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The Finance Brokers Association of Australia’s (FBAA) Bi-Monthly Broker Poll for May provided an overview of the broking industry.
Among the respondents, 51 per cent are sole traders. This figure rises to 52 per cent of mortgage brokers and drops to 50 per cent of finance brokers.
A further 35 per cent operate as business owners of a brokerage and have employees who work for them.
This means that 86 per cent of brokers are also business owners, speaking to the strong entrepreneurial spirit of the industry.
Just one in 10 works as an employee at a brokerage. This drops to 7 per cent of mortgage brokers.
Despite the extremely high rates of business ownership among brokers, stress levels are on the decline.
March 2025 revealed that 55 per cent of brokers were impacted by stress. This fell to 44 per cent in May 2025.
Meanwhile, in March, 38 per cent said they were not impacted by stress. This rose to 52 per cent in May.
Coinciding with this was a greater improvement in support. In March, 41 per cent felt unsupported. This dropped to 25 per cent in May.
Similarly, 36 per cent felt supported in March, which jumped to 47 per cent in May.
Brokers voice frustration with banks
Despite these positive trends, the same report highlighted some issues that continue to place strain on brokers.
One respondent said clawbacks are a constant burden and have an emotional, financial, and psychological impact.
The same broker urged the FBAA to work with the government to address the issue and create a universal policy, echoing the sentiments other brokers shared in a recent Broker Daily article.
Another key concern was the scrutiny brokers face with compliance that lenders avoid.
“Banks should face lending restrictions, not just monetary penalties. For brokers, wrongdoing leads to accreditation loss; for banks, fines are just minor setbacks. This disparity is unacceptable,” said the anonymous broker.
Another commenter said the banks “treat [brokers] like second class citizens” and “they’re the kings sitting on all the gold coins deciding who they hand one out too.”
One broker called for more pressure on banks and aggregators to reduce the costs of operation.
“I’m writing more and more each year but taking home the same pay,” the broker said.
[Related: Brokers want a regulatory standard for clawbacks]
