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Members from across the mortgage distribution channel gathered at Ilumina Sydney on Wednesday night (24 June) to celebrate the innovators transforming the third-party channel at the Broker Innovation Awards, run with support from principal partner NextGen.
A total of 19 winners were crowned from more than 150 finalists at the prestigious awards program, which celebrated excellence in operations, technology, and innovation from across the broking industry.
Australian comedian Claire Hooper assumed emcee duties and provided laughter and entertainment throughout the evening as Broker Daily and principal partner NextGen recognised brokers, lenders, aggregators, fintechs and service providers, and hundreds of innovators from across the industry networked with peers.
The fourth annual awards program spanned the breadth of the industry, celebrating those building cutting-edge technology, introducing fresh ideas, and new working methods to the daily operations of mortgage brokers, aggregators, lenders, technology providers, and the professional staff supporting the channel.
Winners on the evening included brokers Aimee Bergan, APC Home Loans (Innovator of the Year – First Home Buyer Specialist), William Waugh, APEX FINCAP (Innovator of the Year – Commercial Finance Broker), Francis Valente, Valco Group Financial Services (VGFS) (Innovator of the Year – Asset Finance Broker) and Amol Khuntale, ASK Financials (Innovator of the Year – Metro Broker), among others.
Companies walking away with trophies in the group categories included aggregation and banking groups, such as Mortgage Choice (Innovator of the Year – Aggregator), Connective (Innovator of the Year – CRM Platform) and Aussie (Innovator of the Year – Major Brokerage (100+ Brokers), alongside lenders Bankwest (Innovator of the Year – Bank), Liberty Financial (Innovator of the Year – Non-Bank) and Prospa (Innovator of the Year – Lender Technology Platform).
The awards ceremony also provided a unique opportunity to network with industry leaders, peers, and the industry’s rising stars.
Congratulations to all the winners. Click here to view the full list of winners.
Broker Innovation Summit
The Broker Innovation Awards followed on from the Broker Innovation Summit, which will continue on to Melbourne next week.
Hosted by Broker Daily in partnership with principal partner NextGen, the Broker Innovation Summit focuses on the tools, strategies, and thinking required to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.
The multi-city event, emceed by Broker Essentials founder and co-host of Broker Daily’s Business Accelerator podcast, Jason Back, focuses squarely on the tools, strategies, and thinking required for brokers to remain competitive as artificial intelligence, automation, and digital-first lending reshape the industry.
The agenda is designed to move beyond theory – focusing on practical application. Attendees will gain insights into the psychology and digital behaviours of modern borrowers, learn how to build a brokerage designed to scale, and identify the systems and tech stacks used by top-performing brokers.
Keynote speakers include Pete Williams, chief edge officer at Deloitte Australia’s Centre for the Edge and founder of Deloitte Digital, who will focus practical AI for modern brokers, while Seth Watts - respected entrepreneur and technologist co-founded fintech start-up CampaignAgent - will present a session tailored for principals, directors, and growth-focused brokers that moves past mere experimentation.
Industry innovators from across the third-party channel will also delve into how they are pushing forward the broker channel with new technology and innovations.
The Broker Innovation Summit will travel to Melbourne on 3 July 2026, where it will be held at The Edge, Fed Square.
You can find out more about the Broker Innovation Summit, and purchase tickets to the event, here.
[Related: Broker Innovation Summit 2026 launches]
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