Three months since comprehensive credit reporting went live in Australia, the Australian Retail Credit Association has reinforced the critical role CCR plays in the robustness of Australia's retail credit industry and in reducing financial exclusion.Speaking after appearing at a credit reporting forum in Sydney yesterday, ARCA's chief executive officer, Damian Paull, said there was a clear link between credit reporting and increased access to credit. "Look at the benefits a robust credit reporting system can deliver both to industry and consumers," Paull said. "If we want the economic benefits, the key thing that is missing is consumer awareness and education. This was a key theme that arose repeatedly throughout the conference."Paull was keen to point out the value of having accurate information in the system. "It's going to increase the quality of credit decisions and we know from experience overseas that this type of information in a credit reporting system does help alleviate financial exclusion," he said.He pointed to last year's NAB report, "Measuring financial exclusion in Australia", which identified the inability to access moderate credit, a basic bank account and insurance as a rising social problem particularly among some discrete groups: people who may have had a default due to a life event (such as divorce or an unexpected period of unemployment), people who have no credit history at all or ageing people who cannot show they will be able to meet credit repayments.Paull was also keen to promote ARCA's consumer facing website, CreditSmart, which he said had been well received by consumers, advocates, financial counsellors and the regulators alike, receiving "in the vicinity of 25,000 hits" in its first three months. "It needs more people to recognise this as a source of independent information and to learn what the new credit reporting environment means for them," he said."Change isn't going to happen overnight but clearly more needs to be done in placing credit reporting more firmly on the financial literacy agenda." "Another point of discussion [at the forum] was the role of the intermediary and how we can continue the discussion in relationship to their clients, whether that's through accountants, mortgage brokers or financial counsellors," Paull said."We know from other conversations with government, for example during privacy awareness week, that they would prefer community partnerships and industry-led initiatives when it comes to educating consumers and advisers."