Australian Mortgage Awards 2026: three cheers for the judges

MPA thanks the 35-member judging panel that picked the best mortgage brokers, lenders and aggregators of 2026

By William Farrington

20 Oct 2026

Thirty-five industry leaders made up the judging panel for the 2026 Australian Mortgage Awards (AMAs). They worked tirelessly to assess entries from mortgage brokers, brokerages, lenders, aggregators and business development managers (BDMs) across 28 categories, and chose the winners of mortgage broking’s biggest night of the year.

The full list of Australian Mortgage Awards 2026 winners was revealed at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney on Friday 16 October, in front of more than 850 guests at the sold-out gala.

MPA and all award sponsors would like to thank the following for their efforts:

Melissa Ashcroft – managing director, AAA Financial Group
Helen Avis – director of finance, Specialist Mortgage
Jason Azzopardi – chief executive, Brighten
Cory Bannister – senior vice president – chief lending officer, La Trobe Financial
Renee Blethyn – head of broker partnerships, NextGen
Adam Brown – executive, broker distribution, NAB
Tim Brown – chief executive, Recludo Mortgage Brokering Services
Blake Buchanan – general manager, Specialist Finance Group
Kristy Clucas – head of broker strategy, partnerships & performance, BOQ Group
Graham Cooke – founder, Aussie Insights
Sergio Delvescovo – national sales manager, ING Bank Australia
Shirley Elliot – head of compliance, legal counsel, AFG
Jean-Pierre Gortan – managing director, Simplicity Loans & Advisory
Joanna James – chief commercial officer, Finance Brokers Association of Australia
Caroline Jean-Baptiste – managing director, Mortgage Choice Fortitude Valley & Ashgrove
Frank Knez – chief marketing officer, Rate Money
Mhairi MacLeod JP – principal, Astute Ability Finance Group
Tony MacRae – chief commercial officer, Bluestone
Bob Masalkovski – state manager – business development NSW/ACT, Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia
Peter Mastroianni – managing director, Loans Only
Darren McLeod – head of third party, Beyond Bank
Anja Pannek – chief executive, Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA)
Grant Roden – executive manager, operations, home buying distribution, Bankwest
Lee Rudwick – general manager – mortgages product management, ANZ
Louisa Sanghera – managing director, Zippy Financial Group
Barry Saoud – general manager mortgages and commercial lending, Pepper Money
David Smith – chief distribution officer, Liberty
Zachary Su – director, So Money
Rob Thomas – national director, LMG
Joseph Trimarchi – solicitor, Joseph Trimarchi & Associates
Sebastian Watkins – chief executive, Lendi Group
Peter White – former chief executive, Finance Brokers Association of Australia
Sarah Willsallen – head of broker distribution, Westpac Group
Baber Zaka – general manager third party banking, Commonwealth Bank
Angel Zhong – professor of finance, RMIT University

In their words

“It was a privilege to judge this year’s awards and witness firsthand the calibre of talent, leadership and innovation across our industry,” said Cory Bannister, senior vice president – chief lending officer at La Trobe Financial. “Congratulations to all winners and nominees. The stories, achievements and positive impact demonstrated by so many entrants highlight the difference our industry continues to make for customers, businesses and communities every day.”

Joanna James, chief commercial officer at the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), was an Excellence Awardee herself this year, in the ANZ Woman of Distinction category. “It’s a testament to the strength of brokers across the industry that the quality of submissions were so high this year,” she said. “It’s always a delight to see the finalist names up in lights and huge congratulations to all the winners.”

Tim Brown, chief executive of Recludo Mortgage Brokering Services, said: “Congratulations to all the nominees and award winners. As always, the quality of submissions and results always makes our role as judges difficult.”

Blake Buchanan, general manager of Specialist Finance Group, missed the ceremony itself, but was there in spirit. “Watching the AMAs from afar while at a wedding gave me a severe case of FOMO!” he said. “Having been a judge for more than a decade in these prestigious awards, I can say the talent pool has levelled up again this year to the best ever, it really was splitting hairs to decide on the winners.”

"It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces and take the time to acknowledge the people and businesses making a real difference for their customers every day," said Baber Zaka, general manager third party banking, Commonwealth Bank. "A special congratulations to Azura Financial on taking out Brokerage of the Year (Over 20 Staff). So well deserved and a fitting recognition of the whole team. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists. A brilliant night with plenty to celebrate!"

Brighten chief executive Jason Azzopardi said: "The Australian Mortgage Awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the people driving our industry forward, and it was a pleasure to be part of such a great evening. Congratulations to all winners and nominees. Your dedication and commitment to helping clients achieve their goals continue to set the benchmark for our industry."

Strength in unity

For Mhairi MacLeod JP, principal of Astute Ability Finance Group, the entries showed how far the broker channel has come, from veterans to new entrants.

“Seeing the range of broker applications from those that have been doing it for a long time to the newbies, it was amazing how they’ve all adapted to the changing world in our space,” she said. “Seeing how brokers have adapted to technology, how they’ve adapted to the climate with lending, it certainly shows that this industry is going to be around for a long time.”

MacLeod said the submissions pointed to future consolidation among broker businesses, with sole operators looking to grow into larger firms.

“We may see a shrinkage in the number of brokers, but I think we’ll be stronger in unity,” she predicted. “I think the industry is going to be stronger, more collaborative, and it’s going to take a lot more pressure off aggregators and lenders.”

That collaboration comes as brokers hold a record 81.6% of new home loans.

Judges’ businesses back the winners

Many of the judges’ businesses also sponsored categories on the night:

Westpac sponsored the Australian Broker of the Year, won by Katie Thomas of Focus Finance.
Brighten sponsored the Broker of the Year – Regional, also won by Thomas, and the Fintech Lender of the Year, won by Bridgit.
Liberty sponsored the Australian Brokerage of the Year, won by Gippsland Finance Solutions (GFS), and the Brokerage of the Year – Diversification, won by The Australian Lending & Investment Centre.
Pepper Money sponsored the Broker of the Year – Specialist Lending, won by Mark Davis of The Australian Lending & Investment Centre.
La Trobe Financial sponsored the Broker of the Year – Commercial, won by Daniel Green of Green Finance Group.
The FBAA sponsored the Broker of the Year – Residential, won by Aaron Christie-David of Atelier Wealth Mortgage Brokers.
The MFAA sponsored the Brokerage of the Year (1–5 staff), won by Berti Financial Group.
Commonwealth Bank sponsored the Brokerage of the Year (>20 staff), won by Azura Financial.
Bankwest sponsored the New Brokerage of the Year, won by Amara Mortgage Brokers.
Bluestone Home Loans sponsored the Best Customer Service from an Individual Office, won by Birdie Wealth.
NAB sponsored the Best Industry Service, won by Loanworks Technologies.
ANZ sponsored the Woman of Distinction, won by Rachael McKenzie of Loan Gallery Finance.
So Money sponsored the Best Non-Major Bank BDM, won by Manraj Kler of AMP Bank.
Rate Money sponsored the Non-Bank of the Year, won by Pepper Money.
Mortgage Choice sponsored the Best Non-Bank BDM, won by Susan George of Pepper Money.