Five years and counting, Women on the Move offers a blueprint for progress
Katrina Rowlands (pictured above, centre front, together with Women on the Move attendees), award-winning broker and founder of Mortgage Success, has a theory on why gender representation in the broking industry remains so poor.
To catch you up to speed, women represented less than 27% of the mortgage broking industry as of September 2024, when the last tally was conducted. That was actually a decline from September 2019, when women comprised 27.2% of the industry.
It is an issue that has been widely discussed but rarely tackled.
Discussing the matter with MPA, “women find it hard in an environment where they feel devalued, not trusted, or are being blindsided”, said Rowlands in her typical straight-talking fashion.
Source: The Mortgage and Finance Association Industry of Australia (MFAA)’s Industry Intelligence Service 19th Edition
The past five to six years have been especially damaging for all brokers, men and women alike: the fallout of the Royal Commission, coupled with inconsistent bank behaviours surrounding channel conflict, have led to a sense that brokers are swimming against the tide.
In a recent poll conducted by the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), “aggressive lender practices” topped the list of reasons brokers considered quitting the industry.
Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) chief executive Anja Pannek worries that channel conflict is “rearing its ugly head” amid an increasing emphasis from major banks into proprietary lending.
“All that is subversive and it makes you feel like someone's stabbing you in the back,” said Rowlands.
Without support and a way to process these experiences, she argues, many women simply opt out, eroding representation at both broker and leadership levels.
Quality mentorship is therefore critical to retaining women in broking because it provides the support needed to survive the industry’s toughest moments.
Rowlands believes every broker hits a crossroads where the question becomes “do I stay or do I go?”, and insists that “if you have a mentor at that point, you will get through the hard times” and stay in the industry.
Industry leaders step up
Thankfully, leading industry figures like Rowlands are passionate about effecting real change in the industry.
For the last five years, Rowlands has teamed up with broking network AFG on the ‘Women on the Move’ program.
Women on the Move is a national, scholarship-based development and support program for female brokers, designed and led by Rowlands and co-founder Marissa Schultz (pictured, below right, next to Rowlands), and powered by AFG with major lender partners.
Each year, five scholarship recipients from across Australia are selected, including women in a growth or middle‑management phase who run teams both on and offshore.
They receive one‑on‑one mentoring with Rowlands and Schultz, as well as tailored sessions with AFG senior management and bank executives.
Participants also undertake formal study through an accredited provider such as the Institute of Strategic Management in NSW, gaining recognised qualifications alongside practical skills.
A key pillar is the annual three‑day retreat, most recently held in Barangaroo, which combines deep‑dive workshops on customer, employee and personal value propositions with high‑level panel insights from aggregators, major brokerages and global banks.
Women on the Move is chaired by AFG’s head of corporate communications Alison Clark. The Board also includes AFG’s chief operating officer Lisa Bevan.
A passion for mentoring
This year’s retreat, which enjoyed support from HSBC, was focused on “customer value proposition, employee value proposition and your own value proposition. That program was phenomenal”, said Rowlands. The panel comprised prolific financial industry figures, including AFG’s Christa Malkin, HSBC’s Wade Benson and SmartMove’s Darren Little.
“There were real lights-on moments numerous times throughout the program,” said Rowlands. “I honestly believe it was the best program we’ve ever delivered.”
While mentoring is a passion for Rowlands, Women on the Move was a happy accident.
As a broker, “I love to educate clients; I don't like to tell them something and see them blank”, explained Rowlands. “I like to say, ‘I'm going to explain what your options are. I'm going to lead you down the path I suggest as my recommendation, but I'm going to ask a lot of questions. And I want you to go away, think about it, come back’.”
She does the same when it comes to mentoring. “Tell me what you really want. Don't tell me what you think the answer is,” she asks of her mentees. “Tell me the truth. And whether it's good, bad, ugly, I think that open, transparent communication of letting people tell you the truth is so much easier.”
Perhaps that’s creating her own competition, but she’s cool with that.
Rowlands’ idea of success is training her staff up well enough that they can branch out on their own. “I'm just raising the standard of my local brokers, which means the pie gets bigger because there are trusted, good-quality brokers in the town. And it then increases the pie for everyone, because the reputation of a broker goes up.”
This vision is what prompted AFG to approach Rowlands to co‑create the scholarship program in the first place.
Now five years running, Women on the Move has become a prime example of how genuine leadership can effect real change.
