Mortgage Broker Fees: Disclosure and Client Charges

Mortgage broker fees are direct client charges for agreed services, with the amount and payment event set out before the work starts. Australian brokers often receive lender commission without charging the client directly, but some brokerages charge a separate service fee. The brokerage’s service model and the client’s agreement decide the cost.

A service described as free means the client pays no direct broker fee for that scope. Lender interest and loan fees still apply. When clients ask about mortgage advisor fees, explain the service covered and who pays you before they agree to proceed.

When Mortgage Brokers Charge Fees

A brokerage can consider a client fee when an agreed service requires work that its lender-paid remuneration model doesn’t cover. Possible situations include a detailed assessment without a loan application, extensive work on a complex file or a separately defined ongoing review service. These are service-model choices, not categories that automatically attract a fee.

For a complex file, describe what the client receives, such as an income assessment and a written explanation of suitable lending options. For a standalone review, define whether the work ends with recommendations or includes an application. Extra work doesn’t make a loan approval certain.

Moneysmart’s mortgage broker guidance, updated on 4 September 2026, explains that lenders generally pay brokers commission. It also recognises that brokers sometimes charge clients directly. There is no single fee amount to apply across these different services.

Answer how much a mortgage broker costs with your own agreed terms. State that the direct charge is zero when you provide the agreed service without a client fee. For a paid service, give the actual amount or calculation and its maximum, including when payment becomes due.

Choose a Fee and Charge Event

Choose a fee structure by matching payment to the defined service and the event that makes the charge payable. A fixed fee controls the total cost, staged fees divide completed work and an outcome-linked fee becomes payable only at the agreed outcome. Each structure needs its own cancellation and rework terms.

Structure	Scope and payment timing	Cancellation and rework risk
Fixed fee	One defined service for an agreed amount, charged after the service is provided	State what happens if the client stops before completion and which revisions are included
Staged fees	Separate amounts after specified stages are completed	Identify completed stages and keep unperformed work separate from charges already earned
Outcome-linked fee	Payment at a defined event, such as settlement	Explain the result if approval occurs but settlement doesn’t, and the work covered by the fee

Approval and settlement are different events. If payment depends on settlement, a conditional approval alone doesn’t meet that trigger. For staged work, use deliverables the client can recognise instead of an undefined claim that the file is substantially complete.

Document the service before choosing the amount. Specify the deliverable, exclusions, charge event and due date. Add the fixed amount or calculation method, maximum charge and treatment of scope changes.

State the goods and services tax (GST) treatment and the total the client pays. The Australian Taxation Office’s taxable-sales guidance makes GST depend on registration and whether the supply is taxable. Don’t assume a brokerage service has the same tax treatment as the lender’s loan.

Explain cancellation, refunds and additional work in the terms. A lender decline doesn’t automatically settle whether a service fee is payable or refundable. The answer depends on the agreed service, completed work, charge event and the client’s legal rights.

Financial-services contracts also face ASIC’s unfair contract terms rules. A clear clause can still be unfair. Avoid blanket terms that let you keep every payment regardless of whether you perform the service or meet your obligations.

Hypothetical Staged Fee Example

This fictional brokerage agrees to a taxable service with a maximum fee of $660 in Australian dollars, including $60 GST. The brokerage is GST-registered. These figures illustrate a contract, not a market average or recommended fee.

The first stage is a completed assessment and written lending-options report for $220, including $20 GST. The second is application assistance through settlement for $440, including $40 GST, payable only at settlement. The agreement covers one application and explains the price of any extra work before it starts.

Under the hypothetical terms, a client who stops after receiving the report owes the $220 first-stage fee. The $440 second-stage fee isn’t payable if the loan doesn’t settle. An overpayment is returned, and those terms preserve the client’s statutory rights if the service is defective.

The total is $220 plus $440, or $660 including GST, when both payment events occur. Each charge follows the relevant service. Moneysmart states that a broker isn’t entitled to request a fee before providing services.

Separate Fees From Commission

A client fee is paid by the client, while lender commission is paid by the lender for arranging a loan. Upfront commission and ongoing trail commission are separate remuneration streams. Mortgage broker commission explains those payments in more detail.

Show each payment separately in your explanation. If you charge a client fee and expect lender commission, disclose both. A commission payment doesn’t automatically reduce the client fee, and a client fee doesn’t automatically replace commission.

An agreed commission credit needs its own rule. State which payment creates the credit and when it reduces the invoice or produces a refund. Without that agreement, don’t suggest that the lender will reimburse the client’s broker fee.

Clawback is the repayment of lender remuneration under the relevant arrangement when a loan ends early or another specified event occurs. Regulation 28VG of the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010 prevents the consumer becoming liable because that remuneration must be repaid. Don’t invoice a client to recover a commission clawback or relabel it as a service charge.

Aggregator charges are costs the brokerage pays under its aggregator agreement. They don’t become a client debt simply because the brokerage incurs them. The mortgage aggregator fees guide explains those operating costs.

Charging a fee also leaves the broker’s best interests duty intact. Record why your recommendation meets the client’s needs and how you manage any remuneration conflict. Disclosing a payment alone doesn’t resolve that conflict.

Disclose and Record the Charge

Disclose the fee before providing credit assistance, then retain the accepted terms and evidence that the charge event occurred. An invoice records the amount due. It doesn’t replace the earlier disclosure and acceptance.

For regulated consumer credit assistance, follow this sequence under ASIC’s disclosure guidance.

1. Give the applicable credit guide, generally before engaging in credit activities with the client. Explain your engagement scope and proposed fee terms.
2. Where a credit quote is required, give it before providing credit assistance. Obtain the client’s signature and date, then give them a copy of the accepted quote.
3. Provide the proposal disclosure document at the same time as the credit assistance. Include the applicable client costs and estimated indirect remuneration.
4. When the agreed service and charge event occur, issue the invoice under the accepted terms. Record payment against that invoice and retain the receipt or transaction evidence.

A quote exemption can apply, including prescribed no-fee circumstances. Use the credit quote guide for the document requirements. An ordinary engagement agreement or later invoice doesn’t automatically satisfy a required quote.

Use the appropriate invoice type. Business.gov.au’s invoicing guidance distinguishes tax invoices for GST-registered businesses from ordinary invoices for unregistered businesses. Identify the supplier and service, invoice date, amount due and any GST payable.

Keep the accepted scope and quote together with changes and client communications. Save the completed deliverable or settlement evidence that supports the charge. If the scope expands, obtain agreement to the new work and fee before performing it, and update required disclosures.

For a waiver, retain the original charge and the reason you reduced it. For a refund, record the calculation, approval and payment evidence. If a fee is disputed, keep the client’s complaint and your response alongside the agreement and work records.

Explain the complaint route in your response. Clients can first complain to the brokerage and then use the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) if the issue remains unresolved. Before closing the file, reconcile the agreed fee with completed work, any credit or refund and the amount actually paid.