Professional services

Many of these professions are regulated, some by state and territory boards and some nationally. A solicitor must hold a current practising certificate issued by the designated regulatory authority in their state or territory, and those authorities keep public registers of lawyers. Architects are registered by state and territory architect registration boards, and the title “architect” is protected. Finance and mortgage brokers generally need an Australian credit licence, or must be authorised as a representative of a credit licensee. A business providing financial product advice generally needs to be authorised under an Australian financial services licence, or act as an authorised representative of a licensee; ASIC administers both. Ask which registration a firm holds and check it on that regulator’s register.

For some regulated professions, LokalMatch is a directory only for now: you can browse listed firms, but we don’t take requests for them and we don’t pass your details to anyone. Where requests are open, you describe what you need once and LokalMatch introduces you to firms that serve your area; firms pay for the requests they receive. You decide who to contact and who to engage. LokalMatch doesn’t do the work, doesn’t set fees, and doesn’t vet, rank or recommend anyone.