The Ratesniffers Editorial Team

The editorial team is responsible for four things on the site:

• Maintaining the rate index — how lenders are categorised, how products are normalised, how comparison rates are computed, and the data-quality filters that decide when a row gets surfaced or held back.
• Designing and validating the calculators — every calculator is unit-tested against published worked examples (Australian Bankers’ Association, ASIC MoneySmart, RBA cash-rate-impact tables) before it ships.
• Researching, writing and fact-checking the guides — sourced from primary documents (lender PDS / KFS, NCCP Act, Privacy Act, ATO, Treasury, RBA), with statutory references current at time of review.
• Publishing daily news — rate moves, lender policy changes, RBA decisions, market analysis. Every article cites the underlying primary source and has a human reviewer accountable for the claims in it.

Editorial reviewers hold a combination of:

• Direct experience in the Australian credit market — typically 5+ years in retail banking, broking, or financial journalism roles.
• Working knowledge of the relevant Australian regulatory framework — the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, ASIC Regulatory Guide 273 (Mortgage brokers best interests duty), RG 234 (Advertising financial products and advice services), and the Privacy Act 1988.
• Practical familiarity with Australian lender product structures — comparison-rate math, LMI premium scales, offset vs redraw mechanics, fixed-rate break-cost formulas, deposit-grant scheme eligibility.

Per Ratesniffers’ independence positioning, the editorial team operates distinctly from any single broker or lender. We don’t surface individual reviewer identities on the site — independence is the moat — but qualifications and review accountability are real and documented internally.

Every page that goes live follows the same checklist:

1. Sourcing.Every claim of fact gets a primary-source citation — regulator, lender disclosure, statutory reference. No second-hand “industry consensus” without a source.
2. Math validation. Calculators and worked examples in guides are run against the same statutory base ($150,000 over 25 years on a secured basis for comparison rates), with edge cases (high LVR, IO loans, fixed-rate breaks) tested.
3. Editorial review.A second reviewer reads the page from a borrower’s perspective. Anything ambiguous, missing context, or factually-loose gets flagged.
4. Publish + observe. Once live, the page is monitored for reader corrections, rate-data drift, and statutory changes. Material corrections happen within 5 business days.
5. Periodic re-review.Every guide carries a “Last reviewed” date. Guides are re-reviewed at least annually, or sooner when an underlying regulation changes (NCCP amendments, FY-roll grant updates, RBA cash rate changes).

Some practices are off-limits, regardless of commercial pressure:

• Take payment to alter, omit, or reorder products on rate-list pages.
• Publish “sponsored content” that isn’t clearly labelled as such.
• Publish AI-generated content as a primary news article or guide without a human reviewer signing off on the claims.
• Republish other comparison sites’ analysis as our own.
• Provide personal credit advice on the site. Specific recommendations to a specific borrower happen with a licensed broker, after the broker has assessed the borrower’s circumstances.

Full editorial standards are documented on /editorial-guidelines; the methodology behind the rate-list rankings is on /how-we-rank-rates.

Spotted a factual error, want to flag a stale rate, or have a tip on a market move that hasn’t been covered? Email hello@ratesniffers.com.au. We correct factual errors within 5 business days.