75-90% of retail traders lose money trading Forex and CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs and leveraged trading work and if you can afford the high risk of losing your money. We may receive compensation when you click on links to products we review. Please read our advertising disclosure. By using this website you agree to our Terms of Service.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is well-known for being one of the world’s toughest regulatory authorities and has a reputation for ensuring that Forex brokers provide a secure trading environment for traders. In March 2021, ASIC introduced stricter regulatory requirements to further protect traders, including restricting leverage to 30:1, banning bonuses and promotions, and ensuring that traders are granted negative balance protection.
While the new rules introduced by ASIC harmed many of the low-quality brokers in Australia, the brokers below are well-placed to benefit traders with their low fees and excellent reputations. We understand that different traders have different needs based on their experience level, choice of platforms, trading tools, and trading strategies. We have curated a list of diverse brokers so that you can find the ASIC-regulated broker that suits you.
According to our testing and our research, these are the best ASIC-regulated brokers for 2023.
ASIC is one of the most respected financial regulatory agencies in the world. While they have a traditional centre, they try to be modern in their approach, researching and making regulatory changes to maintain fairness in the CFD industry. All ASIC-regulated brokers can be considered safe due to the strict regulatory environment in which they operate, and most of them are very strong all-round. But it is essential to look at the detail of each broker to find out what differentiates them from each other. When comparing ASIC regulated brokers consider:
Regulation: While your broker is ASIC regulated, your trading account may not be. It is increasingly common for ASIC regulated brokers to onboard Australian clients onto a different license where trading conditions, like leverage, can be increased without the ASIC oversight. While this is not fundamentally bad, a trader should know their trading account is regulated and that ASIC will not enforce their regulations in overseas territories.
Platform choice: Traders have a wide range of industry platforms to choose from, each with pros and cons. When comparing brokers, always consider the platform options, as unique features or a wide variety of platforms could change your trading experience. MetaTrader 4 is still the industry standard, but many brokers offer MetaTrader 5 and their proprietary platforms. ECN/STP brokers will often support cTrader as it is built specifically for market execution and only allows for minimal broker interference.
Trading costs: Every broker will charge for their services, but each will have different pricing models and costs. While ECN brokers will charge a smaller spread combined with a commission based on volume, market maker brokers will charge a wider spread. We compare brokers by looking at what 1 lot of EURUSD costs to trade and would encourage traders to do the same in comparing costs.
Minimum Deposit: The minimum deposit could change by account type, with higher minimum deposits often linked to better conditions. Always consider the minimum deposit specific to the account type you may open.
Deposit and Withdrawal Methods: Most brokers accept credit cards and bank transfer payments, and many accept online payments through Skrill and Neteller, and some will also accept Bitcoin. Always check the withdrawal fees before making a deposit.
FP Markets – Best ASIC-Regulated Forex Broker
FP Markets was founded in Sydney, Australia after receiving an ASIC licence (ASFL: 286354) in 2005. Under the strict ASIC rules, FP Markets is constantly monitored and evaluated on its performance and trade execution. FP Markets also segregates all client funds in the Commonwealth Bank, one of the largest of four banks in Australia. FP Markets has gained recognition for its competitively low trading fees and its broad trading platform support, including IRESS, an advanced trading platform that allows trading on over 10,000 share CFDs.
Low Trading Fees: FP Markets offers competitive trading fees on two live accounts, with spreads averaging at 1.2 pips (EUR/USD) on its commission-free Standard Account and 0.10 pips (EUR/USD) on its Raw Account in exchange for a commission of 7 USD. The minimum deposit requirements are 100 AUD on both accounts, making them accessible to all traders.
Trading Platforms: FP Markets’ trading platforms include MT4, MT5, and the IRESS trader, an advanced share trading platform with direct market access. MT4 is the most popular trading platform in the world, while MetaTrader 5 (MT5) has more tools, such as an embedded economic calendar and chat system. In comparison to the MetaTrader platforms, IRESS has a simpler user interface and more functionality, including advanced order types, news alerts, customizable charts, advanced watchlist features, and access to over 10,000 trading instruments.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.10 pips with 6 USD commission round turn on the trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4, MT5, cTrader & IRESS platforms supported. FP Markets is regulated by CySEC and ASIC.
GO Markets – Best Trading Tools
Founded in Melbourne, GO Markets has been licenced by ASIC since 2006 (AFSL 254963). One of Australia’s first MetaTrader brokers, GO Markets offers two low-cost trading accounts, a huge range of financial instruments, and excellent trading tools on both the MT4 and MT5 platforms. Both of GO Markets’ accounts have a reasonable minimum deposit of 200 AUD, making them accessible to all Australian traders.
