The cap belongs to you, not the broker
Forex brokers in Australia
Australia settled the leverage argument by rule. ASIC's product intervention order limits retail CFD leverage to 30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on minors and gold, and 2:1 on crypto — and it runs until 23 May 2027. So the 1:500 and 1:1000 in broker marketing is not an offer available to an Australian retail client of a licensed broker; it is an offshore number.
Checked against each broker's own pages and the regulator's register
The nine brokers we track, read from Australia
Only one broker in this list holds an Australian financial services licence. For the rest, the leverage in the fourth column is what they publish elsewhere — which is precisely the gap the ASIC order exists to close.
| Broker | Australian licence | Leverage under Australian rules | Leverage advertised offshore | Who you would contract with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortrade | Fort Securities Australia Pty Ltd, AFSL 493520 | 30:1 majors, 20:1 minors and gold, 10:1 other commodities, 5:1 shares, 2:1 crypto | Not published as a figure on the pages we captured | The Australian company, for Australian retail clients |
| Deriv | None | Not applicable — no Australian entity | Up to 1:1000 on major pairs, 1:4000 on one derived index | A Maltese or offshore Deriv company, named at signup |
| Tickmill | None | Not applicable | 1:30 for retail clients on its UK and EU entities; up to 1:1000 on its global site | Its UK, Cyprus, South African or other registered entity |
| FxPro | None | Not applicable | 1:500 as published | FxPro UK, or its Seychelles or Bahamas company |
| RoboForex | None | Not applicable | Up to 1:2000 on its Pro and ProCent accounts | RoboForex Ltd, Belize |
| LiteFinance | None | Not applicable | Up to 1:1000 | LiteFinance Global LLC (St Vincent), or its Cyprus or Mauritius entity |
| Libertex | None | Not applicable | Its CySEC entity is bound by EU limits — 30:1 on majors | Indication Investments Ltd, Cyprus |
| Alpari | None | Not applicable | Up to 1:3000 on its ECN and Pro ECN accounts | Parlance Trading Ltd, Mwali International Services Authority |
| Bybit | None | Not applicable | Crypto-exchange leverage, outside the CFD regime | Its St Vincent or Mauritius company |
Leverage limits from ASIC's own media releases on the CFD product intervention order (20-254MR and the 2022 five-year extension), read 25 August 2026. Licence details from each broker's own disclosure; the authoritative check is ASIC Connect's professional registers.
First, what this page is not
It is not about share trading. Search for an Australian trading platform without the word forex and you land in a different market entirely — ASX shares, ETFs, CHESS-sponsored holdings, brokerage per trade. Those are stockbrokers, and none of the nine brokers here is one.
What is on this page is leveraged foreign exchange and CFDs: you do not own the underlying asset, you trade the price movement with borrowed exposure, and both the gains and the losses are magnified.
The two are regulated differently, priced differently and fail differently. Mixing them up is the most common way an Australian search goes wrong.
The caps, and why they are the whole story
ASIC's order restricts leverage offered to retail clients to 30:1 for a major currency pair, 20:1 for a minor pair, gold or a major stock index, 10:1 for other commodities or a minor index, 5:1 for shares, and 2:1 for crypto-assets. Before the order, ASIC noted, retail exposure could run to 500 times the original outlay.
The order came into effect on 29 March 2021 and was extended in April 2022 for a further five years, to 23 May 2027. It is not a guideline: it binds the issue and distribution of CFDs to retail clients.
It carries three more protections that matter as much as the ratio. Margin close-out is standardised, acting as a circuit breaker that closes positions before most of the account is gone. Negative balance protection limits a retail client's losses to the funds in the trading account. And inducements — trading credits, rebates, “free” gifts — are prohibited.
Read that list against the broker marketing you will meet elsewhere: high leverage, deposit bonuses, and the possibility of owing money after a gap. Australia has legislated all three out of the retail market.
One licence in the list, and what it means
Of the nine brokers we track, Fortrade names an Australian entity: Fort Securities Australia Pty Ltd, AFSL 493520. Every other broker here operates from Malta, Cyprus, the UK, Belize, the Seychelles, St Vincent, Mauritius or the Comoros.
That does not mean the other eight are unavailable to Australians — it means an Australian dealing with them is a client of a foreign entity, outside the ASIC order, outside Australian dispute resolution, and outside the protections above.
The trade-off is stated honestly on both sides. Offshore, you can obtain leverage that an Australian licensee cannot legally offer you. In exchange, you give up the margin close-out rule, the negative balance guarantee and any local avenue when something goes wrong.
The check itself takes a minute: search ASIC Connect's professional registers for the licence number in the broker's own disclosure, and confirm both that it exists and that it belongs to the company named in your client agreement.
What to compare once the licence question is settled
Total cost per trade, not the advertised spread: a raw-spread account with a commission can beat a “zero commission” one, and the only way to know is to add both together for the instrument you actually trade.
Whether the broker publishes its loss statistics, and what they say. The nine we track publish figures between roughly 69% and 83% of retail accounts losing money — the honest baseline for any comparison of this market.
And what happens on the way out. Withdrawal routes, verification, and the entity that holds the money decide whether a profitable month becomes cash in your account.
Questions people ask
What is the maximum leverage in Australia?
For retail clients, 30:1 on major currency pairs under ASIC's product intervention order — 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities and minor indices, 5:1 on shares and 2:1 on crypto. The order runs until 23 May 2027.
Which of these brokers is ASIC regulated?
One: Fortrade, through Fort Securities Australia Pty Ltd, AFSL 493520 per its own disclosure. The rest operate from Malta, Cyprus, the UK, Belize, the Seychelles, St Vincent, Mauritius or the Comoros. Verify any licence number in ASIC Connect before relying on it.
Can I use an offshore broker from Australia?
Australians do, and the consequence is definite: you become a client of a foreign entity outside ASIC's order, so the leverage cap, the standardised margin close-out and the negative balance protection do not apply to your account, and neither does Australian dispute resolution.
Does negative balance protection apply?
Under the ASIC order, yes — a retail client's CFD losses are limited to the funds in their trading account. That protection comes from the order, so it applies to accounts inside the Australian regime rather than to any account at any broker.
Are deposit bonuses allowed in Australia?
No. The order prohibits giving or offering certain inducements to retail clients, including trading credits, rebates and gifts. A bonus offer aimed at Australian retail clients is a sign you are looking at an offshore entity.
Is this page about ASX share trading?
No. This covers leveraged forex and CFDs, where you trade price movements rather than own the asset. Australian share trading — ASX, ETFs, CHESS-sponsored holdings — is a different market with different brokers and different rules.