Women are steadily making their mark in finance and broking across Australia.
According to Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), a government statutory agency, 52% of people employed in Australia's finance and insurance sectors — which includes financial advisory and broking — were women in 2025's fourth quarter.
The trend is particularly strong in broking, where flexible schedules and the absence of a pay gap make the roles more accessible.
"It's hard definitely, managing a business and juggling kids and things like that," Claire Viskovich, founder and director of Perth-based brokerage Beez Neez Finance, told Australian Broker. "I need the flexibility [of being a broker], with school pick-ups and drop-offs. I couldn't have a normal job, because I've just got to juggle too much with the kids."
But despite the numbers, many of these women remain in clerical or lower-level roles.
A 2025 report by the F3 Project, an initiative supporting women in finance, found that only about 13% of women in the finance and insurance sectors hold CEO or other senior leadership positions. Meanwhile, Monash University reported that in 2026, just 10% of ASX 300 companies have a female CEO.
Cara Julian — founder, director and mortgage broker of Melbourne-based Brava Finance — knows what it takes to be a leader, and the challenges women in finance face every day. She is also the author of the book "Why You Should Date Your Bank, Not Marry Them," a guide to helping women take control of their finances.
"Leadership, for me, wasn't about a title. It was about using my voice to challenge the old narrative that finance is something women should sit quietly on the sidelines of," Julian said.
Cara Julian
As part of a multi-part series on women shaping Australia’s financial and broking sectors, Australian Broker sat down with Julian to explore her rise to leadership, the insights she’s gained along the way, and what the industry can do to empower and retain more women at the top.
CJ: We’ve made progress, but we’re not where we should be yet. You only have to walk into most finance events or industry panels to see the imbalance. There are more women entering the industry, but far fewer staying long enough to move into leadership positions. We don’t have a pipeline problem in finance. We have a retention problem. That’s a missed opportunity for the sector, because women bring a different perspective to finance, particularly around education, communication and long-term financial security.
The opportunity now is to change that. When women are visible in leadership, it signals to the next generation that this industry is not just somewhere they can work. It’s somewhere they can truly make a difference.
CJ: The biggest shift we need is moving from recruiting women to actually backing them to succeed. That means mentorship, visibility and leadership opportunities. But also, recognising that many women in finance tend to take a more transformational and community-driven approach to broking. The focus is often on education, building confidence and helping clients make informed financial decisions, not just completing transactions.
At the moment, our industry rewards volume above everything else, which can overlook brokers who take a more transformational approach with their clients. Aggregators, lenders and industry associations have an opportunity to support that by evolving how success is recognised. Many awards still focus heavily on volume. But leadership can also look like education, impact and contribution to the profession.
And media has an important role too. When the media highlights these conversations and showcases different kinds of leadership, it helps broaden what success in this industry can look like.
CJ: I pushed for it myself. My entry into finance came after a period in my life where I realised how powerful financial knowledge actually is, and how many women simply haven’t been given access to it. Once I saw that gap, it was impossible to ignore.
Leadership, for me, wasn't about a title. It was about using my voice to challenge the old narrative that finance is something women should sit quietly on the sidelines of. Because the truth is, when women understand money and property, everything changes.
CJ: Technical knowledge is important. But it’s not what makes someone a leader. Leadership in this industry comes down to vision and courage. Vision to see where the industry needs to evolve. And courage to speak up about it.
For me, that means talking openly about financial literacy for women, challenging outdated ideas about money, and creating conversations that sometimes make people a little uncomfortable. That’s often where real progress starts.
