About our FBAA membership
Quantum Finance Australia belongs to the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), which sets standards for its member brokers rather than rights for borrowers.
The problem this page addresses is a badge on a website that nobody explains. Association logos are everywhere in broking, and most sites carrying one never say what it does.
It is written for anyone weighing up whether a broker is accountable to anything. The short answer is yes, and the accountability that matters most comes from the credit licence rather than from the badge.
What an industry association is
A membership body, and what one can and cannot doThe FBAA is the industry association this practice belongs to. Before it is worth anything to you, it is worth knowing what kind of organisation it is.
A membership body, not a regulator
An industry association is joined voluntarily and its members pay to belong. It is not a government body, it does not issue credit licences, and it cannot compel a business that is not a member to do anything.
A voice to government
Associations put the profession's case to departments, parliamentary committees and regulators when credit law is being written or changed. That work is about the industry rather than about any individual file.
A code and a training programme
Members agree to a published code of practice and take part in professional development that counts towards the continuing education a broker has to keep up. Both are set and published by the association itself.
None of that is nothing. A broker who has agreed to a published code and keeps their training current is a better bet than one who has done neither. It is just not where your rights come from, and the next band is.
Where your protections actually come from
The licence and the complaints scheme, not the associationThese three are law and registration rather than membership. Each one is either a statutory obligation or a number you can look up on a register we do not control.
- Australian Credit Licence
- 389083Held by Quantum Finance Australia Pty Ltd in its own right. A licensee has to make reasonable enquiries about your circumstances, verify what you tell us, and only assist with credit that is not unsuitable for you.
- Best interests duty
- StatutoryMortgage brokers in Australia are subject to a best interests duty when providing credit assistance. Staff selling their own employer's home loans are not covered by that duty.
- Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) member
- 42334Membership of a free, independent external complaints scheme is a condition of the credit licence. If we cannot resolve a complaint with you, AFCA can consider it, and it is independent of us.
The complaints route, internal and external, is set out in full on the dispute resolution page, with the contact details for both. It is published because a licensee has to publish it, and it is worth reading before you need it.
What this page does not claim
We have not summarised somebody else's rulebookPlenty of broker sites carry a paragraph confidently describing what their association requires of them. Most of those paragraphs were written years ago and have not been checked since.
We would rather point you at the source. The association publishes its own code, its own membership requirements and its own training obligations, and those pages are current in a way our summary would not stay.
What we can tell you without qualification is on this page already: the licence number, the complaints scheme membership number, and the fact that both are checkable without asking us.
Four things you will not find here
- A membership number or a joining date, because we hold neither on file
- A member count for the association, because we have not verified one
- A summary of the association's code, because it is theirs to publish
- Any suggestion that membership improves your rate or your approval odds
Three layers, in order of weight
Law, then infrastructure, then membershipThis practice sits under three arrangements and they are not equal. Ranking them honestly is more useful than presenting all three as though each one protects you the same amount.
The credit licence is law and carries obligations owed to you. The aggregator is infrastructure and decides nothing about your file. The association is membership, and it sets standards for a broker rather than rights for a borrower.
Anyone telling you the third one is the important one has the order backwards.
- Law
Australian Credit Licence 389083
Responsible lending obligations, and a compulsory external complaints scheme. This is the layer with rights attached.
- Infrastructure
MoneyQuest, our aggregator
Lender accreditation and settlement systems, which is what puts 40+ lenders within reach. It has no say in the recommendation.
- Membership
Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA)
A code of practice and continuing professional development, agreed to voluntarily. Standards for the broker rather than rights for you.
The information on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Any figures shown are estimates only. Lending is subject to approval, and to the lender's terms, conditions, fees and charges. Consider whether the information is appropriate for you before acting on it.
Quantum Finance Australia Pty Ltd ABN 63 115 967 818 as trustee for the Gavin Harrigan Family Trust trading as Quantum Finance Australia is authorised under Australian Credit Licence Number 389083.
Get in touch
Memberships aside, what are you trying to do?Four questions and you are done. Tell us where you stand and a broker reads it, then rings you back on the number you give us.
Would rather just talk?
Ringing is quicker than waiting for us to ring you, and you get a broker rather than a queue.
1300 813 113