Suite of Trading Tools: GO Markets’ extensive suite of trading tools includes some of our favourites, including Autochartist, Trading Central, and the myfxbook copy trading service. GO Markets is also one of the few brokers to offer a-Quant, an advanced algorithmic trading tool which uses machine learning to produce high-probability trading signals on a range of popular trading instruments. Other tools include a free VPS service for high-volume traders and the MetaTrader Genisis suite of tools for MT4 and MT5.
Low Fees: Although GO Markets only offers two live accounts, its trading fees are lower than other similar brokers. Spreads start at 1 pip on the Standard Account, but the GO Plus Account features spreads down to 0 pips and a commission of 6 USD per lot traded. Both accounts allow clients to trade over 3600 financial instruments, including 49 Forex pairs and all 2400+ shares listed in the ASX.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.00 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4 & MT5 platforms supported. Go Markets is regulated by ASIC, the FSC, the FSA, and CySEC.
IG – Widest Range of Tradable Instruments
Founded in London in 1974, IG has a regional HQ in Melbourne and has been regulated by ASIC since 2002 (ASFL: 220440). The largest broker in the world by revenue and regulated by 17 authorities worldwide, IG is also one of the few brokers that supported ASIC’s introduction of tighter regulations in early 2021. In addition to being one of the best regulated ASIC brokers, IG has the widest range of financial instruments and some of the lowest trading fees in the industry on three trading platforms.
Widest range of financial instruments: IG offers over 17,000 financial instruments, many more than most other brokers. Tradeable CFDs include 13,000 share CFDs, 6000 ETFs, and 80 Forex pairs. IG also offers weekend trading on major Forex pairs and 24 hour trading on Australia’s leading stock index, the ASX 200. Both of these are unique services that are not available at other brokers. IG Market’s single account has low fees compared to other brokers, with no minimum deposit requirements, spreads starting at 0.85 pips on the EUR/USD, and no commission charged on Forex trading.
Trading Platforms: IG’ trading platforms include MetaTrader 4 (MT4) its own web-based platform, and L2 Dealer, a specialist share trading platform that offers direct market access (DMA) to clients who maintain an account balance of 2000 AUD. MT4 and the IG trading platforms are more user-friendly and suited to beginner traders, while the L2 Dealer offers advanced analytical tools and charting packages for more experienced traders.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.60 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4, ProRealTime and L2 Dealer platforms supported. IG Markets Group is regulated by FCA, ASIC, and the FSCA.
Pepperstone Lowest Cost ECN Broker
An ASIC regulated broker (ASFL: 414530), Pepperstone was founded in 2010 in Melbourne and has grown to be one of the largest ECN brokers in the world, with over 300,000 clients and 12+ billion-dollar daily trading volume. While the new rules introduced by ASIC in 2021 will harm many of the low-quality brokers in Australia, Pepperstone is well-placed to benefit with its low fees, ultra-fast execution, and three popular trading platforms.
Lowest Trading Fees: Pepperstone offers two accounts with some of the lowest trading fees in the industry – a Razor Account with spreads that average at 0.17 pips (EUR/USD) in exchange for a commission of 7 USD, and a commission-free Standard Account with spreads that average at 0.69 pips on the EUR/USD. Trades are executed in under 0.3 seconds, which means that orders are filled as close to the quoted price as possible. Additionally, there are no minimum deposit requirements, making both accounts accessible to beginners.
Trading Platforms: Pepperstone’s trading platforms include MetaTrader 4 (MT4), Metatrader 5 (MT5), and cTrader, a broader range of platforms than is typically found at other brokers. MT4 is the most popular trading platform while MetaTrader 5 (MT5) has more tools, such as an embedded economic calendar and chat system. cTrader is a more modern trading platform and is easier for beginners to learn but still has all the sophisticated automation tools found in MT4 and MT5. While trading conditions vary slightly depending on the trader’s preferred platform, trading costs are still lower than those of other similar brokers.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.60 pips with 0.0 USD commission round turn on the trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4, MT5 & cTrader platforms supported. Pepperstone is regulated by the FCA, ASIC, and the DFSA.
IC Markets – Best ASIC Broker for Beginners
IC Markets (ASFL: 335692) is a leading ASIC-regulated online retail Forex and CFD broker founded in 2007 and headquartered in Sydney. One of the largest Australian brokers, IC Markets’ daily trade volume averages at over 15 billion USD and is available in over 162 countries worldwide. IC Markets was one of the first brokers to amend its product offering in line with ASIC’s 2021 restrictions and provides a welcoming environment for beginner traders. IC Markets offers a well-structured educational section developed by a team of in-house experts and two beginner-friendly accounts.
