Vulnerable customers need a mortgage process they can understand and use, with support agreed around the obstacle they face. Ask what would help, adapt the communication or document task and keep the client involved in each decision. Review the arrangement when the task or the client’s circumstances change.
Recognise a Need for Additional Support
Look for difficulty using the service, then ask the client about it. A client who repeatedly misses a document request might struggle with the upload process, reading the instructions or finding time during a family crisis. The missed request alone does not tell you which adjustment will help.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) describes vulnerability as something anyone can experience. Its explanation of vulnerable customers includes temporary difficulties and the way providers deliver their services. Bereavement or job loss can make a previously manageable application difficult. Health, disability, language barriers, literacy and financial distress can combine.
A need for support does not establish that someone lacks decision-making capacity. Age, a diagnosis, cultural background or appearance alone cannot tell you what the person understands. The Australian Banking Association’s guidance on customer vulnerability warns against these assumptions in banks’ consent processes. Ask about the task the client finds difficult.
Keep three sources of expectations separate:
- ASIC guidance explains the regulator’s approach. Regulatory Guide 273, Mortgage brokers: Best interests duty, connects communication to understanding the application and loan recommendation.
- A broker’s legal obligations include acting in the consumer’s best interests when providing regulated mortgage credit assistance. The support arrangement must work alongside the obligations relevant to your licence or authorisation.
- The Banking Code of Practice contains subscribing banks’ commitments, including extra care for customers experiencing vulnerability. It is not automatically a separate code binding every independent broker. Follow applicable lender and licensee requirements when arranging a bank’s service.
Ask What Would Help
Invite the client to describe the obstacle and choose an adjustment without asking them to justify it with a diagnosis. Start with a neutral prompt: “Which part of getting these documents together is difficult?” Once you understand the task, ask what would make it easier.
Offer choices grounded in that answer. A client who loses track during long calls might prefer shorter appointments and a written explanation afterwards. Someone who cannot use the document portal might prefer assistance through another secure channel your licensee permits. Confirm that the proposed channel is accessible to the client before sending personal information through it.
Ask permission before involving a support person or interpreter. Explain what information the conversation will cover and agree whether the helper can attend a call, receive specified documents or assist with a particular task. Arrange a qualified interpreter through the licensee’s or lender’s published process when language support is needed. Explain any booking or cost arrangements before proceeding.
Continue speaking to the client. The Australian Human Rights Commission’s accessibility guidance for businesses recommends asking how to assist and addressing the person directly, including when an interpreter attends. A helper’s presence does not authorise them to choose the loan or receive future correspondence. If someone claims formal authority to act, have the licensee check its scope and required documents before relying on it.
Adapt the Mortgage Process With the Client
Change the task that creates the difficulty while retaining the information and explanation the application requires. Agree how you will check that the adjustment works.
Match the Adjustment to the Obstacle
| What the client finds difficult | An adjustment to agree | What to check afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| Following a long conversation | Shorter appointments, with one decision at a time | The client can explain the next step in their own words |
| Understanding loan terms | Plain explanations and a written comparison of relevant costs and features | The client can describe why the recommendation fits their priorities |
| Reading the documents provided | An accessible electronic format or larger text | The client can open and read the actual document |
| Using English for a detailed lending discussion | A qualified interpreter arranged through the approved process | The client can ask questions and express their own preference |
| Collecting documents during a distressing life event | Smaller document requests and an agreed timetable | The required evidence arrives without repeated confusing requests |
ASIC’s RG 273 guidance says explanations must fit the individual consumer. A standard factsheet can need further explanation. Ask the client to describe their understanding of a feature or repayment consequence, then explain any unclear point again. Avoid relying solely on “Do you understand?”
A Hypothetical Application
Consider Priya, who is applying for a mortgage after a bereavement. She understands her borrowing goal but cannot manage a long document list alongside estate paperwork. The broker and Priya work through the application as follows.
- Agree the document approach. Priya chooses smaller requests through the brokerage’s approved secure channel, with a short call after each request.
- Collect the required evidence in those smaller groups. At each call, confirm what has arrived and explain the next request.
- Explain the recommendation in separate parts. Priya describes the repayment commitment in her own words and asks about a feature she does not need. The broker answers that question and confirms Priya’s own preference before progressing.
- Record the arrangement for the next contact. The note states the agreed request size and call approach so the next staff member can follow it.
Contrast that with Tom, who manages documents independently but needs an interpreter for detailed loan explanations. Sending him fewer documents would leave the language barrier unresolved. His agreed support is an interpreted appointment, with questions and instructions still directed to him.
Assistance with a process does not promise approval or relax the credit assessment. Keep required enquiries and verification, and resolve missing information before proceeding. The mortgage broker responsible lending guide explains those assessment requirements separately.
Record, Share and Review Agreed Adjustments
Record enough for the next staff member to provide the agreed support without making the client repeat unnecessary personal details. A useful note identifies the obstacle, the client’s preference, the adjustment and when to review it. Record permission to involve another person, including which information and tasks that permission covers.
For Priya, the note can say she wants smaller document requests and a short follow-up call. A detailed account of her bereavement adds nothing to that instruction. A support note can itself reveal sensitive information, so keep its content proportionate and restrict access to staff who need it.
For organisations covered by the Australian Privacy Principles, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s collection guidance requires a purpose and necessity test. Collecting sensitive information generally also requires consent unless an exception applies. Permission alone does not make unnecessary collection appropriate.
Before a lender handoff, explain which adjustment you propose to share, with whom and why. Obtain appropriate consent and send the minimum useful information through an approved channel. Apply the privacy rules for use, disclosure and security, alongside your licensee’s process. Confirm how the lender will continue the communication arrangement.
At the next appointment or later loan review, ask whether the arrangement still helps. Recheck permission if the recipient or purpose changes. If the client now wants direct written contact without a helper, update the instructions so old permissions do not keep driving correspondence.
Escalate When Support Alone is Insufficient
Use the licensee’s escalation route when an adjustment leaves you unable to establish the client’s instructions or explain the recommendation sufficiently. Pause the affected decision while you seek guidance. A helper cannot resolve uncertainty by answering every question for the client.
If the problem is meeting repayments on an existing loan, help the client reach the lender’s hardship team. The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) directs brokers to lender support contacts for vulnerable circumstances. Use the lender’s current published process for the actual referral.
For broader debt difficulty, refer the client to free financial counselling. A financial counsellor can help with bills and creditor negotiations. Questions about legal authority, guarantees or legal proceedings need independent legal advice beyond the broker’s service adjustment.
When a support concern reveals possible pressure or financial control, move to the separate financial abuse response. Family involvement does not entitle a person to every communication. Agree the next contact with the client through the appropriate support process before sharing further information.
