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Twenty-five years ago, under an old church in Spring Hill, Queensland, the first ever members of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia began to gather.
The group is celebrating its quarter of a century milestone this month, although no one is quite sure of the exact anniversary date.
Seemingly, no one thought to make a note because the 40 or 50 people there never thought it would be as big as it is today.
According to one of the original members the topics discussed back then were not much different, but they had a much more “narrow focus” on Queensland, and particularly, the south east region. For when it started, it was the FBAQ.
Stanley Millar and his business partner were approached by the original organisers in the early days.
Of those first few years, Millar said, “After a period of time we managed to get some meetings with some of the state government ministers, we did manage to get a small amount of change instigated even way back then but of course broking was only very small so nobody was taking very much notice.”
Asked if he had ever expected the organisation to grow like it has, he laughed, “No. Not at all! I’m absolutely astounded at how big it’s got.”
In 2000, the association merged with a body in Western Australia, but it still only had a couple of hundred brokers signed up.
Peter White, executive director of the FBAA today, joined in 2003. He says by the time he became CEO in 2010, there were around 1100 brokers.
White said, “When it first started it was a group of mates getting together at a church hall to deal with some of the issues in the industry. It specialised mainly with commercial and asset finance.
“It was just a lack of representation in the market. No voice being listened to and they wanted more done.
“It was a year or two settling in. Then 2012 to 2013 we had a skyrocket to the numbers we're at today. It's been in the last handful of years or more that we've seen significant growth.”
Today, the FBAA is one of the leading associations representing the industry, not only supporting brokers but championing them as well.
Most recently, the association has dealt with some uncomfortable stories from the early stages of the Royal Commission into banking misconduct.
While the industry is preparing itself for a potential shake-up, Millar believes brokers will continue to play a strong role.
He said, “I think it’s a very positive time for the industry. I think we’ve got a very big role to play, particularly keeping a level playing field with the lenders and so forth. Because what brokers are about is we’re a few spins from all different lenders, not just the one we see when you walk in off the street, which of course helps competition. Without the brokers interest rates would be higher, fees would be higher.”
White added, “We’ve got some challenges post-royal commission but these things always happen. It's my 40th year in the industry. We always get nervous around these times.
“For a lot of time you feel like you're bashing your head against the brick wall and it takes a while to get the message right.
“But we spend a lot of time with excellent connections and it’s such a great privilege to do this. To represent an industry and see not only how the FBAA has grown, but the battles it's taken on and fought and won.”
