Upfront & Trail Commission Calculator, Australia

Big-4 owner-occupied loans typically pay 0.55% to 0.65% upfront and 0.15% to 0.20% p.a. trail. Big-4 investment loans pay marginally higher upfront (0.60% to 0.70%). Non-bank prime lenders offer 0.65% to 0.75% upfront with similar trail. Non-bank specialist (low-doc, near-prime) can pay 0.85% to 1.00% upfront but with shorter book life. All figures are approximate and change with lender campaigns, confirm with your aggregator's commission schedule.

Clawback is the lender's right to recover paid-out upfront commission if the loan is discharged early, typically full clawback in year 1, 50% in year 2, nothing thereafter (varies by lender). Refinances, sales, and broker-led repricing all trigger clawback. The risk falls on the broker, not the borrower. NCCP Best Interests Duty doesn't override commercial clawback terms, but it does mean you can't refuse to act in the client's interests to preserve commission.

Most lender commission schedules are quoted GST-inclusive, with the lender remitting GST on the broker's behalf as the principal under recipient-created tax invoice (RCTI) arrangements. If you bill the borrower a fee directly (rare in residential, more common in commercial broking), GST applies normally and you issue your own invoice. Confirm with your aggregator, RCTI arrangements vary.

Industry rule-of-thumb is 1.5 to 2.5 times annual run-rate trail for owner-occupied loan books, lower for older books closer to run-off. Specialist lender books with shorter life trade at lower multiples. Major bank books trade higher because of stability. The calculator's lifetime trail estimate assumes a simple geometric decay, for a sale or finance event, get a formal valuation that models actual book age, lender mix, and refinance risk.

Depends entirely on your existing aggregator's terms. Some allow full trail to move (with re-credentialling), others retain trail on the existing book and pay you a reduced rate or nothing. Holding your own Australian Credit Licence gives you the strongest negotiating position, credit reps under an aggregator's ACL have less leverage. Read the run-off clause before signing your next aggregator agreement.

The Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) conflicted remuneration ban applies to financial advice, not credit assistance, so mortgage broker commission from lenders is generally outside that regime. However, NCCP Best Interests Duty (since Jan 2021) overrides commission-driven recommendations: brokers must act in the borrower's best interests even when a higher-commission product exists. Document why the chosen product is in the client's interests, not why the commission was paid.