Education: With a comprehensive library of course material, including video tutorials, articles, frequent webinars, and IC Markets’ Web TV, traders will receive extensive instruction in CFD trading. IC Markets also has a dedicated support department operating 24/7 to help beginner traders answer any technical or trading-related questions.
Beginner-friendly accounts: IC Markets offers three live accounts, all with a minimum deposit of 200 AUD, making them accessible to beginner traders. IC Markets’ trading fees are some of the lowest in the industry – its commission-free Standard Account has fees included in its variable spreads, which average at 1 pip (EUR/USD), while the Raw accounts offer spreads that average at 0.02 pips on the EUR/USD in exchange for commissions of between 6 and 7 USD (round turn), depending on the platform.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.10 pips with 7 USD commission round turn on the trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4, MT5 & cTrader platforms supported. IC Markets is regulated by CySEC and ASIC.
Markets.com – Best Proprietary Platform
Markets.com is a global broker founded in 2008 and regulated by ASIC with AFSL number: 424008. With the recent ASIC regulatory changes, Markets.com changed its product offering including restricting its leverage from 200:1 to 30:1 and eliminating bonuses and promotions. Markets.com offers one live account, available on three trading platforms, including MT4, MT5, and Marketsx, one of the best in-house trading platforms in the industry.
Marketsx:Marketsx is an award-winning trading platform known for its ease of use and excellent features. With a clean, intuitive design, the platform offers advanced charting, making it easier to spot trends and identify new trading opportunities. It also allows traders to add up to five types of indicators to the chart at once and compare up to eight instruments side-by-side. Additionally, the platform integrates with a number of trading tools, including signals, bloggers’ opinions, and trends, among others.
Markets.com’s Trading Fees: Markets.com’s trading fees vary depending on trading platform choice. The average cost of trading one lot of EUR/USD is 8 USD on the Marketsx platform and 6 USD on the MT4 and MT5 platforms, which is lower than other similar brokers. The minimum deposit is also reasonable, at 100 USD/EUR/GBP, putting it well within reach of most traders.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.70 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4, MT5, and Markets.com platforms supported. Markets.com is regulated by the FSCA, FCA, CySEC, ASIC, and the BVI FSC.
Avatrade – Best Mobile Trading Experience
Founded in 2006 in Dublin, Ireland, Avatrade is an ASIC regulated broker (AFSL: 406684) with over 200,000 registered users and an average monthly trading volume of 60 billion USD. In line with the 2021 ASIC changes, Avatrade amended its product offering, which included reducing its leverage from 400:1 to 30:1 for retail traders. Additionally, Avatrade provides a user-friendly trading environment on a range of trading platforms, including its innovative mobile app – AvaTradeGO. AvaSocial, Avatrade’s social trading platform is also available as a downloadable app.
AvaTradeGO: An award-winning application, AvatradeGO allows traders to connect to global trading markets, create their own watchlists, and view live prices and charts. AvatradeGO also provides free access to analysis tools such as Autochartist, Duplitrade, a copy trading tool, and AvaProtect, its own state-of-the-art risk management system. Avatrade’s trading fees are average compared to other similar brokers, with a minimum deposit requirement of 100 AUD, spreads that start at 0.90 pips pips on the EUR/USD, and no commissions charged on Forex trades.
Avasocial: Avasocial is Avatrade’s social and copy trading platform. Available on both Android and iOS, the mobile app allows traders to replicate the trades of other successful traders. Traders can opt to trade manually or to use a fully automated service. Traders can also interact with other traders and ask questions on specific strategies, find out more about various markets, and seek out a mentor, making it a great tool for beginner traders.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.90 pips. Minimum initial deposit 100 AUD. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4 & MT5 platforms supported. AvaTrade Group regulated by ASIC, FSCA, B.V.I FSC & FSA.
ACY Securities – Best Bespoke Trading Account
An ASIC-regulated broker (AFSL: 403863), ACY Securities is headquartered in Sydney, in the heart of Australia’s financial district. As part of ACY Securities’ requirements under ASIC Regulatory Guide, it has partnered with Aon to provide Professional Indemnity Insurance to all Australian clients- up to 2,5 million USD. ACY Securities offers three live accounts on the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, including a Bespoke Trading Account with customisable trading conditions.
Bespoke Account: ACY Securities’ Bespoke Account can be opened with a minimum deposit of 10,000 AUD and clients benefit from extremely low trading fees, including spreads as tight as 0.0 pips (EUR/USD) with low commissions of 5 AUD.
