Smart Lending is a Melbourne brokerage based at 696 Bourke Street in Docklands, founded and led by Managing Director Melissa Gielnik. The firm holds a 5.0 average across 270+ Google reviews and has been recognised with the 2024 MFAA Customer Service Business Award and the 2025 Best Residential Broker of the Year. Melissa was the only female within two decades to win the MFAA's Mortgage Credit Adviser of the Year (2014).
The team is predominantly female and intentionally so — Melissa runs a culture described on their website as "collaboration and client-centricity" with award-winning customer service. The team handles first-home buyers, refinances, debt consolidation, asset finance, business loans, and renovation lending. Service costs nothing directly. Trading hours are weekday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, but reviews repeatedly note after-hours and late-night responsiveness in active applications.
The senior team is Melissa Gielnik (Managing Director and Senior Mortgage Broker, Bachelor of Business in Applied Economics, Diploma of Financial Services, 20+ years in broking) alongside Courtney Watson (Customer Service Manager and Asset Finance Broker), Emma Gilman (Lending Specialist), and Catherine Jones (Mortgage Broker). They're supported by customer-care consultants Rachel Aguinaldo and Alexandrea Lanuza, and Marketing Manager Kirra Ligudzinski.
What clients say: speed, problem-solving, and treating clients like family. Several reviewers describe approvals in 24 hours, 2 days, 7 days. Repeat-client behaviour is unusually visible — "third time using Smart Lending," "5+ years," "over 10 years" handling a family's lending. Multiple reviews describe Melissa specifically as a problem-solver on tough applications, with Courtney named alongside her on a large share of the recent files.
The team
Click through for a fuller bio, specialties, and direct contact for each team member.
Managing Director & Senior Mortgage Broker
Melissa Gielnik is the driving force behind the brokerage's success over the last 20 + years. Holding a Bachelor of Business in Applied Economics as well as a Diploma in Financial Services, Melissa is a passionate broker and a female thought leader in the industry.
View profile →Lending Specialist
View profile →Customer Service Manager & Asset Finance Broker
View profile →Mortgage Broker
View profile →Customer Care Consultant
View profile →Customer Care Consultant
View profile →Marketing Manager
View profile →Recent verbatim reviews. See the firm's Google profile for the full set.
This was my THIRD time using Smart Lending! Courtney and Emma are absolute professionals, and were always available to guide my wife and I through the process. Thank you so much!
A big thank you to Courtney and Emma for securing my first home loan in such a short amount of time (24 hours). As a first home buyer the process seemed very daunting but you guys made it so hassle free :) Courtney even went the extra mile to attend the auction with me and helped me out.
Melissa, Emma & Courtney are by far the best team! They have taken care of my families lending for over 10 years. They handle everything from the loan set up through to settlement seamlessly and provide endless support each time we have ever needed to change anything.
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Mortgage knowledge base
Plain-English answers to the most common Australian mortgage questions.
