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OBR news · 29 August 2026

How we vet who we list

Every partner in the directory passes the same checks, and higher-risk categories get more. What we check and why.

OBR news: how we vet who we list

Orange Brick Road is a signpost: our job is to point you at services we'd be comfortable sending a mate to. That only means something if the pointing has a standard behind it. Here's the standard.

Every listing passes the same checks

Before any business appears in our directory:

  • A real, verifiable entity. An Australian entity or a clearly identified overseas one, with registration we can check independently.
  • Named people. A business that won't put a human name next to its service doesn't get a card.
  • No guaranteed outcomes. Anyone promising returns, recovery percentages or "risk-free" anything is excluded on that sentence alone.
  • A real client we could talk to. Not a testimonial graphic — a person.
  • Sign-off by a named person at OBR. Every listing has someone here who put their name on the vetting.

Higher-risk categories get more

Lending, AI trading, tokenised property and trading education carry risks that a standard listing can't carry silently. Partners in those categories face additional checks, and their cards sit behind a plain-English risk note — not to scare you off, but because a signpost that doesn't mention the cliff isn't doing its job.

What a listing is, and isn't

A listing means the business passed our checks at the time we reviewed it. It is not an endorsement of any product, a prediction, or advice that a service suits you. The decision to engage a partner — and everything you do through them — is between you and them, under their licence, not ours.

How we're paid, in one line

Some partners pay us a referral fee if you engage them through our link; every card says so, the full ledger is on How we're paid, and payment never affects who is listed or the order they appear — the directory is alphabetical, no paid placement.

Found something that doesn't hold up? Tell us. The fastest way a signpost rusts is nobody checking it.

Next step

Protect what you hold

Self-custody, device security, tax records and estate planning — the four things to get right, and the vetted professionals who help with each.

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General information only. Orange Brick Road Pty Ltd (ABN 92 655 540 480) does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence and nothing here is financial product advice.