Daniel Mulino says rising market share reflects the industry's growing role in driving better outcomes for Australians
Mortgage brokers have become indispensable to how Australians access home finance, with assistant treasurer and minister for financial services Daniel Mulino (pictured top) lending ministerial weight to the industry's growing role in driving competition and consumer outcomes.
MFAA chief executive officer Anja Pannek interviewed Mulino in a session screened at the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) national conference today, covering broker regulation, housing affordability reforms, and the increasing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) across the sector.
Pannek noted that broker market share had grown significantly since the introduction of the Best Interest Duty, describing the trend as evidence that putting client interests first was translating into better consumer outcomes. Mulino agreed, linking the rise in broker market share to the government's broader productivity and competition agenda.
"Productivity and competition are really important when it comes to driving consumer outcomes, both in the short term and the long term," Mulino said.
Pannek pointed out that close to 80% of borrowers accessing government housing schemes do so through a mortgage broker, citing figures from Housing Australia, and pointed to the industry's role in financial literacy and first-home buyer guidance beyond product selection alone. Mulino acknowledged the point, adding that brokers provided particular value to cohorts including younger Australians, elderly people, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds navigating the lending system for the first time.
Mulino also addressed the government's recent Budget measures, which include changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax arrangements, framing them as "intergenerational fairness".
Under the new framework, negative gearing will apply only to new builds, with existing arrangements grandfathered. The government has projected the changes will result in approximately 75,000 people moving from renting to homeownership over the medium term. "We felt that was a way of trying to encourage qa more balanced approach to the housing market overall between people trying to buy their first home versus investors while retaining options for investors to negatively gear new builds," said Mulino.
Mulino suggested the changes will lead to over 75,000 people shifting from renting to owning their own home in the medium term. However, the Budget changes have been heavily criticised by brokers and the wider housing industry, with many accusing Labor of stifling investor appetite, which could lead to fewer homes being built.
Read more: Property pros predict investor exodus following CGT, negative gearing reforms
Read more: Government drops retrospective CGT changes after industry backlash
Regulation was also discussed, with Mulino arguing that well-designed oversight supports rather than undermines market function.
The assistant treasurer flagged the Consumer Data Right (CDR) as a further area where brokers were contributing to productivity outcomes, describing their uptake of CDR as enabling consumers to share their data safely and move away from screen scraping practices.
On artificial intelligence, Mulino acknowledged the technology was already in active use across financial services, including by brokers, lenders, and regulators. He cautioned, however, that its deployment required ongoing oversight, particularly regarding privacy and the growing sophistication of scam and cyber activity.
"We're seeing AI being used increasingly by the perpetrators of the problematic activity, but we're also seeing AI being used increasingly to protect consumers, both by the financial sector organisations or the advisors, andalso by regulators," he said.
Mulino called for closer collaboration between government and industry to ensure resilience across the financial system, and said the prime minister's establishment of a central Office of Artificial Intelligence reflected the need for coordinated oversight across portfolios.
Mulino closed by reaffirming trust as foundational to the sector's long-term function.
"Trust is absolutely critical to this sector, because what we need to make sure, is that some of the advisors, the brokers, the people that play such a key role in helping people navigate that system, are key, trusted advisers, and that people can rely on them for advice that is unbiased, that is unconflicted, that is high quality," he said.
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