The Australian Finance Group (AFG), wrapped up its national conference this week, bringing three days of industry insights, networking and professional development to a close.
More than 900 industry professionals — including brokers, brokerage firms, lenders and other industry partners — turned up for the aggregator's three-day conference, dubbed "AFG Next," which was held Monday through Wednesday at the Crown Melbourne.
Conference goers at AFG Next 2026.
The final day of programming included an update on AFG's business, led by Them Lam, AFG's chief distribution and marketing officer (pictured above), and Sam McCready, chief digital officer at AFG. Attendees also heard from a diverse lineup of speakers, including financial journalist Chris Kohler; Nik and Harry Robinson, father-and-son co-founders of Good Citizens Eyewear; author and fraud prevention advocate Tracy Hall, who discussed scams in the industry; and Mitch Wallis, mental health proponent and founder of non-profit mental health charity organisation Heart On My Sleeve. In addition, conference-goers had the opportunity to explore the conference expo hall, connect with fellow professionals and meet with more than 20 industry partners.
The expo hall at AFG Next 2026.
Australian Broker was on the ground throughout the event, speaking with brokers about what brought them to the conference, what they hoped to gain from attending and the key insights and takeaways they would be bringing back to their businesses.
Mortgage broker at Adelaide-based Focus Mortgages
"The conference is good so far. This is my third AFG conference. The biggest takeaway is just learning what's ahead. The speakers, learning how they adapted through tough times. Like the Olympian [Ariarne Titmus]; she obviously kept at it and basically [from] when she was a teen all the way to being the gold medal winner [as an adult]. And the Four Pillars Gin distillery founder [Stuart Gregor], how obviously, if he didn't come up with the Bloody Shiraz Gin, then he wouldn't have got to where he was. He had to be different in the market. Pretty much the whole story there is that everyone is a broker. But you have to be different in the way you sell your business.
There are heaps of things to be worried about in the market really: the economy, too many brokers, AI, definitely. AI is a bit scary, both good and bad. The AI panel [with business speaker Adam Franklin] was good. I already use most of those tips already. So for me, I already knew about that. But I think it was good for the people who are not using AI yet and that they should start to get on board and start to use it."
Founder and director of Queensland-based Loan House Lending Solutions
"The conference is really great, and basically there is a lot of information that you can gather, especially the latest technology and the changes in the market, changes in the industry, and what new technology and models you can adopt. So it is very useful as a broker, like me, who doesn't have a very extensive experience as a broker. I have been in the industry for six or seven years. So from my perspective, the conference is very informative.
This is my fifth AFG conference. Under the current market conditions, I think this conference is very useful. The biggest takeaway so far is probably the application of technology. AI and the likes, and what we should take away when we are applying the latest technology. I am definitely worried about the slowdown in the property market, the business and basically, the increased use of cybersecurity. Basically, AI has two perspectives: one is beneficial and how we can use AI to benefit our business. The other is not."
Founder and mortgage broker of Melbourne-based Homfin Loans
"The conference, it's pretty good. Every year it happens and it's a wonderful opportunity for us brokers. So it is very informative and we get a lot of information. Every section has some things for us to learn or how to change [our processes]. It's mainly the information section that is most informative. And we get the chance to meet all the lenders, and the panels as well. We can get to know more about all the lenders and their mediums and everything. The information sections tell you more about how to deal with current scenarios in the market. For example, the industry is growing and there is more AI and everything is coming up. So based on those things, the conference teaches you, how do you manage your business? What we need to do to move on the business.
The conference gives you a lot of information sessions regarding how to manage and how to go ahead with the current scenario, because right now inflation is very high and interest rates are going up. So these are the things that the conference is helping us to manage. Right now, all over Australia most people are under stress because of these interest rate hikes and inflation."
Co-founder of Perth-based Broker Advisory Services
"The conference is good; the speakers are really good. It's good to come just to mingle and meet people. Our industry can be isolating. So it's great to come and put faces to people who we work with. Chris Kohler, the journalist, was really good. It's nice to hear him talk and his perspective. That was interesting.
And [our firm] is a bit old school. So learning about the technology was important. I went to the AI session; we'll take that back to our business and implement some things. We'll embrace the technology a bit more, which we haven't been doing; we don't use AI yet. I know a lot of people are using it, but we just haven't taken that step yet. So now, it's like, all right, we're going to have to, to progress. We've got to go in and see how it works, because we want to utilise it. We're just making sure we're on top of that, streamlining processes."
