Broker and
adviser leads.

For most brokers the best leads come from people who already trust someone: past clients, real estate agents, accountants, builders and planners. Search comes next, along with your Find a Broker profile, covered in how people choose a broker. Bought leads fill gaps, and they're where most of the trouble starts.

Advisers see a similar mix. The difference is that some advice lead generation runs through super, and that's the area ASIC has been watching.

After the Shield and First Guardian collapses, where more than 11,000 people invested over $1 billion, ASIC said in February 2026 that it had begun a review of advice licensees that use lead generation services. It said it was looking for business models built on clickbait ads, cold calling and high-pressure tactics, and published a list of businesses involved in lead generation on Moneysmart, noting that being on the list doesn't mean anyone has done anything wrong.

For a broker or adviser buying leads, the lesson isn't 'never buy'. It's to know how every lead was generated: which ad, which promise, which consent wording. If a lead was won with a 'free super health check' that never mentioned advice fees, the problem lands with whoever makes the call.

Since 5 October 2021, you can't offer a financial product to a retail client during or because of unsolicited contact. That covers phone calls and meetings, and any real-time interaction in the nature of a conversation. Consent has to be positive, voluntary and clear, it lasts six weeks, and it can be withdrawn at any time. A customer who was hawked a product gets a statutory right to return it. ASIC's detail is in RG 38.

Two points brokers often miss. Credit products aren't covered by the hawking ban, but insurance is. So a home loan enquiry is fine to call about, while raising income protection on that same call, when the client didn't ask about it, is the risk. And pop-ups and ads that are separate to a discussion sit outside the regime, while a breach of the ban itself is a strict liability offence.

Judge each source by settled loans or signed advice clients, not by leads. A cheap lead sold to four brokers at once is usually the most expensive lead you'll buy, once you count the calls that go nowhere.

Speed still matters, inside the rules. Call within the time the person asked for, keep calls to the telemarketing hours where they are, and send a short email straight away with your name, what happens next and a booking link. If insurance or super might come up later, ask on that first call whether they'd like to hear about it, and note the answer and the date.

To work out what you can pay per lead from upfront and trail commission or advice fees, see what a broker or adviser client is worth.

Calls: under the telemarketing standard, a sales call can only be made between 9am and 8pm on a weekday or 9am and 5pm on a Saturday, never on a Sunday or national public holiday. Registered numbers need the person's consent, and caller ID must be on.

Emails and texts: the Spam Act needs consent, accurate sender details and a working unsubscribe, and the ACMA says you're still responsible for consent on a bought list. Rate alerts and 'time to refinance' messages are commercial if they promote your services.

Privacy: most broker and advice businesses handle financial information people expect to be protected. If the Privacy Act covers you, APP 7 requires a simple opt-out from marketing, and a person can ask how you came to have their details. With a bought lead, you can only answer that if the seller told you.