A clear path into mortgage broking.

The minimum is the FNS40821 Certificate IV in Finance and Mortgage Broking. ASIC sets this standard in Regulatory Guide 206. Aggregators and lenders will ask for your certificate before they accredit you.

Kaplan Professional lists the Certificate IV at $380, GST exempt, paid upfront. Kaplan sets its own fees, so confirm the price on the Kaplan course page when you enrol.

Kaplan Professional is a long-established provider in financial services education. The course is online and self-paced, and it leads straight into the Kaplan Diploma upgrade. Other registered training organisations offer the same qualification, and any of them meets the ASIC standard.

The Certificate IV lets you start. Most aggregators, and the MFAA, expect you to complete the FNS50322 Diploma of Finance and Mortgage Broking Management, usually within your first year. Kaplan's Diploma upgrade for Certificate IV holders is $380. The full Diploma is $750.

The Finance Brokers Association of Australia is one of the two industry associations for brokers. The other is the MFAA. Members agree to a code of practice, complete professional development each year and have access to a complaints and standards process.

The law does not require it. In practice most aggregators and lenders expect you to belong to the FBAA or the MFAA before they accredit you. The FBAA accepts the Certificate IV for entry, so you can join before you finish the Diploma.

• New to industry: $440 a year, plus a one-off $125 application fee. This rate is for brokers with less than two years in the industry, nominated by a current FBAA member.
• Standard broker: $565 a year, plus the $125 application fee if you are new to the FBAA.

See the current rates on the FBAA membership page.

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority is the free, independent complaints scheme for financial services. The National Consumer Credit Protection Act requires every credit licensee and every credit representative to be a member. Your aggregator cannot authorise you until you have an AFCA membership number.

For the year from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, the annual registration fee is $73.01 for an authorised credit representative. A credit licensee pays $415.57. AFCA charges further fees only when a complaint about you is lodged and proceeds past the early stages.

See the AFCA membership page to apply.

Apply after your aggregator accepts you and before it authorises you. The aggregator needs your AFCA number to complete your appointment with ASIC. Membership renews each July.

An aggregator sits between you and the lenders. Most new brokers work under an aggregator's licence rather than holding their own. The aggregator:

• holds the Australian Credit Licence and authorises you as a credit representative under it
• gives you accreditation with its panel of lenders
• supplies loan comparison, lodgement and client management software
• sets compliance standards, audits your files and usually arranges professional indemnity cover
• receives your commission from the lender and pays you your share
• runs training and gives you access to lender business development managers

Aggregators take a share of the upfront and trail commission, charge a flat monthly fee, or combine the two. A higher split usually comes with a monthly fee. Ask each aggregator for its full fee schedule, including software, professional indemnity and compliance costs, before you sign.

Chorus Finance is a credit representative of AFG (Australian Finance Group, Australian Credit Licence 389087). You are free to choose any aggregator. We can talk through how AFG works day to day if it helps your decision.

Expect to provide your Certificate IV, identification, a national police check, a credit check and details of your background. Some aggregators also ask for a mentoring arrangement before they appoint a new broker.

After AFG appoints you, you attend a broker onboarding session. AFG sets up your access to its lodgement and client management systems, explains how commission is paid to you, and takes you through its compliance standards and file requirements. You also start the accreditation process with the lenders on AFG's panel.

AFG gives you a set of compliance training modules to complete before you see clients, then refresher training each year. The modules cover your obligations as a credit representative, including responsible lending, best interests duty, privacy, complaints handling and anti-money laundering.

Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) law requires lenders to know who their customers are. As the broker, you verify each client's identity and collect the information the lender needs. AFG gives you the AML training and the verification tools you use to do this on every file, and keeps a record of each check.

Ask AFG for its current fee schedule when you apply. It sets out what is included in onboarding, training, software and professional indemnity cover.

Aggregators, lenders and the industry associations usually expect a new broker to work under an experienced mentor for their first 12 months. The mentor reviews your files, answers policy and compliance questions, and confirms your progress to your aggregator.

1. A first conversation. We talk about your background, the clients you want to serve and where you are in the pathway.
2. A written agreement. Before we start, we agree in writing the scope, the time commitment, any fee and how file reviews work.
3. Shadowing. You sit in on client interviews and follow real files from the first call to settlement.
4. File review. We review your files before they go to a lender, until you and your aggregator are ready for you to submit on your own.
5. Regular check-ins. We meet on a set schedule to go through your pipeline, lender policy and compliance.
6. Sign-off. At the end of the period we confirm your progress in writing to your aggregator.

Any fee depends on the scope we agree. We set it out in writing before we start.

Tell us which aggregator you plan to use when we first speak. Some aggregators have their own rules on who can mentor their brokers, and we check that before we agree anything.