The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) is going on tour, equipping female brokers with the tools to recognise the warning signs of financial abuse and respond when clients are at risk.
As part of the 2026 Women in Finance Broking event series, and in partnership with Bankwest, the industry group will make stops in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth this August and September. The nationwide tour will focus on helping brokers better identify and respond to vulnerability, including situations where clients may be experiencing financial abuse.
MFAA Chief Executive Officer Anja Pannek described the theme of this year's series as a "natural evolution."
"Last year we explored women’s growing influence as financial decision makers. This year we wanted to take that conversation further and look at the complex human circumstances that can sit behind those financial decisions," Pannek told Australian Broker. "We know one in six Australian women has experienced economic abuse by a cohabiting partner. These are circumstances that will inevitably be present among some of the clients our industry serves.
"It also builds on broader conversations we have been having with members around vulnerability, trust and the human circumstances behind financial decisions," she continued. "We saw that brought into sharp focus at our National Conference this year, when [author and fraud expert] Tracy Hall shared her own powerful experience of financial fraud and what can happen when trust is exploited."
The series is being delivered in partnership with Financial Counselling Australia and Full Stop Australia, a national specialist organisation focused on sexual, domestic and family violence.
"Bringing Financial Counselling Australia and Full Stop Australia into this series means our members can hear directly from specialists and build practical capability they can take back into their businesses and client conversations," Pannek explained.
The sessions will move beyond theory, using broker scenarios and discussions to help attendees spot the signs of vulnerability, navigate sensitive conversations, maintain appropriate professional boundaries and know when it is appropriate to connect clients with specialist support and external resources.
The CEO said the event series comes at a time of growing awareness and understanding of how vulnerability can intersect with somebody’s financial circumstances.
"Mortgage and finance brokers are often working with people at significant moments in their lives, and sometimes those moments are difficult or complex," Pannek said. "At the same time, brokers now facilitate 81% of new residential home loans in Australia. With that reach comes an opportunity to make sure our members feel equipped and confident when they encounter clients who may be experiencing vulnerability. For the MFAA, this is about continuing to build the capability of our members so they can provide exceptional service while recognising when a client may need support beyond the role of their broker."
The event series kicks off in Brisbane on 25 of August. Additional stops include:
The event series is aimed at giving brokers a clearer understanding of the warning signs that may indicate a client is experiencing financial abuse, and the confidence to know what to do when those signs emerge. Pannek said brokers can be alert to a range of behaviours and circumstances during the normal course of working with clients.
"For mortgage and finance brokers, it really comes back to three things: recognise, respond and refer," she said. "Financial abuse and coercive control can present in many different ways, and we certainly don’t expect mortgage and finance brokers to diagnose what may be happening in a client’s relationship. But through the normal course of understanding a client’s financial circumstances, there may be things that cause a broker to slow down and pay closer attention. That could be one person consistently speaking or making decisions for the other, a client appearing unable to speak freely, unexplained debts or liabilities, or someone appearing to have very little control over their own income or financial decisions.
"The important point is that these aren’t a checklist for determining whether abuse is occurring," Pannek continued. "The numbers in front of a mortgage and finance broker can tell them a lot about someone’s financial position. But they won’t necessarily tell them the circumstances that created it."
The CEO added that helping clients "can be as simple as slowing the conversation down and creating an opportunity for the client to speak.
"That might mean asking an open, non-judgemental question about whether there is anything affecting their financial circumstances that they would like you to be aware of. If they do share something, listen and acknowledge what they have told you," Pannek said. "From there, it is about understanding what you can appropriately assist with and, where needed, connecting them with specialist support.
"What we want mortgage and finance brokers to leave this series with is the confidence and practical language to navigate those moments appropriately," she added.
