The no-tell club are exempt from laws that require other large enterprises to file records that are available to the public

For a quarter of a century, a peculiar loophole has kept the financial affairs of some of Australia’s richest people safe from plebeian scrutiny, in much the same way as walls and hedges stop bystanders gawking at their mansions.

Almost 1,500 companies, controlled by rich Australians including Perth media billionaire Kerry Stokes, Melbourne packaging clan the Pratts and Sydney’s Belgiorno-Nettis family, are exempt from laws that require other large enterprises to file financial records that are available to the public.