The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) lit up the Melbourne skyline on Wednesday night as it celebrated the 2026 National Excellence Awards. The annual event honours the individuals and businesses whose achievements have helped shape the mortgage and finance industry over the past 12 months.
"Trust is the foundation of our industry. It is earned every day through expertise, integrity and by consistently putting clients first," said Anja Pannek, chief executive officer of the MFAA. "Our National Excellence Awards recognise the people, businesses and organisations who exemplify those qualities. They celebrate not only outstanding mortgage and finance brokers, but also the aggregators, lenders, mentors and service providers who work together to deliver exceptional outcomes for clients."
The awards capped an action-packed day of networking and professional development at the MFAA National Conference, themed "Built on Trust. Ready for Tomorrow." Held at Centrepiece Melbourne Park, the conference drew nearly 1,000 attendees. Later that evening, around 600 brokers, aggregators, lenders, service providers and industry colleagues gathered in their best black-tie frocks at the Crown Melbourne to celebrate the sector's top performers.
"The best part of the evening is that you're in a room full of winners," Amol Agrawal, founder and finance broker at Juice Finance in Bunbury, Western Australia, and winner of the "Customer Service Award – Individual," told Australian Broker. "Every person in that room, regardless of if they're a broker, or a BDM, or MFAA team member, or the crew, or the banks, the lenders, they're all winners. And they're all striving for one goal: to get a better outcome for their clients.
"I highly recommend that people be here," he continued. "Because it's the conversations, it's the connections, it's the passion. One 30 second conversation can change your life, can change the way you run your business. It's very important for people. And then you get motivated. You see what others are striving for and you want to achieve better for yourself."
"Western Australia doesn't win a lot of awards, traditionally," Agrawal added. "So this award put Bunbury on the national map, which was huge for us."
For Sebastian Watkins, chief executive officer of Lendi Group, the industry's greatest strength lies in the connections between its people.
"Our industry is built on relationships," he said. "Technology is transforming how we all work, but this is still very much a people business. Events like the MFAA Awards are an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the incredible work being done across the industry, and to connect with peers, lenders and brokers outside of the day-to-day. They're also a great reminder that while we compete hard, we're all working towards the same goal of building a stronger, more professional mortgage broking industry."
Donna Campbell of Mortgage Choice South Morang in north Melbourne and recipient of the "Community Champion Award," alongside Louisa Sanghera of Zippy Financial, said: "it was good to just get out.
"I like mixing with other people, just chatting and enjoying the night," she said. "And the meal was great; the company was good."
Of the 854 submissions were received this year, winners were announced in 26 categories.
Pannek congratulated all of the finals and winners, saying, "being recognised at this level is an incredible achievement and reflects the positive impact you are making for your clients, your businesses and our industry.
"The quality of our finalists and winners demonstrates the extraordinary depth of talent, innovation and professionalism that exists across mortgage and finance broking," the CEO added.
Chief executive, mortgages and commercial lending at non-bank lender Pepper Money
"Being named the MFAA's national "Specialty Lender Award" winner for the ninth consecutive year is a proud moment for all of us at Pepper Money. The fact that its broker and industry voted makes this recognition especially rewarding. It reflects the hard work, expertise and commitment of our people, who show up every day focused on helping brokers and their customers to succeed. Every conversation, every application and every outcome matters. It's our team's can-do mindset and genuine partnership with brokers that continues to be our X factor."
General manager home buying distribution at Bankwest
"We are extremely proud to continue our streak at the MFAA Excellence Awards after being recognised as the best non-major lender at the national awards for the ninth consecutive year. The long-running success is a great honour and testament to our dedication to continuously improving home buying experiences for customers and brokers. It follows another year of strong momentum at Bankwest, including a near 20% increase in same-day approvals and continued investment in the Broker Portal and digital experiences. We have built on practical policy settings, outstanding broker support and customer-first innovations to positively influence the experience of Australians making one of life’s biggest financial decisions and the brokers who help many of them navigate that process."
Executive director, head of broker distribution at Macquarie Group
"We are incredibly proud of this award win, as it’s voted for by brokers and shows that our pro-broker commitment is really resonating with our broker partners. At Macquarie, we’ve invested heavily in dedicated support and purpose-built technology that gives our brokers the confidence to deliver exceptional outcomes for their customers. In the past year, our seamless and efficient processes and platforms have delivered our fastest turnaround times ever, with a new record time to formal approval of 8 minutes and 27 seconds."
Chief executive officer of Lendi Group
"Awards like this are always a reflection of the collective effort of a lot of people, so we're incredibly grateful to the MFAA and to the brokers who choose to partner with us every day. We've built a culture that challenges itself to keep improving. We're shipping new products and experiences every quarter, and we hate sitting still. The mortgage industry is evolving quickly and we've tried to lead the charge by continuing to push the boundaries of innovation, supporting brokers, delivering great customer outcomes and earning trust every day. Ultimately, I think this award recognises consistent execution over a long period of time, and it's incredibly rewarding to see that recognised by the industry."
