Life in Australia Guide

When you buy a home for the first time in Australia, you generally consider three streams of government support at the same time. Each is run by a different body and has different conditions.

• ① Federal 5% Guarantee (Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, formerly First Home Guarantee) — the government acts as guarantor so you can buy a home with just a 5% deposit and have LMI (lenders mortgage insurance) waived. Common across all of Australia.
• ② State grant (First Home Owner Grant, FHOG) — a lump sum given by each state. NSW pays $10,000, only for a new home.
• ③ Stamp duty (stamp/transfer duty) exemption/concession — each state reduces transfer duty for first buyers. The NSW First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (FHBAS) is an example.

If the conditions are met, you can receive all three together. However, since ① is federal and ②·③ are state schemes, the application channels differ. Below we explain the eligibility and how to apply, one by one.

The detailed conditions differ from scheme to scheme, but the criteria commonly applied across first home supports are generally as follows.

• Age — 18 years or older.
• Residency status — Australian citizen or permanent resident (see the warning above).
• First purchase — you (and your spouse/de facto partner) must never have owned residential property in Australia. If a spouse you live with has previously owned a home, both of you may lose eligibility.
• Owner-occupier — it must be a home you will live in yourself, not for investment.
• Price cap/income conditions — these differ by scheme and state. The federal 5% Guarantee abolished its income cap from October 2025, but state grants have their own price caps.

These conditions can change, so if your situation is unclear, the most accurate course is to ask a participating lender or your state's revenue office directly.

Previously known as the 'First Home Guarantee', this scheme was significantly expanded from 1 October 2025 under the name Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. The key points are as follows.

• Buy with just a 5% deposit — normally you need to save 20%, but thanks to the government guarantee you only need 5% of the property price (2% for single parents and legal guardians).
• LMI (Lenders Mortgage Insurance) waived — with a deposit under 20% you would normally pay mortgage insurance of thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, but under this scheme the government acts as guarantor, so you do not pay LMI.
• No place limit, no income cap — from October 2025, both the limit on the number of guaranteed places and the income cap were abolished.
• Not a grant, but a 'guarantee' — the government does not give you money; it guarantees part of the loan so that LMI is waived.

You apply not through the government but through a participating lender (over 30 of them). For the detailed process, see 'How do I apply?' below.

This is a lump sum that each state gives to first buyers. The amount and conditions differ by state, and most apply only to a new home. Taking NSW as an example (check your state's revenue office for other states):

• Amount — NSW gives $10,000.
• New homes only — newly built homes and off-the-plan purchases are eligible. An existing home is not eligible for the NSW FHOG.
• Price cap (NSW) — for a completed new home, $600,000 or less; for buying land and building, the land plus building contract combined must be $750,000 or less.
• Independent of income — the NSW FHOG can be received regardless of income, provided the conditions are met.

It can be received together with the stamp duty exemption (③ below), so if you buy a new home you can combine the two benefits to greatly reduce your upfront costs. For applications and eligibility enquiries, Revenue NSW 1300 130 624 (from overseas +61 2 7808 6913).

The stamp duty (transfer/stamp duty) you pay when buying a home is a large amount (tens of thousands of dollars) and a heavy burden for first buyers. Each state exempts or discounts it for first buyers. The NSW First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (FHBAS) is a leading example (other states have different names and thresholds).

• Full exemption — for both new and existing homes, $800,000 or less means a full stamp duty exemption.
• Concessional — for the $800,000 – $1,000,000 range, a discounted rate applies according to the price.
• Vacant land — full exemption under $350,000, with a concession in the $350,000 – $450,000 range.

Unlike the FHOG (②), the stamp duty exemption also applies to existing homes, so you can receive it even if it is not a new build. Enquiries: Revenue NSW 1300 139 814 (duties). Thresholds and rates can change, so check at revenue.nsw.gov.au.

The NSW example above does not apply unchanged to other states. The grant amount, price cap, stamp duty threshold, and whether new/existing homes apply differ from state to state.

• The federal 5% Guarantee is common across all of Australia, but only the price cap differs by state and region (see the table in section ①).
• FHOG and stamp duty are run separately by each state. Check with the revenue office of the state where you intend to live — e.g. VIC sro.vic.gov.au, QLD qro.qld.gov.au, WA wa.gov.au, SA revenuesa.sa.gov.au.

The criteria are set by 'which state you buy the home in'. The right order is to decide where you will live, then check that state's official rules. You can calculate the exact duty amount with each state revenue office's stamp duty calculator.