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Home Loans Canberra

Home loans in Canberra

A home loan arrives as a stack of paper long before it arrives as a set of keys. Somewhere in that stack, a document may show a credit licence number, and it is a small thing worth finding.

The number on the paperworkAustralian credit licence · Canberra
  1. 1

    The licence

    A person must not engage in a credit activity if the person does not hold a licence authorising the person to engage in the credit activity.

    National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), s 29(1)
  2. 2

    Representatives

    For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), it is a defence if: (a) the person engages in the credit activity on behalf of another person (the principal); and (b) the person is: (i) an employee or director of the principal or of a related body corporate of the principal; or (ii) a credit representative of the principal; and (c) the person's conduct in engaging in the credit activity is within the authority of the principal; and (d) the principal holds a licence authorising the principal to engage in the credit activity.

    National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), s 29(3)
  3. 3

    The number on the paperwork

    Whenever a licensee identifies itself in a document of a kind prescribed by the regulations, the licensee must: (a) include in the document the licensee's Australian credit licence number; and (b) identify in the document that the number is the licensee's Australian credit licence number.

    National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), s 52(2)
  4. 4

    Which documents

    For subsection 52(2) of the Act, the following kinds of documents are prescribed: (a) a document that is required to be created or produced in accordance with Chapter 3 of the Act; (b) a printed advertisement that relates to the provision of credit to which the Code would apply; (c) a document that is required to be created, produced, given or published by a provision of the Code; (d) a document lodged with ASIC that relates to the provision of credit to which the Code would apply.

    National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010 (Cth), reg 13(1)

Not sure whose licence is behind a broker or lender?

ASIC's professional registers list credit licensees and credit representatives. A search by name or number shows what the register holds, and no more.

Search ASIC's professional registershttps://asic.gov.au/online-services/search-asic-registers/professional-registers-search

Names from the first conversation

A conversation about a home loan can begin with one person and lead to a business you had not heard of before. At a first meeting, write down the person's full name, the business name printed on their card, and the date. If they say they work for a lender or for a broker's firm, note that name as well, spelled exactly as they spell it.

Keep the first papers together from the start: any letter, brochure or form handed across the table, and any email sent afterwards. A home loan gathers paper as it goes, and the first pages are the easiest to lose under the later ones.

A copy of the assessmentNational Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009

If, before entering the credit contract or increasing the credit limit, the consumer requests the licensee for a copy of the assessment, the licensee must give the consumer a written copy of the assessment before entering the contract or increasing the credit limit. Note: The licensee is not required to give the consumer a copy of the assessment if the contract is not entered or the credit limit is not increased. [...] (4) The licensee must not request or demand payment of an amount for giving the consumer a copy of the assessment.

National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), s 132(1) and (4)

A copy of the assessment

If a home loan is being looked at, one paper a person can ask for is a copy of the assessment. Ask for it in writing, by email or letter, and keep a copy of the request with its date. When the reply arrives, keep it with the request, so the two stay together.

Read the paper's own title and the date printed on it. Then hold the business name on it against the names noted at the first meeting and on the earlier letters. If a name differs, write down both versions and where each one appeared.

File the copy of the assessment beside the loan papers it relates to, rather than in a folder of its own, so anyone reading the set later finds them together.

Keeping the set in order

A home loan can run for years, and the paper around it keeps coming: letters, notices, statements, changes to terms. Keep them in date order in a single drawer or a folder on a computer, with the oldest at the back and the newest at the front.

When a paper says something different from what was said in a meeting or on a call, write a short note while it is fresh: what was said, who said it, and what the paper shows. Then ask about the difference in writing, and keep the reply clipped to the note.

If a new business name appears on a letter, note the date it first appeared and the paper it came on, and add it to the list of names from the first meeting. A search of ASIC's professional registers by that name shows what the register holds for it.

Where the words come from

  • National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth)Compilation No. 52, 1 July 2026. Based on content from the Federal Register of Legislation at 15 October 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.
  • National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010 (Cth)Compilation No. 57, 5 September 2026. Based on content from the Federal Register of Legislation at 15 October 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.