Australians 'owe more than Americans'

The Australian national debt has surpassed that of the US, it has emerged.

Australians owe a record amount of money on credit cards and other forms of borrowing, it has been reported.

Figures released by the Reserve Bank of Australia reveal that the average adult is some $74,000 in debt - a nationwide total of $1.2 trillion.

Such a figure places the country's indebtedness as outranking that of the United States.

Commenting on the Australian banking research, Fiona Guthrie, executive director of the Australian Financial Counselling and Credit Reform Association, tells ABC that these financial difficulties are seeing some people lose their homes, face bankruptcy and have their cars and other household goods repossessed.

"The numbers are here to prove this: record bankruptcies, record mortgage stress and record waiting lists in financial counselling agencies," she claims.

People struggling to stay on top of their finances were advised by Ms Guthrie to get in touch with their bank as soon as possible to discuss the problems they have with their debts.

"The longer we put off dealing with debt, the harder it is to get it back in control," she states.

Ms Guthrie claims that lenders will consider accepting reduced repayments and may stop charging fees or allowing debt to accrue interest.

Debt adviser Dominique Grubis claims that in the years before the financial crisis people were largely unconcerned about clearing what they owe and prepared to take out more Aussie credit in order to pay off existing debts, although doing so now is proving to be a harder task.

She also states that tackling debt levels is often something that people tend to be unconcerned with until they face a setback such as losing their job.

Meanwhile, research carried out by the Loan Market Group earlier this month revealed 56 per cent of people were looking to reduce the amount of money spent over the Christmas period in order to tackle their debts.

By Joe Letts