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Mortgages Australia

Mortgages in Australia

A mortgage is a promise written over a home, and it can gather papers from a lender, a broker and sometimes a family guarantor. Where a licence number appears among them, it is a small line worth finding and looking up.

The number on the paperworkAustralian credit licence
  1. 1

    The licence

    A person must not engage in a credit activity if the person does not hold a licence authorising the person to engage in the credit activity.

    National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), s 29(1)
  2. 2

    Representatives

    For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), it is a defence if: (a) the person engages in the credit activity on behalf of another person (the principal); and (b) the person is: (i) an employee or director of the principal or of a related body corporate of the principal; or (ii) a credit representative of the principal; and (c) the person's conduct in engaging in the credit activity is within the authority of the principal; and (d) the principal holds a licence authorising the principal to engage in the credit activity.

    National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), s 29(3)
  3. 3

    The number on the paperwork

    Whenever a licensee identifies itself in a document of a kind prescribed by the regulations, the licensee must: (a) include in the document the licensee's Australian credit licence number; and (b) identify in the document that the number is the licensee's Australian credit licence number.

    National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), s 52(2)
  4. 4

    Which documents

    For subsection 52(2) of the Act, the following kinds of documents are prescribed: (a) a document that is required to be created or produced in accordance with Chapter 3 of the Act; (b) a printed advertisement that relates to the provision of credit to which the Code would apply; (c) a document that is required to be created, produced, given or published by a provision of the Code; (d) a document lodged with ASIC that relates to the provision of credit to which the Code would apply.

    National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010 (Cth), reg 13(1)

Not sure whose licence is behind a broker or lender?

ASIC's professional registers list credit licensees and credit representatives. A search by name or number shows what the register holds, and no more.

Search ASIC's professional registershttps://asic.gov.au/online-services/search-asic-registers/professional-registers-search

The names on a mortgage

A home loan can arrive as more than one paper: the credit contract for the loan itself, and the mortgage that ties it to the property. Each names the people who sign it and a business on the other side, and where a parent or partner signs as a guarantor, their name joins the set.

At a first meeting, write down the name of the person across the table, the business on their card, and the business named on the first papers they hand over. If a broker is involved, the lender's name can be a different one again, so note both, and which papers each name appears on.

Copy the names exactly as printed, Pty Ltd and all. Two businesses with similar names are far easier to tell apart when the spelling was copied rather than remembered.

Copies on requestNational Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009

A credit provider must in accordance with this section, at the written request of a debtor, mortgagor or guarantor, provide to the debtor, mortgagor or guarantor a copy of: (a) the credit contract, mortgage or guarantee; or (b) any credit-related insurance contract in the credit provider's possession; or (c) a notice previously given to the debtor, mortgagor or guarantor under this Code. [...] (2) The copy must be provided: (a) within 14 days, if the original came into existence one year or less before the request is given; or (b) within 30 days, if the original came into existence more than one year before the request is given.

National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), Sch 1 (National Credit Code), s 185(1) and (2)

Asking for a copy of the mortgage

Signed papers have a way of scattering: one copy with a solicitor, one in an old email, one in a drawer after a move. A borrower, a mortgagor or a guarantor who wants a fresh copy of the contract or the mortgage can ask the lender for it in writing.

Write the request plainly: the names on the loan, the property address, and which paper is wanted. Keep a copy of the request with the date it was sent, and put the reply beside it with the date it arrived.

When the copy comes, read its own title and date first, then the business name printed on it, and check that name against the one on the first letters. If the paper is a mortgage, keep it next to the contract it secures, so the two read as one matter.

A set that holds together over the years

A mortgage can run for a long stretch, and in that time letters may arrive under a new logo or a new name. File each paper in date order with the earlier ones, and note on the folder any business name that was not there before, with the date it first appeared and the paper it was on.

If something on paper reads differently from what was said in a meeting or on a call, write down what was said, who said it and when, then ask about the difference in writing. Keep the answer with the paper it concerns.

Where a credit licence number appears on any of these papers, copy it next to the business name it belongs to. A search of ASIC's register by that name or number shows the entry the register holds, ready to file with the rest.

Where the words come from

  • National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth)Compilation No. 52, 1 July 2026. Based on content from the Federal Register of Legislation at 15 October 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.
  • National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010 (Cth)Compilation No. 57, 5 September 2026. Based on content from the Federal Register of Legislation at 15 October 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.