Unforgettable event lives up to title of The Oscars of the Finance Industry
They don’t call it the Oscars of the Finance Industry for nothing.
The atmosphere was buzzing when 850 guests gathered at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney on Friday, 17 October, to celebrate the diverse, innovative industry that is mortgage broking.
Across 28 categories, Australia’s best and brightest brokers, brokerages, lenders, BDMs, marketing teams, fintechs and customer service experts held their awards high to rapturous applause.
Read more: 2025 Winners and Excellence Awardees
Few would have believed MC Dave Hughes (pictured, below) was fresh out of his second hospital stint on AFL-related injuries – he kept the crowd alive with his typical larrikin antics before passing the mic to the Australian music legend that is Daryl Braithwaite.
Braithwaite brought the masses to a fever pitch with an extended version of his timeless 90s classic The Horses, among other hits. Many a chorus was sung, many a table was stood upon.
As for the award winners, the evening surely belonged to Katie Thomas and the Focus Finance team.
Thomas picked up not one but two gongs, taking home NAB Broker of the Year – Regional the biggest award of the night, Westpac Australian Broker of the Year.
Focus Finance's Katie Thomas (right) accepting award from NAb's Adam Brown (left)
Thomas attributed her wins to “the genuine care for our team and our clients and everybody that we work with”.
That wasn’t all for Focus Finance, as a “very shocked and really excited” Maddison Brown also took home Bendigo Bank Broker Young Gun of the Year. Brown mentioned Focus Finance’s “great culture” and “really supportive” environment as keys to her win.
Focus Finance's Maddison Brown (right) accepting award from Bendigo Bank's Chris Boutrous (left)
Best interview vibes surely went to outsource Financial's Donn Tariga, who picked up the Firstmac Best Aggregator BDM award. All pretense of containing his excitement flew out the door when Tariga was handed the trophy, as he thanked the whole outsource Financial team for his “FREAKING amazing” win.
outsource Financial's Donn Tariga (right) accepting award from Firstmac's Dragan Latincic (left)
The Liberty Australian Brokerage of the Year went to Fundwise Capital, while the prestigious Commonwealth Bank Brokerage of the Year (>20 staff) award went to Azura Financial.
Helia nabbed the Success & Broker Best Industry Marketing Campaign trophy for the second year running. “I’m so excited to win,” said Helia’s head of marketing and brand Dimi Bartolillo. “This goes back to all the team at Helia and the hard work we’re doing around educating brokers around LMI."
Helia's Dimi Bartolillo (left) accepting award from Success & Adviser's Ryan Devillers (right)
Sarah Cox of Two Broker Girls, which won Bluestone Home Loans Best Customer Service from an Individual Office, didn’t take the win for granted. “We’re up with a lot of other offices that are very high calibre, we’re just so, so thrilled,” said Cox.
Two Broker Girls' Sarah Cox (right) accepting award from Bluestone's Aaron Taylor (left)
Bluestone itself picked up Rate Money Non-Bank of the Year, with chief commercial officer Tony MacRae calling the win “a fabulous thrill and a great recognition of the whole team… The AMA’s have always been regarded as the Logies of the mortgage industry, so to pick up one of these is a great thrill".
Bluetone's Tony MacRae (centre) and Nicole Avery (right) accepting award from Rate Money's Kerryn Millar (left)
Bankwest secured a confident win as the Infinity Capital Financial Group Bank of the Year for the second year running, with Ian Rakhit, general manager third party, attributing the win to “12 months of hard effort… We continue to innovate based upon our broker feedback – what our brokers feel is necessary to them is exactly the type of things that Bankwest looks to build”.
Bankwest's Ian Rakhit (right) accepting award from Infinity Capital Mortgage Management's Jack Zhou (left)
In picking up Mortgage Street Best Major Bank BDM, Westpac’s Sam Tang thanked his company for the mentoring and support he received throughout the year.
Westpac's Sam Tang (left) accepting award from Mortgage Street's Krystyna Mustac (right)
The ANZ Woman of Distinction trophy went to an ecstatic Melanie Smith, franchisee at Aussie Windsor. “I am absolutely gobsmacked,” Smith said of her win. “This is a really prestigious big deal and I had no idea it was ever remotely in the running.”
Aussie Windsor's Melanie Smith (right) accepting award from ANZ's Jon Angelucci (left)
The night continued as 400-plus attendees descended on the after party, held at The Fullerton’s lavish grand ballroom.
Daryl Braithwaite gets the crowd amped at the 2025 Australian Mortgage Awards
MPA and AustralianBroker, alongside event partner Westpac, premium partners Liberty and NAB, and the raft of award sponsors wishes to congratulate all winners, finalists, guests and events teams for making the Australian Mortgages Awards 2025 a night to remember.
The winners
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La Trobe Financial Broker of the Year – Commercial: Daniel Green, Green Finance Group
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FBAA Broker of the Year – Residential: Chris Raymond, Unconditional Finance
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Pepper Money Broker of the Year – Specialist Lending: Helen Avis, Specialist Mortgage
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Equity-One Broker of the Year – Productivity: Dion Fernandes, Emerge Finance
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NAB Broker of the Year – Regional: Katie Thomas, Focus Finance
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Bendigo Bank Broker Young Gun of the Year: Maddison Brown, Focus Finance
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Liberty Brokerage of the Year – Diversification: The Australian Lending & Investment Centre
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MFAA Brokerage of the Year (1-5 staff): Fundwise Capital
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Resimac Brokerage of the Year (6-20 staff): BF Money
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Commonwealth Bank Brokerage of the Year (>20 staff): Azura Financial
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AMP Bank Brokerage of the Year – Regional: Infinity Group Australia
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Bankwest New Brokerage of the Year: Money Lounge
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Bluestone Home Loans Best Customer Service from an Individual Office: Two Broker Girls
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Success & Broker Best Industry Marketing Campaign: Helia
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NAB Best Industry Service: LoanOptions.ai
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ANZ Woman of Distinction: Melanie Smith, Aussie Windsor
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Prime Capital Boutique Aggregator of the Year: Purple Circle Financial Services
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MSA National Aggregator of the Year: Lendi Group
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Firstmac Best Aggregator BDM: Donn Tariga, outsource Financial
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Mortgage Street Best Major Bank BDM: Sam Tang, Westpac
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So Money Best Non-Major Bank BDM: Kymberly Mylonas, Suncorp Bank
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Mortgage Choice Best Non-Bank BDM: Craig Meale, ORDE Financial
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Infinity Capital Financial Group Bank of the Year: Bankwest
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Rate Money Non-Bank of the Year: Bluestone Home Loans
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RedZed Fintech Lender of the Year: Ubank
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Keystone Capital Mortgage Manager of the Year: Mortgage Ezy
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Westpac Australian Broker of the Year: Katie Thomas, Focus Finance
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Liberty Australian Brokerage of the Year: Fundwise Capital
