‘Appalling’: Australians pushed to the brink by payday loan sharks as crackdown looms

The government is preparing a crackdown on predatory lending as the Senate hears the stories of Australians pushed to the edge. Photo: TND

Australians are facing financial ruin, even homelessness, after being granted unaffordable credit at the “click of a finger” by payday lenders, a Senate committee has heard.

Financial counsellor Lyndall Millburn told senators on Friday that one of her clients – who was scheduled to appear before the public hearing but pulled out – was pushed into a financial crisis by payday lenders.