What a Credit Representative Actually Means

A credit representative is a person or business authorised by the holder of an Australian Credit Licence (ACL) to engage in credit activities — such as providing credit assistance and arranging loans — on the licensee’s behalf. The key point is that a credit representative does not hold the licence themselves: they act under someone else’s licence, within that licensee’s authority.

In this practice, the arrangement is straightforward and we state it plainly: Rohan Manokaran is Credit Representative 565110, authorised to engage in credit activities under Australian Credit Licence 561324, which is held by Loans Only Pty Ltd. The mortgage broking is conducted trading as Eternity Mortgage Solutions. This guide explains what that means, who is responsible for what, how you can verify it yourself, how we are paid, and the protections that apply. It is general information about the regulatory arrangement, not credit advice.

Australian consumer credit is regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (the NCCP Act), which requires those engaging in credit activities to be licensed or to be authorised under a licence. There are two distinct roles in this structure:

• The licensee (ACL holder): Loans Only Pty Ltd holds Australian Credit Licence 561324. The licensee carries the primary responsibility for credit activities conducted under the licence — including supervision, compliance arrangements and professional indemnity insurance.
• The credit representative: Rohan Manokaran (number 565110) is authorised by that licensee to engage in credit activities under the licence.

So the licence is held by Loans Only Pty Ltd; Rohan Manokaran acts under it as an authorised credit representative. Neither Rohan Manokaran nor Eternity Mortgage Solutions holds the ACL. This is a common and standard arrangement in Australian mortgage broking — many brokers operate as credit representatives under a licensee rather than holding their own licence.

The Act defines a “mortgage broker” specifically (s 15B): broadly, someone who carries on a business of providing credit assistance for credit contracts secured by mortgages over residential property, and who does not themselves perform the obligations or exercise the rights of the credit provider. That definition matters, because it is what triggers the best interests duty described below.

You do not have to take a broker’s word for their authorisation. ASIC maintains a public register, and checking takes a minute.

Search ASIC’s Professional Registers Search via ASIC’s registers search page (the tool itself lives at service.asic.gov.au/search/). The one search covers both credit licensees and credit representatives (among other registers). You can search by name, or by licence or registration number. The free result shows the licence or registration number, the name, the address, the start date of the registration or licence, the current status, and details of any conditions or restrictions.

For this practice, you can look up two things: credit representative number 565110, and Australian Credit Licence 561324 (held by Loans Only Pty Ltd).

ASIC’s consumer site, Moneysmart, is direct about this. Its guidance on using a mortgage broker tells consumers to check, before meeting a broker, that they hold a licence to give credit assistance by searching the Credit Representative and Credit Licensee lists on ASIC’s register — and states that if the broker is not on one of those lists, they are operating illegally.

The accounting side is verified separately, on a different regulator’s register. Tax agents are registered with the Tax Practitioners Board, and you can search the TPB public register by name or registration number — ours is 25523469. The TPB register also shows registration status, any conditions, and any sanctions on the public record. Our technical resource on checking a tax agent’s registration walks through that side in detail.

When you work with us on a loan, the credit assistance is provided under the authority of the licence holder, within the obligations the law imposes. Since 1 January 2021 the most significant of those is the best interests duty in Part 3-5A of the NCCP Act.

• Act in your best interests. Section 158LA requires a licensee to act in the best interests of the consumer in relation to the credit assistance; s 158LE applies the same duty to credit representatives.
• Put your interests first in a conflict. Where the broker knows, or reasonably ought to know, of a conflict between your interests and its own (or an associate’s, or a representative’s), s 158LB and s 158LF require your interests to be given priority.
• No opting out. ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 273 is explicit that the obligations cannot be avoided by any notice or disclaimer, and that a broker cannot comply merely by getting a consumer to consent to a conflict.

RG 273 also describes what ASIC expects to see in practice: information gathered about your individual circumstances, an individual assessment rather than a one-size-fits-all outcome, a reasonably representative panel of credit providers, cost considered as a prioritised factor, generally more than one option presented with a documented recommendation and reasons, and records kept showing how the duty was met.

Worth knowing: a lender selling its own loans directly to you does not owe this statutory best interests duty — it attaches to mortgage brokers. Responsible-lending obligations apply to both channels; for brokers, the best interests duty sits on top of them. Our guide on mortgage broker versus bank covers the practical differences, and our technical resource on the best interests duty goes through the statutory detail.

None of this is a promise about the outcome. Any loan approval still depends on the lender’s assessment, its lending criteria and your circumstances.

In most residential lending scenarios, the lender pays broker commission. We explain remuneration in our Credit Guide. Credit law requires that this be disclosed to you in writing, twice, before you are committed to anything.

• The Credit Guide (s 113 NCCP Act). Must be given as soon as practicable once it becomes apparent that credit assistance is likely to be provided. It sets out who we are, the licensing arrangement, how we are paid, and how to make a complaint.
• The credit proposal disclosure document (s 121 NCCP Act). Given at the time credit assistance is provided — for example when we suggest you apply for a particular loan with a particular lender. It must include a reasonable estimate of the commission likely to be received in relation to that specific credit contract.