Platforms: The Bespoke Account is available on both the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platforms, some of the most popular trading platforms in the industry. Developed by Metaquotes in 2002, MT4 is still the most widely used platform with excellent charting functionality, automated trading, and fast execution speeds. MT5, the newer version of MT4 is being adopted by more brokers all the time and offers the same features as MT4, but also allows share trading and has more tools, such as an embedded chat function and an integrated Economic Calendar.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread on the EUR/USD is 1.00 pips on trading account with the lowest minimum deposit of 50 USD. Max leverage 30:1. MT4/MT5 platforms supported. ACY Securities is regulated by ASIC & VFSC .
ThinkMarkets – Best Customer Support
Established in 2010, ThinkMarkets is a large international ASIC regulated broker (AFSL: 424700) with headquarters in both London and Melbourne. In addition to complying with the rules set out by ASIC, all client capital is held in segregated trust accounts at top-tier Australian banks, including Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank. ThinkMarkets’ multilingual customer support team is available 24/7 and it offers two live accounts with low trading fees.
Customer Support: ThinkMarkets offers 24/7 customer support, which is exceptional for an industry where the norm is 24/7. Support agents are therefore able to help clients with any technical or account queries on the weekends, a bonus for traders who aren’t able to trade full time during the week. Support is also available via a local Australian telephone number, email, and live chat.
Low Trading Fees: ThinkMarkets offers two simple accounts – the commission-free Standard Account with trading fees included in its variable spreads, averaging at 1.20 pips (EUR/USD), and the ThinkZero Account which offers spreads of 0.0 pips (EUR/USD) in exchange for a commission of 7 USD. While there are no minimum deposits on the Standard Account, traders have to deposit an initial sum of 500 USD to open a ThinkZero Account.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 1.20 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4, MT5 & ThinkMarkets platforms supported. ThinkMarkets is regulated by ASIC, FCA, CySEC, FSA-Japan, FSA-Seychelles and FSCA.
XM – Best Education
Founded in 2009 in Cyprus, XM has over 5,000 0000 traders on its books from 192 countries. With a long history of regulatory oversight, XM gained its ASIC licence (AFSL number: 443670) in 2014 and set up a regional office in Melbourne.Under the strict ASIC regime, XM offers an Ultra-Low account with low trading fees and provides some of the best educational support in the industry.
Daily Live Education: XM excels in its educational offering, which includes educational videos, courses, platform tutorials, Forex seminars, and live Q&A sessions available every hour from Monday to Friday. Topics include the basics of Forex trading, technical analysis, trading strategies, fundamental analysis, and major currency fundamentals. XM also offers comprehensive market analysis, providing traders with a daily market overview, frequently updated news, trading ideas, technical summaries, a podcast, and regular research updates.
XM’s Ultra-Low Account: Available on the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, XM’s Ultra-Low Account has competitive trading fees, with spreads that start at 0.8 pips on the EUR/USD, no commissions for Forex trading, and a minimum deposit of 50 USD. XM also boasts a strict no requotes and no rejections policy, and 99.35% of all trading orders are executed in less than one second, which means that traders will usually receive the trading prices that are quoted.
Leverage limitations apply to all the EU regulated entities of the group.
Is Forex Trading Legal in Australia?
Yes. Forex trading is legal in Australia. Before brokers can legally accept clients resident in Australia, they must attain an Australian financial services (AFS) license from ASIC.
How do I start trading forex in Australia?
Forex trading starts with selecting a Forex broker. A Forex broker is the link between you and the Forex market. While there are many different forex brokers, each has its individual trading costs, educational material, trading conditions and trading platform selection. It is strongly recommended that Australian residents register with ASIC regulated brokers.
Why Trade with an ASIC Regulated Forex Broker?
There are few genuinely strong regulators in the world; the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is one, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission is another, and most would agree that ASIC is also a member of this group. ASIC has already built a reputation for guaranteeing trader security and dealing harshly with bad brokers, but in March 2021 ASIC deployed an even stricter regulatory environment. We will talk about what that environment looks like in more detail below, but first, let’s look at the current benefits of trading with an ASIC-regulated broker.
Segregated Accounts: Like most good regulators, ASIC ensures that all brokers keep client funds segregated from broker operational funds and in Tier 1 Australian banks.
Negative Balance Protection: ASIC requires all brokers to provide protection against negative balance by limiting a retail client’s CFD losses to the funds in their CFD trading account.
Dispute Resolution and Customer Satisfaction: The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) handles all disputes between traders and brokers and are known for efficiency and fairness. Importantly, brokers are responsible for the cost of the resolution and not the trader – this provides an incentive for brokers to respond quickly and fairly to all customer complaints. Unsurprisingly, ASIC Forex brokers are consistently rated very highly for customer satisfaction.
