Mortgage brokers’ concerns about operating costs, regulation, and staffing have a new route to the board of Australia’s peak small business body.
Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) chief executive Anja Pannek was announced as a newly elected board member of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA).
COSBOA represents small business interests nationally through its member associations, which can nominate representatives for its voluntary board seats.
Pannek has more than 20 years’ experience in financial services, spanning mortgage distribution, aggregation, and banking. She joined the MFAA as chief executive in September 2022 after leading PLAN Australia, and before that held senior roles at NAB, Loan Market Group, Advantedge Financial Services, and Challenger Limited.
Most MFAA members run small businesses, and Pannek said the role would support the association’s advocacy for members in both capacities, as brokers and as business owners.
“Mortgage and finance brokers are small business owners, employers, and active members of communities across Australia,” Pannek said.
Brokers as a whole now handle the bulk of Australian home lending, facilitating a record 81.6% of new residential home loans in the June quarter.
She pointed to the challenges brokerages share with other small firms:
“They face many of the same pressures as other small businesses, including rising operating costs, regulatory complexity, productivity challenges, and finding and retaining great people.”
One cost pressure is already visible in the data. The MFAA’s State of Mortgage & Finance Broking Report 2026 found the median clawback per broker rose 16.5% to $11,442 in 2025.
The board seat builds on an established relationship. The MFAA joined COSBOA in 2024, and the two organisations have worked together on member programs including She Means and Cyber Wardens, a free cybersecurity education initiative for small businesses.
Pannek described her election as a natural next step in that relationship, and COSBOA chief executive Skye Cappuccio welcomed the broker perspective she would bring to the board.
“Anja brings significant leadership and advocacy experience, as well as a strong understanding of the opportunities and pressures facing small business owners,” Cappuccio said.
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