Verification
Five checks, all free, all public
You are about to give someone your income, your debts and your identity documents. These five checks take about ten minutes in total, use public registers, and cover almost everything a consumer can reasonably confirm on their own.
01. Find out whether they hold a licence or act under someone else's
Anyone providing credit assistance in Australia either holds an Australian Credit Licence or operates as a credit representative authorised by a licensee. Both are legitimate. What matters is that you know which, because a credit representative can only act within the scope their licensee authorised.
How
- Ask for the Australian Credit Licence number, or the credit representative number and the name of the licensee
- Search that number on ASIC Connect's professional registers, which are free and public
- Check the authorisation is current, and note what credit activities it covers
02. Separate industry membership from regulatory authorisation
Industry bodies such as the MFAA and the FBAA are membership associations. Membership signals a professional standard and gives you an additional complaints avenue, and it is worth having — but it is not a licence, and it is not what authorises someone to provide credit assistance. The two are frequently displayed side by side in a way that blurs them.
How
- Treat a membership logo as additional information, not as the authorisation itself
- Confirm the licence or credit representative number separately on the ASIC register
- Both can be true at once: most established brokers are authorised and are members
03. Confirm the external complaints scheme
Every credit licensee must be a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. That is your route if something goes wrong and the internal complaint process does not resolve it. It costs you nothing to use.
How
- Ask for the AFCA membership number, or search the business on the AFCA site
- Note that a credit representative is covered through its licensee's membership
- Keep a written record of any internal complaint before escalating
04. Ask which lenders they can actually access
No broker has access to every lender. The panel is finite and differs meaningfully between aggregator groups, which matters most if your situation is unusual — self-employed income, a small apartment, a specialised security, or a recent credit event.
How
- Ask how many lenders are on the panel and which ones they used most in the last year
- Ask specifically whether the panel includes lenders that handle your situation
- Ask what happens if the best answer for you is a lender not on their panel
05. Know the obligation they already owe you
Mortgage brokers owe a best interests duty to consumers under the National Consumer Credit Protection framework. It is a legal obligation, not a courtesy, and knowing it exists changes what you can reasonably ask for — including why a particular recommendation was made over the alternatives.
How
- Ask, in writing, why the recommended loan was preferred over the next two options
- Expect a comparison, not an assertion
- Keep the credit proposal disclosure documents you are given — they set out fees and commissions
What you cannot check yourself
Registers tell you that someone is authorised and who they answer to. They do not tell you whether this particular broker is good at the specific thing you need — a self-employed file, a small apartment, a tight settlement. That part comes from the first conversation, which is what the questions page is for.
General information about how mortgage broking works in Australia and what applies in Sydney. Licensing and complaints arrangements are administered by ASIC and AFCA; duty and concessions by Revenue NSW. Each page links to the body that sets the rule. Reviewed 17 August 2026.