No Conflict of Interest: ASIC has banned all Forex brokers from being a counterparty to their client’s trades, furthermore all brokers are required to offer a fast and efficient platform with no broker interference. It is perhaps as a result of these restrictions that Australia hosts many of the world’s best ECN brokers.
List of ASIC-Regulated Brokers
This is our list of all ASIC-regulated brokers that we have reviewed, ordered by their overall score. The broker that scores highest overall is at the top of the list.
Forex gains are not tax-free income, and all profits are taxable, even if your brokerage and capital are overseas. Australians are expected to declare taxes just as with any other income – regardless of if you are trading as an individual or a company.
Changes in ASIC Regulation
Big changes in ASIC regulation have been coming for some time. In ASIC’s 2019 review of the Australian OTC retail derivative market, it found a considerable increase in the number of traders since 2017 and an equally large increase in turnover at ASIC regulated brokers.
ASIC also published the data on complaints filed against CFD brokers over the same period, and the results were shocking.
From 2017-19 complaints received by ASIC had increased by 600%, a situation that ASIC has concluded is not sustainable in a sector where the majority of customers are known to lose money.
In early 2020, ASIC conducted a further study, just as the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread across the world. Over a volatile five-week period in March and April 2020, the retail clients of a sample of 13 CFD issuers made a net loss of more than $774 million. Also during this period:
over 1.1 million CFD positions were terminated under margin close-out arrangements (compared with 9.3 million over the full year of 2018)
more than 15,000 retail client CFD trading accounts fell into negative balance, owing to a total of $10.9 million (compared with 41,000 accounts owing $33 million over the full year of 2018).
Varying leverage restrictions for all CFDs: 30:1 for forex and gold, 15:1 for stock indices, 10:1 for commodities (excluding gold), 2:1 for cryptocurrencies and 5:1 for equities and all other instruments.
A forced stop-out at 50% of the total initial margin of all open trades
Mandatory negative balance protection
A complete ban on all bonus schemes, promotions and other incentives to traders.
All broker trading platforms must always display total position size and overnight funding costs related to open positions in real-time.
ASIC also stated that they expect all brokers to publish their pricing methods
As these new restrictions went into force ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour said:
‘We will closely monitor compliance with the product intervention order and won’t hesitate to take appropriate action to enforce the order. We are also paying careful attention to changes in CFD providers’ reported holdings of retail client money and any misclassification of retail clients as wholesale clients, which would risk denying them important rights and protections. Protecting retail investors from harm, particularly at a time of heightened vulnerability, is a priority for ASIC,’
ASIC has also warned Australian brokers away from working with offshore investors illegally, especially as regulators in China, Japan and Europe and North America have placed restrictions or bans on CFDs for retail investors. ASIC has also started working more closely with CFD brokers to ensure compliance with foreign laws and is actively engaged with multiple international regulatory bodies in this matter.
If you want to know more about how these changes might affect your trading, we recommend getting in touch with ASIC or your broker to discuss the options available to you.
Forex Risk Disclaimer
Trading Forex and CFDs is not suitable for all investors as it carries a high degree of risk to your capital: 75-90% of retail investors lose money trading these products.
Forex and CFD transactions involve high risk due to the following factors: Over-leveraging, unpredictable market volatility, slippage arising from a lack of liquidity, inadequate trading knowledge or experience, and a lack of regulatory protection for clients.
Traders should not deposit any money that is not disposable. Regardless of how much research you have done, or how confident you are in your trade, there is always a substantial risk of loss. (Learn more from the FCA or from ASIC)
Our Methodology
Our State of the Market Report and Broker Directory are the results of extensive research on over 180 Forex brokers. The explicit goal of these resources is to help traders find the best Forex brokers – and steer them away from the worst ones – with the benefit of accurate and up-to-date information.
With over 200 data points on each broker and over 3000 hours of research and review writing, we believe we have succeeded in our goal.
In a world where trading conditions and customer support can vary based on where you live, our broker reviews focus on the local trader and give you information about these brokers from your perspective.
All research has been conducted by our in-house team of researchers and writers, gathering information from various company representatives, websites and sifting through the fine print. Learn more about how we rank brokers.
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Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 0.10 pips with 6 USD commission round turn on the trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4, MT5, cTrader & IRESS platforms supported. FP Markets is regulated by CySEC and ASIC.
In early 2020, ASIC conducted a further study, just as the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread across the world. Over a volatile five-week period in March and April 2020, the retail clients of a sample of 13 CFD issuers made a net loss of more than $774 million. Also during this period: