Downloading the correct discharge authority form is the critical first step to selling your home or refinancing. As a mortgage broker in Brisbane homeowners trust, we know that using the wrong one can delay your settlement by weeks. We have compiled the official Discharge Authority Forms for over 150 Australian banks and non-bank lenders—along with the direct contact numbers and fee estimates you need—to help you fast-track the release of your mortgage.
Search for your bank’s discharge form below, or find them further down the page.
Most Commonly Searched Discharge Forms
How Do You Know Your New Home Loan Is The Best In The Market?
There’s nothing worse than buying something full price in-store and then finding out it’s gone on sale a day later.
Don’t let the same happen with your home loan.
Do your research and figure out if your home loan is the best in the market by following these steps:
- Shop around for Lenders and consider the differences between LMI – Lenders Mortgage Insurance varies between lenders, so make sure that you find out what their premium is or if you qualify for waived LMI before you go ahead.
- Negotiate interest rates – Speak to Hunter Galloway about negotiating the best interest rate for you.
- Valuation for FREE! Some lenders provide free valuation before submitting the loan application, which means that we can get a set of valuations and choose the highest valuation for you.
- Refinancing perks – Sometimes things get tough, and lenders will actually PAY YOU to refinance. Wild, I know. But it’s true. Speak to Hunter Galloway about current refinance rebates that are available to you.
Critical Warning: What Happens To Your Offset Account When You Discharge Your Mortgage?
This is one of the most common traps borrowers fall into when discharging a mortgage.
Many people leave their savings in their offset account until the very last minute to save every possible cent of interest. While this makes sense mathematically, it can cause a logistical nightmare on settlement day.
Don’t get your cash trapped.
When your loan is discharged, the bank will close the mortgage account. Because your offset account is linked directly to that mortgage, many lenders will automatically close or “freeze” the offset account at the exact same moment.
Here is what you need to watch out for:
- Loss of Access: If the bank closes your offset account upon settlement, you may lose immediate access to those funds. While the bank will eventually return your money (often via a bank cheque sent by mail weeks later), you won’t be able to swipe your card to pay for removalists, final bills, or your celebratory dinner.
- The Redraw Trap: If your extra money is sitting in a Redraw facility rather than an Offset account, the situation is different. The bank will typically absorb that money to pay down the loan principal at settlement. This reduces the total payout figure, but it means that liquid cash is gone.
Expert Tip:
We recommend transferring your non-essential savings into a completely separate transaction account (one not linked to the loan you are closing) 3 to 5 days prior to settlement. This ensures you have clear access to your cash while the banks finalise the discharge in the background.
Before You Start: The Mortgage Discharge Checklist
Lenders are notoriously strict with discharge forms; a single mismatched digit or missing signature can send your request to the back of the queue.
Before you sit down to fill out the paperwork, gather the following “ingredients” to ensure your form is approved on the first go.
1. Your Loan Details
- Lender Name: Be specific. If you have a white-label loan (e.g., a “ChoiceLend” loan funded by NAB), you must list the brand on your statement, not the parent bank.
- BSB & Account Number: This is the most critical field. Locate this on your internet banking or your most recent loan statement. Do not guess; incorrect account numbers are the most common reason for rejection.
- Customer/Reference Number: Some lenders (like non-banks) use a specific customer ID instead of a standard account number. Check your loan contract if you are unsure.
2. Property & Settlement Details
- Property Address: List the full address of the security property being released. If you are discharging multiple properties (e.g., cross-collateralized loans), ensure all addresses are listed.
- Settlement Date:
- Selling: Use the date on your Contract of Sale.
- Refinancing: Write “TBA” (To Be Advised). Your new lender will coordinate the specific date with your outgoing lender once they are ready to settle.
- Settlement Type: Clearly indicate your reason for discharge:
- Sale of Property (selling the home).
- Refinance (moving your loan to another bank).
Payout in Full (paying off the debt with your own cash).
3. Legal & Representative Info
Your outgoing lender needs to know who to hand the “Title Deed” to.
- Solicitor/Conveyancer Details: If you are selling, provide the Name, Firm, Phone Number, and Email of the person handling your settlement.
- Incoming Lender Details: If you are refinancing, list the name of the new bank (e.g., “Refinancing to Macquarie Bank”). This authorizes your old bank to speak with your new one.
4. Borrower Verification
- Full Legal Names: Your name on the form must match your loan documents exactly. If you have changed your name (e.g., through marriage) and haven’t updated the bank, you may need to provide a marriage certificate.
- Guarantor Details: Is there a guarantor on this loan? They are a legal party to the mortgage and must also sign the discharge authority.
- Signature: Crucial Warning: Many lenders still require a “wet” ink signature (pen on paper). While some are modernizing, most discharge teams will reject a digital or DocuSign signature. When in doubt, print it, sign it, and scan it back.
Expert tip: Incorrect account numbers are the #1 cause of discharge delays. We often see forms rejected because a borrower listed their offset account number instead of the home loan account number. Double-check your specific loan account number on your statement before hitting send to ensure your request is processed instantly.
Steps To Request A Bank Discharge
If you are ready to sell, you’ll need to make sure that you’ve got your lender’s discharge form ready to go.
They can sometimes take a few weeks to process things.
The process is to give the form to your solicitor or conveyancer around four weeks before settlement occurs, and they’ll take care of it for you.
If you’re refinancing, you can hand it over, signed, to your mortgage broker, and we’ll do it all for you.
Otherwise, if you really like doing things independently, we’ve compiled the step-by-step process for doing it alone.
- 1. Set up discharge when you apply for your new mortgage – in order to avoid delays on the settlement.
- 2. Print and sign the discharge form (downloaded from above)
- 3. If the details aren’t on the discharge request, call your lender and find out where to fax, email or mail the form.
- 4. If you have to fax the form – write down the date and time that it was sent at the top of the form, along with the number it was faxed to.
- 5. Mail a second copy of the form (not the original) directly to the lender’s discharge department so you’ve covered all bases.
- 6. Call the lender in 48 hours to confirm that it has been received. Check if they need any extra information.
- 7. If it still cannot be found, send it again confirming all details you received initially were correct, and then repeat the previous step (phone call to confirm in 48 hours)
- 8. Now that the form has been received, you know your old lender is on the clock to process it – this can be between 10 to 25 business days, depending on the bank or lender!
- 9. Keep a copy of the discharge form for your records
- 10. Your new lender will call your current lender to arrange settlement and finalise all details.
- 11. Drink a cup of coffee and reflect on the fact that you should have just saved yourself the effort and asked Hunter Galloway to do it initially.
The Costs Of Discharging A Mortgage
While we’d all love to walk away for free, breaking up with your bank usually comes with a price tag.
Before you submit your discharge form, it’s vital to know exactly what fees will be deducted from your settlement funds. Understanding these costs upfront ensures you aren’t hit with any nasty surprises on settlement day.
Here is a breakdown of the typical costs you can expect:
Lender Discharge Fee
Also known as a termination fee or settlement fee, this covers the bank’s administrative costs for processing your request and preparing the legal documents to release the title.
- Typical Cost: Between $350 and $600 per property, depending on the lender.
Government Registration Fee
This isn’t a bank fee; it’s a state government charge. The State Land Titles Office in your state (e.g., NSW Land Registry Services or Land Use Victoria) charges this fee to formally remove the mortgage from your property’s title deed.
Current estimates for the 2025/2026 Financial Year are listed below. Note that these fees change every July 1st.
State | Authority | Estimated Fee (Discharge) |
NSW | NSW Land Registry Services | $175.70 |
VIC | Land Use Victoria | $125.70 |
QLD | Titles Queensland | $238.14 |
WA | Landgate | $216.60 |
SA | Land Services SA | $198.00 |
Hunter Galloway Insight: These fees are usually deducted automatically at settlement, so you won’t need to pay them upfront. However, they will reduce your final surplus if you are selling.