Commission itself is regulated, not merely disclosed. Section 158N of the NCCP Act bans conflicted remuneration — benefits that could reasonably be expected to influence the credit assistance provided. Lender-paid commission is only lawful where it meets conditions set in the NCCP Regulations: it must not be a volume-based benefit or a campaign-based benefit, and where a clawback applies, the obligation to repay cannot extend beyond two years after first drawdown and cannot be passed on to you as the consumer.

We do not publish typical commission percentages here, because the figure that matters is the one for your loan — and that is exactly what the credit proposal disclosure document gives you in writing before you apply. If a borrower-paid fee were ever to apply instead, it is disclosed in writing before you proceed.

You will not see the words “independent”, “impartial” or “unbiased” used about our credit assistance anywhere on this site. That is deliberate, and it is a legal point rather than a stylistic one.

The NCCP Act restricts the use of those words — and terms of similar import — in representations about a credit service. They may only be used where a strict set of conditions is met: the provider receives no commissions or conflicted remuneration (other than amounts rebated in full to clients), receives no gifts or benefits from credit providers that might reasonably be expected to influence it, operates free of relevant restrictions on the products it can recommend, and has no conflicts of interest arising from associations with credit providers.

The Act defines “indirect remuneration” to include a commission. So a broker who receives lender-paid commission — which is the ordinary arrangement in Australian residential lending, and is ours — cannot satisfy those conditions, and the words are simply not available. Any broker describing themselves as “independent” while taking lender commission is worth a second look.

What we say instead is factual and verifiable: we act under the best interests duty, we disclose our remuneration in writing, we compare loans across a panel of lenders, and we document the reasons behind a recommendation and give them to you.

Eternity Group operates two separately regulated activities under one roof. The credit side — arranging loans — is conducted by Rohan Manokaran as a credit representative under ACL 561324 held by Loans Only Pty Ltd, trading as Eternity Mortgage Solutions, and is regulated by ASIC under the NCCP Act. The accounting and tax side is provided by Eternity Group Accountants as a registered tax agent, regulated by the Tax Practitioners Board under the Tax Agent Services Act (registration 25523469).

Two regulators, two registers, two sets of obligations. Keeping the roles distinct is deliberate: credit questions are answered as credit work under the ACL; tax questions are answered as accounting work under the tax-agent registration. The benefit of one roof is coordination and shared context, not a merging of the two regulated responsibilities. You can read how the two roles fit together for a client in our guide to what an accountant and mortgage broker do.

Because credit activities are licensed, several protections apply. The licensee maintains the compliance arrangements and professional indemnity insurance required of an ACL holder, must have an internal dispute resolution process, and must be a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) — the external dispute resolution scheme, which describes itself as a free, fair and independent service for resolving complaints about financial firms, at no cost to complainants.

If something is not right, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it internally. If you remain dissatisfied, you can take a credit or mortgage complaint to AFCA — member numbers 111743 (individual) and 111742 (company), phone 1800 931 678, www.afca.org.au. Our full process is on the complaints page, and the formal detail of our credit activities, remuneration and dispute-resolution arrangements is in our Credit Guide.

A separate path exists for the tax side: complaints about a registered tax agent go to the Tax Practitioners Board, not AFCA.

Moneysmart suggests asking a broker to explain each option — how the loan works, what it costs, and why it is in your best interests. Building on that, these are reasonable questions to put to anyone arranging a loan for you:

• Do you hold your own Australian Credit Licence, or are you a credit representative? If a representative — under whose licence, and what is your credit representative number?
• Which lenders are you accredited with, and how many of them did you actually consider for me?
• Why did you recommend this loan? Why is it in my best interests, compared with the other options you looked at?
• How much commission will you receive if I take this loan? The credit proposal disclosure document must give a reasonable estimate in writing.
• Are there any fees I pay you directly? If so, how much, and when?
• Is there any clawback arrangement, and what happens if I repay or refinance early?
• Who do I complain to if I am unhappy — and which AFCA member number applies?

Any broker acting properly will answer all of these without hesitation, and most of the answers should already be in the documents you are given.

The regulatory facts on this page were checked against the following official sources on 12 July 2026. Where a source has changed since, the source prevails.

• National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 — Federal Register of Legislation (best interests duty in Part 3-5A; credit guide s 113; credit proposal disclosure s 121; conflicted remuneration s 158N; the restriction on “independent”, “impartial” and “unbiased”).
• National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010 — Federal Register of Legislation (the conditions under which commission is not conflicted remuneration, and the limits on clawback).
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 273: Mortgage brokers — best interests duty — what ASIC expects of brokers in practice.
• Search ASIC’s registers — ASIC’s registers hub, linking the professional registers search (service.asic.gov.au/search/) that covers credit licensees and credit representatives.
• Moneysmart: Using a mortgage broker — ASIC’s consumer guidance on checking a broker is licensed, and what to expect from one.
• AFCA: Make a complaint — the external dispute resolution scheme for credit complaints.
• Tax Practitioners Board public register — for verifying the tax agent side of the practice.

Last verified: 12 July 2026. This page is reviewed at least every six months, and immediately on any change to the credit-licensing framework.