The complete broker document request checklist

Use the approved verification-of-identity process. Do not ask a client to email identity documents to a personal inbox merely because it is convenient.

• Current approved photo identification, such as a driver licence or passport, as required by the identity process.
• Secondary identification where required.
• Name-change evidence if names differ across records.
• Citizenship, residency or visa evidence where relevant to the application.
• Current residential address and the prior address history required by the application.
• Applicant contact details and preferred communication method.
• Required privacy, credit-information and application consents.

• Loan purpose: buy, refinance, construct, invest, consolidate or other.
• Requested amount, and preferred term or repayment structure where known.
• Contract of sale, if a property has been purchased.
• Property details, rates notice or current loan statement where relevant.
• Deposit and funds-to-complete evidence.
• Gift, sale proceeds or other deposit-source evidence where relevant.
• Refinance statements and payout information required by the selected lender.
• Construction contract, plans, specifications and progress schedule where relevant.

• Savings and transaction accounts relevant to the deposit or position.
• Existing property details and the evidence requested by the lender.
• Shares, investments or other material assets used in the application.
• Vehicles or business assets, only where required by the fact-find or lender process.

Do not confuse a credit-card balance with its facility limit.

• Home and investment loan details.
• Personal, car and business loan statements where relevant.
• Credit-card limits and recent statements where required.
• Buy-now-pay-later and other credit facilities.
• HELP or student-loan position where applicable.
• Leases, child support, guarantees and other material commitments.
• Evidence for debts being refinanced, consolidated, closed or paid out.

• Client-declared living expenses in the approved categories.
• Material recurring expenses visible in statements but not yet declared.
• Expected changes to income, expenses, employment, family or residence.
• Notes explaining unusual or one-off transactions where required.

Check that each payslip shows the applicant’s name, employer, pay period, gross and net income, tax and the year-to-date values the lender expects.

• Most recent computer-generated payslip.
• An additional consecutive payslip where the year-to-date period is insufficient, or policy requires it.
• Salary-credit bank statements for the required period where accepted or requested.
• Employment contract or employer letter, if required for new employment, probation or missing payslip detail.
• ATO income statement, PAYG summary, tax return or Notice of Assessment where required or used as an alternative.
• Evidence of regular overtime, commission, allowance or bonus history where relied upon.
• Explanation and evidence for deductions, salary packaging or a novated lease where material.
• Secondary-employment evidence where relied upon.

These applicants may need evidence covering a longer period. ANZ’s current public checklist, for example, distinguishes full and part-time income history from casual. Treat that as one lender’s published position, not a universal rule.

• Recent payslip.
• Sufficient year-to-date history, or additional earlier evidence.
• Salary-credit statements for the lender’s required period.
• ATO income statement, tax return, Notice of Assessment or PAYG summary where required.
• Employment contract or letter confirming status, start date, rate, hours or expected continuity where relevant.
• Evidence explaining gaps, multiple employers or changing hours.

Do not tell a client to amend or restructure accounts for lending purposes. The broker should understand the evidence and lender policy; tax and accounting advice belongs with the appropriate adviser.

• Most recent individual tax return for the required year or years.
• The corresponding ATO Notice of Assessment.
• Business financial statements where required, including profit and loss and balance sheet.
• Business activity statements where required.
• Business bank statements for the required period.
• ABN details and trading-history evidence where required.
• Current business liabilities and finance commitments.
• Accountant details and letter, only where the selected lender accepts or requests it.
• Explanation of material one-off expenses, add-backs or income changes, for broker review.

The lender may request evidence based on ownership percentage, and on whether partnership income is required for servicing.

• Individual tax returns and Notices of Assessment for the relevant partners.
• Partnership tax return for the required year or years.
• Partnership financial statements.
• Partnership agreement where required.
• Ownership percentages and distribution details.
• Business activity statements and bank statements where required.
• Partnership liabilities and guarantees.
• ABN and entity details.

ANZ currently publishes a streamlined verification path for some self-employed directors receiving regular company wages, subject to its eligibility rules. Do not assume that pathway applies to every company owner or lender.

• Individual tax return and ATO Notice of Assessment.
• Company tax return for the required year or years.
• Company profit and loss statement and balance sheet.
• Recent company financials or management accounts where policy requires them.
• Business activity statements and business bank statements where required.
• Current payslip and ATO income statement, if relying on wages paid by the company and the selected policy permits that method.
• ABN and ACN details.
• ASIC company information or company registration documents where required.
• Shareholding and director details.
• Business debts, leases, overdrafts and guarantees.
• Evidence of dividends or director fees where relied upon.

First establish the trust’s role: is the trust borrowing, providing income, or acting through a corporate trustee, and are the applicants beneficiaries, directors, shareholders or guarantors? A “family trust” label does not by itself explain who earns, owns, borrows or guarantees.

• Current trust deed.
• Deeds of variation or amendment.
• Trustee details and, for a corporate trustee, company details.
• Trust tax return for the required year or years.
• Trust financial statements, including profit and loss and balance sheet.
• Individual beneficiary tax returns and Notices of Assessment where income is relied upon.
• Distribution statements, resolutions or other evidence required by lender policy.
• Company tax return and financials where a related company’s income or obligations are relevant.
• Entity structure or organisation chart for complex groups.
• Business activity statements and bank statements where required.
• Trust, trustee, beneficiary and related-entity liabilities.
• Accountant confirmation, only where requested and accepted.
• Guarantee and security documentation required for the proposed structure.

The accepted source and the shading applied to rental income are lender-policy questions.

• Current signed lease where accepted.
• Property-manager rental statement.
• Bank statements showing rental credits where required.
• Tax return showing rental income.
• Current rates notice.
• Existing investment-loan statement.
• Proposed rental appraisal where policy permits it.

Only request evidence for income the broker intends to consider.

• Government benefit or pension statement and credits.
• Child-support evidence and receipt history where policy permits reliance.
• Superannuation, annuity or pension statements.
• Foreign income evidence and translations where required.
• Bonus, commission or overtime history.
• Dividends, interest or investment-income statements.

• Correct applicant or entity.
• Complete document, with all required pages.
• Readable and not cropped.
• Within the lender’s currency requirement.
• Internally consistent dates and values.
• Source appears genuine and approved.
• No unexplained alteration.
• TFN and other unnecessary sensitive values handled correctly.
• File name follows the brokerage convention.
• Stored in the approved location.
• Relevant CRM status updated, without placing sensitive content in a broad note.
• Contradictions or missing items assigned to a person.