If you’ve used a mortgage broker, or you’re about to, there’s a regulator now actively checking whether brokers are holding up their end of the deal. In February 2026, ASIC told almost 3,000 brokers at the MFAA’s Looking Ahead conference that it’s running its first ever targeted review of how well the industry complies with the “best interests duty” — the legal obligation, in place since 1 January 2021, requiring every mortgage broker to act in your best interests when recommending a home loan.
Here’s what that duty actually means, what ASIC is looking at, and how to tell whether your own broker is doing right by you.
What is the mortgage broker best interests duty?
The best interests duty is a legal requirement that a mortgage broker must put your interests ahead of their own when they recommend a loan — not just find you a loan, but genuinely the one that suits your situation. It’s been law since 1 January 2021, introduced off the back of the Banking Royal Commission, and ASIC has said plainly that “the consumer must always come first.”
Practically, it means your broker is required to actually consider the range of lenders and products they have access to, individually assess options against your circumstances, and keep records showing why they recommended what they did. Moneysmart also confirms that lenders — not you — generally pay the broker’s commission, so acting in your interest rather than chasing the biggest payout is the whole point of the rule.
What is ASIC actually reviewing, and why now?
ASIC is running its first targeted compliance review of the best interests duty since it began in 2021, pulling data from misconduct reports, dispute resolution outcomes, and new data broker aggregators are now required to supply on how brokers document their lender and product recommendations. ASIC senior executive Nathan Bourne told the Looking Ahead 2026 conference the regulator wants broker recommendation frameworks to be “applied consistently and ultimately that they can be tested.”
In plain terms: ASIC isn’t just checking that brokers say the right things, it’s checking whether they can actually show their working — why this lender, why this product, for your situation. That matters more than it used to, because brokers now arrange around 81% of all new home loans written in Australia as of the March 2026 quarter, so most Australians taking out a mortgage are relying on a broker getting this right.
How do you know if your mortgage broker is actually looking after you?
You can’t audit their internal paperwork, but you can watch for the same things ASIC is now formally checking for: whether they compared genuine options for your situation, and whether they can explain why they recommended what they did.
| Signs your broker is doing right by you | Red flags to watch for |
|---|---|
| Explains why a specific lender/product suits your situation, not just what it offers | Pushes one lender without comparing alternatives |
| Happy to tell you which lenders they can’t access, and why | Vague or defensive when asked about their lender panel |
| Discloses how they’re paid, upfront, without you having to ask | Avoids or rushes past questions about commission |
| Keeps in touch after settlement and flags if a better rate comes along | Disappears once the loan settles |
| Puts recommendations and comparisons in writing | Everything is verbal, nothing documented |
If you’re not confident about any of this with your current broker, it’s a fair question to ask them directly — a broker meeting their obligations should be able to answer without hesitation.
Mortgage broker or home loan broker — does the name matter?
No — “mortgage broker” and “home loan broker” describe the same job in Australia, so you can use either term when searching or asking around. What matters isn’t the label, it’s whether whoever holds it is licensed, on a genuine lender panel, and bound by the best interests duty covered above. If you want the fuller rundown on what a broker actually does day to day, we’ve covered that separately in what does a mortgage broker do.
Where Click Financial stands on this
We’re a licensed brokerage (Australian Credit Licence 390820, MFAA and AFCA members), and the best interests duty isn’t a new idea for us — comparing your situation against a genuine panel of 30+ lenders, and explaining why a particular loan suits you, is how we’ve worked since day one. If you want a second opinion on whether your current loan (or your current broker’s recommendation) actually stacks up, that conversation costs nothing.
Talk to a Click Financial broker or call 02 8708 7240.
Click Financial is a mortgage broker based in Bankstown, NSW (Australian Credit Licence 390820, MFAA member 320936, AFCA member 25029), helping borrowers across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide compare home loans from 30+ lenders.
This article references ASIC’s 2020 best interests duty guidance, the MFAA’s reporting on ASIC’s Looking Ahead 2026 review announcement, Moneysmart’s guidance on using a mortgage broker, and MPA/Cotality’s March 2026 broker market share data. It’s general information, not personal financial advice.
