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The She Means Business program will provide up to 10 businesses with support and leadership development opportunities, including funding.
The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) has partnered with the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia’s (COSBOA) She Means Business pilot program – a federal government-funded initiative aimed at increasing gender diversity in small businesses.
The pilot will provide up to 10 MFAA member businesses across NSW, Victoria, and Queensland with business support and leadership development opportunities, including tailored funding for specific initiatives.
Open exclusively to mortgage and finance broking businesses employing fewer than 20 staff, She Means Business aims to support female business leaders in overcoming the challenges they face in the sector.
The scheme will involve interviews, face-to-face mentoring, feedback loops, and training designed to support participants.
The pilot is running from June 2025 to March 2026, with applications open to MFAA members until 6 June 2025 and successful applicants notified by 20 June.
Following the pilot’s completion, insights and learnings will contribute to national recommendations for businesses across all industries.
Applications are open to owners or business leaders who are MFAA members and have a passion for improving gender diversity in the mortgage and finance broking industry.
MFAA CEO Anja Pannek said the initiative aligned strongly with the association’s focus on building a more diverse industry.
“The latest 2025 Value of Mortgage and Finance Broking report confirms that female participation in the profession remains flat at 27 per cent – unchanged since 2018,” Pannek said.
“Our industry is built on small businesses, and this pilot is an important further step toward shifting that statistic.
“By supporting brokerages with a passion for improving gender diversity, we’re helping to create a more inclusive profession and positioning mortgage and finance broking as a viable, rewarding career path for women.”
COSBOA’s head of programs Nicole Walsh echoed the importance of action: “She Means Business is about more than visibility – it’s about investment.
“We’re proud to partner with the MFAA to deliver support that enables women to thrive in industries where they are underrepresented, and to collect insights that shape stronger, more inclusive policy.”
Women are generally under-represented in the broking industry and wider finance sector, with the latest MFAA data showing that just over one-quarter of the broker population was female, although the number of female brokers is rising.
In August 2024, Pannek told The Adviser that there needed to be a continued focus on increasing female representation in broking, as the industry should reflect the demographically diverse community it works with.
Broking industry leaders have launched their own initiatives to try and boost gender equality.
Major aggregator Finsure Group is offering scholarships worth more than $15,000 that aim to support women in mortgage broking through training, branding, and IT support.
Similarly, in March, aggregation group outsource Financial launched the outsource Women’s Network (OWN) program, in an effort to boost gender equality in finance while celebrating the achievements of female brokers.
To find out more about how women are making an impact on the broking industry, join us for an afternoon at the Women in Finance Network Lunch, where industry peers gather to create connections that really matter.
Women in Finance Summit and Awards, hosted by Momentum Media, also recognises and celebrates the leading women influencing the Australian finance industry.
[Related: Female broker numbers growing, but more progress needed: MFAA]
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