Fixed Rate Break Costs (The "Economic Cost")
Warning: If you are currently on a fixed-rate home loan, you need to be careful. Breaking a fixed contract early can trigger significant “break costs” or “economic costs,” especially if interest rates have dropped since you locked in your rate. These fees can sometimes run into the thousands.
Tip: Always call your lender and ask for a “payout quote,” specifically checking for break costs before proceeding.
Pro Rata Interest
Remember, interest is calculated daily. Your lender will charge you interest on your mortgage balance right up until the actual day of settlement. This means your final payout figure will be slightly higher than the balance you see on your internet banking app today.
What Are The Timeframes For The Release Of The Mortgage?
Understand that when you’re saying goodbye to your lender, it’s kind of like breaking up with an ex and asking them to personally deliver a box of stuff you left lying around their house… They have no incentive to hurry.
So when you’re leaving a lender, it’s often low on their list of priorities to complete your discharge request quickly. In fact, the longer it takes, the more money they make on the interest, so why rush?
Current Estimated Turnaround Times (2025/2026)
While most banks quote a standard “10 to 15 business days,” the reality can vary wildly depending on their current workload.
Here is a breakdown of the current estimated processing times for Australia’s major lenders:
Lender | Typical Processing Time | Hunter Galloway Insight |
CBA | 10–14 Business Days | Full discharges are faster (10 days) than partial releases (14 days). |
Westpac | 10 Business Days | Strict service level. Submitting a digital request via a broker can sometimes shave off 1–2 days. |
ANZ | 15 Business Days | ANZ explicitly recommends submitting your request at least 15 days before your settlement date. |
NAB | 10–15 Business Days | Variable. They prioritize “Sale” settlements over “Refinance” settlements. |
Macquarie | 2–7 Business Days | One of the fastest. Being a digital-first bank, their electronic discharge process is highly efficient. |
ING | 10–15 Business Days | Require a minimum of 10 days notice. Do not leave this to the last minute. |
St. George | 10–15 Business Days | Similar to Westpac; paper forms can sometimes take longer to index than digital requests. |
Note: These are business days (Monday–Friday), not calendar days. A “15-day” turnaround actually means 3 full weeks.
How to Speed Up the Process
To help speed up the process and leave on good terms, you can do the following:
- Complete the form early: Submit the discharge authority request the moment you apply for your new home loan. We usually send it to your old bank once the new bank has conditionally approved your loan.
- Escalate if urgent: If you are purchasing a new home and have a strict settlement deadline, ask your broker to “escalate” the discharge. Providing a signed Contract of Sale to your old bank proves you have a legal deadline, which forces them to prioritize your file over a standard refinance.
Template: The "Nudge" Email
If your lender is dragging their feet and you are approaching the 15-day mark (or your settlement date), copy and paste this email to their Discharges Team to get things moving.
PEXA – A Game-Changer
Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) is changing how we do things around discharging your mortgage and refinancing.
PEXA essentially is just an e-transfer system that allows lenders to lodge refinance electronically with a specific state land registry. PEXA significantly reduces settlement time from about 40 days to 20 days!
Until the banks have completely adopted PEXA, we can expect the current 10 to 15 business day turnaround to apply. So make sure you get your discharge request in as soon as possible!
What Does A Partial Discharge Mean?
Partial discharge is essentially just when you have multiple properties secured by a loan and wish to release one of those properties as security.
In other words, you aren’t completely paying out the loan – only partly.
This is a very complex loan, so it’s best to speak to your lender about their specific process and make sure you allow up to six weeks for this type of discharge to go through. Lenders will often ask you to maintain LVR on your loan at the time it was approved, too.
Case Study - Gina's partial discharge
Gina had two houses worth $500,000 each.
The mortgage was $800,000, and the original loan-to-value ratio was 80% at the time of purchase.
