iscover 
Every few months, the mortgage broking industry seems to revisit the same anxiety. A major bank announces renewed investment in proprietary lending. Clawbacks and net of offset conundrums. Someone inevitably asks whether brokers are about to be displaced.
That question keeps missing the real issue.
The broker channel isn’t under threat, but a significant number of broker businesses operating within it are far more fragile than the industry likes to admit.
The continued focus on market share and channel dominance has distracted from a more uncomfortable reality: while brokers continue to write the majority of home loans in Australia, many of the businesses behind those settlements are structurally weak.
Market share tells us where loans are written; however, it doesn’t tell us whether the businesses writing them are resilient, profitable, or built to last.
Through our work at the Business Advice Agency and Better Business Coach, we have reviewed hundreds of broker operations across diagnostics, coaching programs, and industry academies.
The same pattern appears repeatedly.
Most broker businesses are still heavily dependent on the broker’s personal energy. When the broker stops, income stops. When volume spikes, pressure spikes. That’s not leverage – it’s exposure.
Industry attrition data supports the concern. Commentary and member insights from the Finance Brokers Association of Australia indicate that around 50 per cent of new brokers exit the industry within their first five years, with the highest attrition occurring in the first two to three years.
That’s not because brokers lack intelligence or work ethic – it’s because writing loans and building a sustainable business are two different disciplines, and most brokers are only trained in one.
Favourable market conditions over the past decade have masked this fragility. Rising property prices, regular refinance cycles, and strong demand allowed many businesses to survive without proper structure.
Volume solved problems temporarily, but volume isn’t a strategy.
Feedback from new brokers participating in BBC-delivered broker academies reinforces this view. One participant described clarity around business planning, lead generation, and conversion rates, which helped make their goals feel realistic and achievable.
Another broker acknowledged the intensity of the material, but said the real-world case history and business focus helped them understand the realities of broking early rather than learning them through costly mistakes.
That feedback is important because it reflects what we see repeatedly. Brokers aren’t failing due to lack of effort – they’re failing because no one showed them how to build structure before the pressure arrived.
The industry’s habit of framing banks as the primary threat has also contributed to misplaced focus.
Banks aren’t what keep most brokers awake at night, cash flow volatility does. Compliance exposure does. The feeling of working harder every year without feeling more secure does.
The next phase of broking will not be defined by disruption or regulation, but by economics.
As technology improves and client expectations rise, tolerance for poorly designed businesses will quietly disappear. The market won’t punish brokers – it will simply stop compensating for fragility.
Across multiple broker cohorts reviewed by the Business Advice Agency and Better Business Coach, one conclusion has remained consistent: brokers who introduce structure, governance, and separation early are materially more likely to remain compliant, profitable, and operating beyond the five-year mark.
That’s not theory. It’s what the data and lived experience show.
The solution is not defending the channel, but strengthening the businesses within it.
A strong channel needs strong businesses behind it. Until we stop confusing activity with stability, we’ll keep celebrating market share, while brokers quietly struggle underneath.
Phil Rice is the CEO and founder of the Business Advice Agency and Better Business Coach. He is also the founder and director of brokerage EZ Finance.