Short answer
Check the licence first — mortgage brokers must be licensed in every state. Then check that the business is who it says it is: of the 4,346 Australian mortgage brokers in this directory, only 34.8% publish an ABN you can confirm, and 7.5% list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website.
Mortgage Brokers handle home loans, refinancing, investment and construction loans, and comparing lenders on your behalf. This is what to check before you let someone arrange your biggest debt, and what the evidence says about the category as a whole.
Mortgage Brokers must be licensed
A mortgage broker must hold an Australian Credit Licence or be an authorised credit representative of one, and since 2021 owes you a best-interests duty in law. Both are checkable on ASIC's professional registers. The broker is usually paid commission by the lender, and must tell you what it is.
Search ASIC Connect's professional registers for the broker's name under credit licensees and credit representatives. A licensed broker will give you the number without being asked twice.
What 4,346 Australian mortgage brokers actually publish
We check every business in this directory the same way, and publish the result whether it flatters the trade or not. For mortgage brokers:
| What we checked | Mortgage Brokers | All trades |
|---|---|---|
| Publish an ABN we could confirm | 34.8% | 21.2% |
| Listed phone matches their own website | 58.2% | 59.2% |
| Listed phone contradicts their own website | 7.5% | 7.7% |
| Website responded when we checked | 77.6% | 81% |
| Corroborated by two or more sources | 74.5% | 81.1% |
| Median number of Google reviews | 58 | 39 |
What goes wrong with mortgage brokers
- A broker who is not licensed or authorised, which puts the whole arrangement outside the consumer credit protections
- A loan steered to a lender that pays the broker more rather than the one that suits you
- A credit guide and commission disclosure that never arrive
What to ask before the work starts
- What is your credit licence or credit representative number?
- Which lenders are on your panel, and what commission do you receive from each?
- Can I have your credit guide before we go any further?
A mortgage broker who answers all three of those without hesitating is telling you something useful. One who is vague about a licence number is telling you something too.
The median matters more than the average
The median mortgage broker in this directory has 58 Google reviews. That is the number to hold in your head when you see a perfect five-star rating: five stars from four reviews and 4.6 from three hundred are not comparable, and the second is almost always the safer hire.
It is also why the ranking here weights review volume more heavily than review score. A business cannot buy its position, and a handful of glowing reviews does not move it far.
Where the mortgage brokers are
Sydney (355), Melbourne (299), Perth (135), Brisbane (123), Adelaide (108), Logan (75). A shortlist for your own area is more useful than a national ranking — the best mortgage broker in the country is no help if they are four states away.
Where to check a licence, by state
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state where the work is happening.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Common questions
- Do mortgage brokers need a licence in Australia?
- Yes. A mortgage broker must hold an Australian Credit Licence or be an authorised credit representative of one, and since 2021 owes you a best-interests duty in law. Both are checkable on ASIC's professional registers. The broker is usually paid commission by the lender, and must tell you what it is.
- How do I check a mortgage broker's licence?
- Search ASIC Connect's professional registers for the broker's name under credit licensees and credit representatives. A licensed broker will give you the number without being asked twice.
- What percentage of Australian mortgage brokers have a verifiable ABN?
- 34.8% of the 4,346 mortgage brokers in this directory publish an ABN we could confirm against the national register, against 21.2% across all trades.
- How many reviews should a mortgage broker have?
- The median mortgage broker here has 58. Treat a five-star rating from a handful of reviews with more caution than a slightly lower rating from hundreds.
Compare mortgage brokers near you
4,346 mortgage brokers, ranked on the evidence described above rather than on advertising.
Read next
- How to check an Australian tradie's licenceThere is no national licence register in Australia. Here is the regulator for every state and territory, what each one c…
- What an ABN tells you about a tradie — and what it doesn'tAn ABN is free, public and takes a minute to check — and only 21.2% of 130,610 Australian trade businesses publish one. …
- When a tradie's phone number doesn't match their own website10,057 Australian trade businesses list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website. Sometimes it is a …