Welcome to the second edition of our election update – your weekly round-up of what’s been said, promised, and proposed on the campaign trail, and what it means for our members and the housing market.
What are the polls saying?
Labor continues to hold the lead this week, with most polls pointing to a modest but steady advantage:
It’s early days in the campaign, but housing affordability remains a front-of-mind issue for voters – and both parties know it.
Major party policy announcements
Cutting red tape
The MFAA View – Reform must be meaningful
We support efforts to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden, particularly for small businesses like mortgage brokers. Key for us, the reforms need to be thoughtful and focused – cutting regulation only works if it improves customer outcomes and supports business sustainability. As we outlined in our submissions, including in our 2025-26 Pre-budget submission, regulation should be clear, proportionate, and built to support innovation in the industry.
Securing Australia as a Financial Centre
The MFAA View – Competition and access are key
We’ve long advocated for the inclusion of the ACCC in the Council of Financial Regulators – a move that can enhance coordination, improve market transparency and support better outcomes for consumers.
Strong competition in lending is central to our sector – and mortgage brokers play a critical role in delivering choice to Australians. Simplifying financial services law is welcome, as long as it maintains consumer protections and recognises the complexity of advice and credit provision.
What’s in, what’s out – and who’s responsible?
Between state and federal announcements, it can be hard to keep up with what support is available for home buyers.
We’ve created a comprehensive guide to every single government home buying scheme across Australia – so you don’t have to go hunting for answers. You can read this home buying scheme guide here.
Non-compete vs non-solicitation clauses
These clauses aren’t just legal jargon – they matter in practice. We’ve put together a short explainer and included practical templates to help you understand and manage them with confidence. You can read more about non-compete vs non-solicitation clauses here.
In late-breaking news: CSLR front and centre
Just in: the Coalition has gone hard on the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR), promising to “clean up” the two-year-old scheme.
In a pointed speech, the Shadow Financial Services Minister said fixing the CSLR would be a top priority, pledging to:
The MFAA View – We’ve said this needs fixing for a while
We know how much pain the CSLR levy is causing our members and there is a real and urgent need for greater fairness, cost transparency, and clarity about who pays and why.
If you’re interested in our detailed position, you can read our submission to Treasury’s Post implementation Review of the CSLR here.
We’ll be watching closely to see how this one develops – and we’ll continue to push for reforms that protect consumers without unfairly punishing mortgage and finance brokers.
Looking ahead to next week…
You may remember that in February, Labor committed to updating financial guidance to better support Australians with HELP debts to enter the property market. Those updates have now been implemented, and lenders are beginning to adjust their policies in response. We’ll be monitoring this closely.
With Easter just around the corner, we expect next week to be policy-heavy early in the week, with both sides aiming to land key messages before the long weekend pause.
So, stay tuned for more next week on the MFAA Election Wrap!
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