Why the rules begin again
Moneysmart describes refinancing as replacing or extending an existing loan with a new one, either with the lender you have or with a different lender. This guide follows the second case: a home loan moving to a new lender.
ASIC sums up the key idea of the responsible lending obligations: a credit licensee must not enter into a credit contract with a consumer, suggest one to them, or help them apply for one, if that contract is unsuitable for them. ASIC’s guide to those obligations, Regulatory Guide 209, names refinancing directly, and says the purpose behind refinancing an existing credit product is likely to affect how much risk the borrower carries.
The checks also have a shelf life. RG 209 says a licensee’s inquiries and verification must fall within 90 days before it assesses the loan and before it acts on it, or within 120 days for a home loan, and that the longer home loan period is given to credit providers only. For a loan written years ago, the checks made at the time sit far outside that window.
Who owes you what on the new loan
The new lender
Moneysmart says lenders must follow the responsible lending obligations and cannot lend to you if they think you will not be able to make the repayments. ASIC’s guide to the general conduct obligations says a credit licensee must be a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
A mortgage broker, if you use one
A mortgage broker must act in your best interests when it gives credit assistance, under sections 158LA and 158LE of the National Credit Act. ASIC says a broker that holds its own credit licence must meet both that duty and the responsible lending obligations; a broker that is a credit representative must meet the duty and may need to help its licensee with the responsible lending ones.
Five guides along loan two
Each guide takes one numbered mark from the drawing above.
The credit guide and the quote
The first papers on a refinance, and why they depend on whether a broker stands between you and the new lender.
A broker on a refinance
The best interests duty applied to a switch, including a suggestion that you stay where you are.
The new lender’s checks
The inquiries, the 120-day window and the test a new lender works through before it lends.
Refinancing when repayments are hard
What a new lender is asked to look into, set beside the hardship path the law keeps open with the current lender.
Complaints about a refinance
From a firm’s own complaints process to AFCA, with the response times ASIC sets.
Where to check for yourself
- Moneysmart is ASIC’s consumer website. Its page on switching home loans sets out the costs a switch can bring.
- Moneysmart’s page on using a mortgage broker says to make sure, before meeting a broker, that it holds a credit licence or is a representative of a licensee.
- AFCA is an independent dispute resolution scheme for disputes with financial firms, and Moneysmart says schemes like it hear complaints for free.
- The National Debt Helpline is free, and Moneysmart gives its hours as 9:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.
About this guide
Refinance Your Home Loan is a guide published by Dotto. It explains the rules that bind lenders and brokers when a home loan moves, read from ASIC, Moneysmart, the National Debt Helpline and the Act itself. It does not compare loans, name lenders or say whether a switch suits anyone. It is general information, not financial advice.
Rules and time limits are given as they read on 8 October 2026, with each source listed at the foot of its page. Check the source before relying on any of them.