The Best Australian Forex Brokers Compete
for a Growing Market

Australia has become an increasingly important market for online forex brokerages. We analyse the best Australian forex brokers currently serving this market.

Overall rating	Min deposit	Fee Rating	Customer service quality
4.4/5	200	3.9/5	3.9/5
4.4/5	AUD$200	3/5	5/5	79.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
4.1/5	100	4/5	4/5	Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
4.4/5	200 AUD	4/5	4/5	72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider

Australia is a rapidly growing market for forex brokers. Many forex brokers count Australia as their biggest market with the largest share of monthly visits coming from traders residing in Australia.

With a regulatory environment favourable towards such online brokerages setting up, several online brokerages have set Australia as their headquarters.

Other brokers that are headquartered overseas have been able to establish operations in Australia by complying with the regulations set forth by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). We review the most popular forex brokers in Australia and assess the upsides and downsides of each.

Best Australian Forex Broker Goes to Go Markets

Founded in 1998, Go Markets is an extremely popular choice among Australian customers. Australian customers account for roughly 20% of Go Markets trading accounts based on data from Crunchbase. Go Markets also serves forex traders in China, the world’s second-biggest economy. This is a considerable competitive advantage for Go Markets given that most online brokers avoid this market due to their strict regulatory requirements. Go Markets was established in 1998 and self-markets as “Australia’s original MT4 Forex Broker”. Go Markets claims to be the first forex broker to bring the extremely popular MT4 trading software to the Australian market.

Forex traders using Go Markets can access several markets including commodities, share CFDs, indices, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies. Traders can find over 350 products and can access these markets from several different trading platforms. The trading platforms include MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, mobile trading platforms, and a trading platform accessible through the web.

Go Markets users can also access social trading through third-party service Myfxbook. Myfxbook enables traders to copy successful trading strategies and also allows users to copy portfolios. Downloading software is not required to use Myfxbook meaning traders can access social trading services through the trading platforms provided by Go Markets.

Go Markets traders have several other advantages. Traders have the option to set up a demo account before setting up a standard trading account funded with real money. Go Markets users will also have access to 24/5 customer support.

In terms of downsides, other Australian forex brokers provide greater optionality in some areas. When it comes to social trading, Pepperstone is an attractive pick.

Pro's and Con's

Pro's	Con's
Registered and regulated in Australia by the ASIC. Operating since 2006, offers most of the standard FOREX and commodity products Offers a new kind of account that charges a flat rate of A$3.00 per trade, with no markup of the spread Low trading and financing fees for all its accounts, low initial deposit of $200 USD	Limited number of options when it comes the trading platforms clients can use The broker doesn’t offer Islamic accounts.
A wide variety of tools that traders can use to help when making their trading decisions. Traders can apply large amounts of leverage and take both long and short positions in markets A vast library of educational tools suitable for traders of all levels	Not a huge variety of trading instruments available within market classes There are several different fee types which traders are subject to Only operating for approximately ten years	79.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Range of CFDs, options and more than 10,000 trading instruments. Regulated by Australia’s ASIC Propriety IRESS trader built to be used with the MT4 platform, offering clients the ability to use their platform for both CFDs and share trading. There is a charge to use this platform, but a rebate is available for frequent traders FP Markets offers Bitcoin trading No inactivity fee	Depending on the account, initial funding fee can be much higher than other brokers Charge funding fees to deposit money into an account. Depending on what kind of method is used, fees can be as high as 4%.	Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
Plus500 Ltd. is a publicly listed company Regulated in the UK by the FCA The trading platform is easy to use and gets great reviews from its clients.Offers a mobile trading platform that looks and functions well Offers its clients low spreads	Only offers CFDs and their product portfolio isn’t as large as some of the other CFD-specific brokers For clients that want to employ ‘scalping’ trading strategies, Plus 500 isn’t the right broker. They may ban any client who opens and closes a trade in two minutes or less	72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider

Popular Pepperstone Provides Several Markets
and Social Trading Options

Pepperstone is another Australian forex broker which was founded in Melbourne in 2010. Pepperstone is popular in both the Asian and European markets. The business activities of Pepperstone are regulated by ASIC and the FCA. Pepperstone traders can access several financial markets including forex, indices CFDs, shares CFDs, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. These markets can be accessed through the trading platforms MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, or cTrader. cTrader is Pepperstone’s proprietary trading platform and is designed for advanced traders.

Pepperstone provides social trading services through several third-party providers. Similar to Go Markets, Myfxbook is an option. Other options include ZuluTrade, Mirror Trader, MetaTrader Signals, and DupliTrade. Each provides its own unique social trading experience. For example, forex traders can access a wide variety of algorithms by using Mirror Trader or traders can access a marketplace of trading strategies through MetaTrader Signals.

While Go Markets and Pepperstone provide a wide choice of markets to forex traders, users of the next Australian broker on the list, FP Markets, can access over 10,000 markets.

Get Rare Market Access with First Prudential (FP) Markets

Founded in 2005, First Prudential (FP) Markets is an Australian forex broker that also serves the Chinese, European, and UK markets in addition to forex traders in Australia. FP Markets is licenced to be a forex broker in Australia by ASIC and is regulated to operate in the UK and European markets by the Financial Services Authority.

For forex traders looking for a wider choice of tradable markets, FP Markets will be an extremely attractive choice. The forex broker offers over 10,000 tradeable markets. FP Markets is also a broker which can be considered by larger traders. With only a limited number of Australian forex brokers catering for professional clients, this makes FP Markets a unique choice on this list given its wide diversity of markets and capacity to take on large forex traders. Traders can also tap into direct market access (DMA) which means that they can trade directly from the order books of exchanges. This is another rare option provided only by a small number of forex brokers.

Publicly Listed CFD Provider Plus500 is Another Option for
Australian Traders

Plus500, being a publicly listed company means that users can benefit from the company having access to public market funding. Plus500 is also subject to stringent financial reporting requirements meaning that their financial performance and company results are published publicly and subject to auditing. Founded in 2008, Plus500 has rapidly grown to become a large online CFD provider. While Plus500 is not an Australian company, Australia has become a large market for Plus500’s trading services. Plus500’s CFD platform services in Australia are regulated by ASIC. Plus500 is also regulated by the FCA and CySEC.

Plus500 traders have access to over 2,000 markets through CFD products. Accessible markets include shares, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies (Availability subject to regulation). Traders can access markets through Windows desktop, mobile, and the web. Traders have the option to set up a demo account before setting up a standard trading account to test out Plus500’s brokerage. Large traders also have the option to set up a professional account where they can access greater amounts of leverage and lower fees. Read about the best brokers for beginners if trading smaller amounts.

Customer Needs Come First In Australian Forex Market

Each Australian forex broker provides its unique advantages and disadvantages. Large traders will be well served with forex brokers such as Plus500 or FP Markets as they will be able to set up a professional trading account and will also have access to a wide variety of markets. Go Markets and Pepperstone are also popular choices in the Australian market and each holds their competitive advantages. Pepperstone traders will have access to a wide variety of social trading options while Go Markets brokerage is extremely focused on the Australian market. Go Markets has a long history of operating with Australian traders and these traders represent the largest share of their user base. Such experience shows that Go Markets knows how to cater to the needs of the Australian trading market and this forex broker will likely continue to be an excellent choice for forex traders in Australia.

The Best Australian Forex Brokers Compete for a Growing Market