The form each lender wants, where to send it, how long they take and what it costs. Checked against the lenders’ own pages, not copied from somewhere else.
A discharge authority is the form that tells your lender to release its mortgage over your property. You need one to sell, to refinance to another lender, or to close out a loan you’ve paid off. Three of the eleven lenders below publish a processing time and one publishes a fee. Allow three weeks end to end.
Last checked 18 August 2026
CommBank
Timeframe not published
ANZ
10 business days
Westpac
Timeframe not published
NAB
10 business days
St.George
Timeframe not published
Bank of Melbourne
Timeframe not published
Bankwest
Timeframe not published
ING
Timeframe not published
Ubank
Form on request only
BOQ
Form on request only
Macquarie
28 business days
Almost none of them tell you what this costs or how long it takes. One publishes a fee. Three publish a timeframe. And three — Bankwest, Ubank and BOQ — don’t publish the form at all: you have to ring and ask, which is a retention call as much as a process step.
That’s worth knowing before you start. Budget for a phone call and a fee you can’t look up, and read your loan contract for the number rather than trusting a figure you found online.
The discharge form is not the last step of a refinance. It’s one of the first. Two lenders have to settle on the same day, and nothing can be booked until your current lender has processed the release. Lodge it when your new loan is formally approved, and the rest of the timeline has room to work.
Leave it until the week before and you’ll be the reason settlement moves — which, if you’re selling, can mean penalty interest under the contract.
Selling
The loan is paid out of the sale proceeds. Your conveyancer runs the settlement. Lodge the form once the contract is unconditional and tell them the date you sent it.
Refinancing
Two lenders settle simultaneously. The incoming lender drives it, but your existing lender sets the pace, because nothing books until the discharge is processed.
What is a mortgage discharge authority?
It's the form that tells your lender to release its mortgage over your property. You need one whether you're selling, refinancing to another lender, or paying the loan off entirely. Lenders use different names for it — discharge authority, discharge and variation authority, release form — but it does the same job.
How long does a mortgage discharge take in Australia?
ANZ and NAB both ask for at least 10 business days from receiving your signed form, and Macquarie says settlement can take up to 28 days once the file reaches its panel solicitor. The other eight lenders we checked don't publish a timeframe at all. Allow three weeks end to end, because the form is only the first step — your conveyancer and, if you're refinancing, the incoming lender still have to book settlement around it.
What does it cost to discharge a mortgage?
Of the eleven lenders we checked, only Macquarie publishes a figure — $400. Everyone else sets it in your loan contract, so check your letter of offer or the fees and charges booklet from settlement. Two costs sit alongside it: a land titles registration fee, and break costs if you're still inside a fixed term. Break costs are the one that can run into thousands.
When should I lodge the discharge form?
If you're selling, once the contract goes unconditional. If you're refinancing, as soon as your new loan is formally approved — not after, because settlement can't be booked until your current lender has processed the form.
Every figure on these pages comes from the lender’s own discharge page, with the date it was checked shown on each one. Where a lender doesn’t publish something — most of them don’t publish a fee — we say so rather than repeating a number from elsewhere.
Refinancing? Check the new rate covers the costs
Discharge fees, break costs and registration fees all come off the saving. Worth knowing the real number before you lodge anything.
See what you could save →