If Gina sells one of these houses, the lender will usually ask her to reduce the remaining loan to maintain her lending at 80% LVR.
On settlement, they will need $400,000 from sales proceeds to keep the remaining loan at $400,000, which is 80% LVR.
As Gina has held the property for many years, the value has risen to $600,000 for each.
Therefore, the bank has decided to revalue the remaining property and asked Gina to reduce the loan to $480,000, which is the same as it was when her loan was approved.
So, Gina will need to repay $320,000 at settlement to maintain her originally approved LVR of 80%.
Ask your conveyancer to assist you with partial discharge.
They need to liaise with your original mortgage broker who set up the loan to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Your conveyancer will give your bank clear instructions about what you are doing and the best way to structure the loan.
You don’t want to get to the settlement and the bank asks for all the sale proceeds! We’ve seen it happen.
Need Any Help With The Discharge Process?
Why do it yourself when Hunter Galloway can assist you with the discharge process? As you’ve probably seen from the process we showed you earlier, getting this right and chasing up the banks to make sure everything is resolved in time can be a real challenge.
We’ve had a lot of experience with this process, and we have good relationships with the banks and lenders. We are typically able to get discharges sorted out quicker than if you went directly to a lender.
You can speak to our team of experts for a full breakdown on how to request a bank discharge on 1300 088 065.
The Complete List Of Lenders Discharge Forms
A
-
- Adelaide Bank – Discharge Enquiries: 1300 652 220
- Advantedge (includes FASTLend, Plan, ChoiceLend) – Discharge Support: 1300 300 989
- AIMS Home Loans – Customer Service: 1300 132 467
- AMP Bank Full discharge – Discharge Team: 02 8364 675
- AMP Bank – Partial discharge
- ANZ – Settlement Enquiries: 1300 012 708
- Aussie Home Loans – 13 13 33 (Select Option 1, then Option 4 for existing loan discharges)
- Australian Military Bank (formerly Australian Defence Credit Union) – 1300 13 23 28
- Auswide Bank (formerly Wide Bay Capricorn) – 1300 138 831
B
- Bank of Melbourne – 1300 999 266 (Select Option 2)
- Bank of Queensland (BOQ) – Discharge Support: 1300 764 439
- BankSA – Mortgage Enquiries: 1300 764 439
- Bankwest – Lending Support: 13 17 19
- Bendigo Bank – Mortgage Help: 1300 236 344
- Beyond Bank – 13 25 85
- Bluestone Mortgages – Customer Service: 13 72 62
C
- Citibank (now part of NAB) – Mortgage Service Centre: 1300 361 922
- Commonwealth Bank (CBA) – Discharge & Settlements: 1300 219 166
- Connective Home Loans – (Check your specific loan brand):
- Essentials (Advantedge): 1300 300 989
- Select (Adelaide Bank): 1300 652 220
F
- Firstmac – Discharge Team: 13 12 20
G
- G&C Mutual Bank (includes Quay Mutual, SGE) – 1300 364 400
- Gateway Bank – 1300 302 474
- Great Southern Bank (formerly CUA) – Loan Servicing: 133 282
H
- Heritage and People’s Choice (formerly Heritage Bank) – 13 14 22
- Homeside Lending (Loan book owned by NAB) – Use NAB Discharge Form
- HSBC – Mortgage Services: 1300 308 008
I
- IMB Bank – 13 34 62
- ING – Customer Care: 133 464
L
- La Trobe Financial – Discharge Team: 13 80 10
- Latitude Financial (formerly GE Money) – 1300 303 784 (Option 2)
- Liberty Financial – Customer Service: 13 11 33
M
- Macquarie Bank – Mortgage Solutions: 1800 007 722
- ME Bank (owned by BOQ) – Uses a digital form. Contact Home Loan Service: 13 15 63
- Mortgage House – 02 8116 1010
- MyState Bank (includes The Rock) – 138 001
N
- NAB – Discharge Authority Team: 1300 552 688
- Newcastle Permanent (NGM Group) – 13 19 87
P
- P&N Bank – 13 25 77
- Pepper Money – Discharge Team: 137 377
Q
- Qudos Bank – 1300 747 747
R
- RACQ Bank – 13 19 05
- RAMS – Customer Service: 13 72 67
- Regional Australia Bank (formerly Holiday Coast) – 132 067
- Resimac (formerly Homeloans Ltd) – Customer Service: 13 38 39
- RHG Mortgage Corporation – Discharge Team: 1300 366 844
S
- St. George Bank – Mortgage Help: 1300 302 302 (Select Option 2)
- Suncorp Bank (now part of ANZ) – Lending Service: 13 11 75
T
- Teachers Mutual Bank (includes Firefighters, Health Professionals, UniBank) – 13 12 21
U
- ubank (formerly UBank / 86 400) – 13 30 80 but they primarily handle discharges via email ([email protected]) or their app.
