable to exploitation,” the court found. “It is essential to impose a penalty on Panthera of sufficient size to ensure that those in this industry know that they cannot treat the risk of non-compliance as a mere cost of doing business.”
After the decision, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Sarah Court said the trio had been “subjected to repeated and intrusive calls from Panthera, and had to take multiple steps to prove they did not owe the alleged debt”.
“Businesses, particularly in the debt collection industry, are warned that harassing consumers is unacceptable under any circumstances and can result in significant penalties,” Court said.
Panthera no longer performs work for Services Australia. Labor banned third-party debt collection following the robodebt scandal; that ban took effect last year.
Do you know more about the practices of private debt collection firms? Contact christopher.knaus@theguardian.com