V
- Virgin Money Australia (owned by BOQ) – Home Loans: 13 81 51
W
- Westpac – Mortgage Centre: 1300 360 100
Y
- Yellow Brick Road – (Check your specific loan brand):
- YBR Home Loans (Resimac): 13 38 39
- YBR (Advantedge): 1300 300 989
Mortgage Discharge Frequently Asked Questions
How can I fast-track my mortgage discharge?
Banks typically work on a “first-come, first-served” queue, but you can speed up the process by proving you have a deadline.
- Send the Contract of Sale immediately: If you have sold your property, email the signed Contract of Sale to the discharge team as soon as possible. This “validates” your settlement date and forces the bank to prioritize your file to meet the legal deadline.
- Use the Digital Form: If your lender offers a digital discharge (like CommBank or Macquarie), use it. Paper forms take days to scan and index; digital forms enter the queue instantly.
- Escalate if urgent: If your settlement is less than 5 days away and the bank hasn’t confirmed readiness, call their specific “Settlements” line (not the general hotline) and ask to “escalate for urgent settlement.”
How much does it cost to discharge a mortgage in Australia?
Most banks charge a discharge administration fee between $350 and $600. You will also need to pay a government registration fee to your state’s Land Titles Office (typically $120–$200) to formally remove the lender from your title deed.
Do all borrowers need to sign the discharge form?
Yes. Every person named on the mortgage loan contract must sign the discharge authority form. If one borrower is overseas, you cannot sign on their behalf unless you hold a specific Power of Attorney that has been registered with the bank.
Can I discharge a fixed-rate loan early?
Yes, but it can be expensive. If you break a fixed-rate contract before the term ends, the bank may charge “break costs” based on the difference in interest rates. Always call your lender and ask for a “payout quote” specifically checking for break costs before you sign anything.
How long is a payout figure valid for?
A payout figure provided by your bank is typically valid for that day only (or sometimes up to 7 days), because interest accrues daily. On the actual settlement day, the final figure is calculated down to the cent.
Do I need a solicitor to discharge my mortgage?
- If Selling: Yes. A solicitor or conveyancer is mandatory to handle the legal transfer of the title to the new owner.
- If Refinancing: No. Your new lender or mortgage broker (like Hunter Galloway) will usually handle the discharge process and coordination for you
What happens to my credit card if it is with the same bank?
If your credit card is “cross-collateralised” (linked) to your home loan, the bank may require you to pay it off or lower the limit before they agree to release the mortgage. This is common with “package” home loans.
Can I just email the discharge form to the bank?
Some banks now accept emailed scans (especially digital-first lenders like ING or UBank), but many major banks still require the original signed “wet ink” paper form to be posted. Always check the specific instructions on the form; if you email a form that requires a wet signature, it will be rejected.
What if my lender isn't on the list?
If your lender is a smaller credit union or a white-label funder not listed, you can often use a Generic Discharge Authority Form. Alternatively, contact their customer service line and specifically ask to be transferred to the “Mortgage Services Department.”
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