Government Grants And Schemes for First Home Buyers in Australia (2026 Guide)

Buying your first home often involves more than finding a loan. Your deposit, transfer duty, eligibility for government assistance and the type of property you buy all affect how much cash you need upfront.

First-home buyers in Australia have access to federal and state support. Depending on your circumstances, this includes the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy, the First Home Super Saver Scheme, First Home Owner Grants and state-based transfer-duty concessions.

The useful question is not simply which schemes exist. You need to work out which ones apply to the same purchase, because eligibility rules overlap and some forms of assistance work together while others do not.

What Government Schemes Are Available For First Home Buyers?

The main government grants and schemes available to first-home buyers include:

• Help to Buy
• First Home Super Saver Scheme
• Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme
• Stamp duty or transfer-duty exemptions and concessions
• First Home Owner Grant, which differs by state and territory
• State-specific shared-equity and homebuyer-assistance schemes

These programs help in different ways.

A guarantee scheme reduces the deposit required by the lender and removes the need for Lenders Mortgage Insurance in eligible cases.

The First Home Owner Grant provides money towards an eligible purchase or build.

Transfer-duty concessions reduce one of the major costs paid around settlement.

The First Home Super Saver Scheme gives eligible buyers a tax-effective way to build part of their deposit through voluntary super contributions.

Shared-equity schemes reduce the amount you need to fund yourself because a government body takes an equity interest in the property.

Treating all of these as interchangeable “first-home buyer grants” creates confusion. Each solves a different part of the affordability problem.

Federal Government Home Buyer Schemes

Federal programs operate nationally, although eligibility, participating lenders and property-price limits still apply.

The federal programs now work quite differently from the older Home Guarantee Scheme structure. From 1 October 2025, the scheme was renamed the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. The former Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee closed to new applications and regional buyers moved into the expanded scheme. Income limits and limits on the number of available guarantees were also removed.

What Is The First Home Super Saver Scheme?

The First Home Super Saver Scheme, or FHSS Scheme, lets eligible first-home buyers make voluntary contributions into super and later withdraw eligible amounts towards buying or building a first home.

You count up to $15,000 of eligible voluntary contributions from each financial year towards the scheme, up to $50,000 in total eligible contributions. The amount released is not necessarily the full $50,000. For concessional contributions, 85% of the eligible contribution is included, together with calculated associated earnings.

A rule that regularly causes confusion changed in September 2024.

You no longer need your FHSS determination before signing the purchase contract. You need the determination before ownership of the property transfers to you, which generally means before settlement for an established property. You also need to notify the ATO after entering the contract within the required timeframe.

This timing matters. Do not leave the FHSS process until settlement week.

What Is The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme?

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme replaced the former Home Guarantee Scheme structure from 1 October 2025.

Eligible first-home buyers purchase with a deposit starting from 5% without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance. Housing Australia provides a guarantee to the participating lender over part of the loan.

The scheme now has:

• No income caps for first-home buyers.
• No annual cap on the number of guarantees.
• Higher property-price caps than the previous scheme.
• A general stream for eligible first-home buyers.
• A single-parent stream with a minimum deposit starting from 2%.

The old Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee no longer accepts new applications. Regional first-home buyers now access support through the expanded scheme rather than a separate regional stream.

The government guarantee does not give you a cash payment towards your deposit. It gives the participating lender additional security, allowing an eligible borrower to obtain a high-LVR home loan without LMI.

You still need to meet the lender’s normal credit and borrowing-capacity requirements.

This distinction matters. Scheme eligibility does not equal home-loan approval.

What Is The Help To Buy Scheme?

Help to Buy is the Australian Government’s shared-equity homebuyer program.

Eligible participants contribute a deposit of at least 2%. Housing Australia contributes between 5% and:

• 30% of the purchase price for an existing home.
• 40% of the purchase price for a new home.

The remaining amount is generally funded through your home loan.

Help to Buy therefore works differently from the 5% Deposit Scheme.

Under the 5% Deposit Scheme, you retain ownership of the property and the government provides a guarantee to the lender.

Under Help to Buy, the Commonwealth takes an equity share in the property.

Help to Buy also applies income limits. The expanded thresholds are $100,000 for an individual and $160,000 for joint applicants and single parents, with indexing applying under the program rules. Property-price caps also apply by location.

The government’s equity contribution reduces the mortgage you need, but the Commonwealth shares in changes to the property’s value through its equity interest. That needs to be considered alongside the lower initial loan amount.

What is the Help to Buy Scheme (Shared Equity)?

The Help to Buy scheme is a federal shared equity initiative where the government co-purchases your home.

The government provides an equity contribution of up to 30% for existing homes or 40% for new builds, dramatically lowering your required loan size and repayments.

Strict property price caps and income limits apply depending on your location. You must buy back the government’s share over time or when you eventually sell the house.

State-Specific Government Grants & Schemes For First Home Buyers

State and territory assistance is where first-home buyer rules differ most.

The property type that qualifies, grant amount, duty relief and residence requirements depend on where you buy. Contract dates matter as well. Governments frequently change thresholds without changing the broader scheme name.

For this reason, old comparison tables become unreliable quickly.

First Home Owner Grant

The First Home Owner Grant is administered separately by each state and territory.

Most jurisdictions restrict the grant to new homes. Grant amounts and property-price limits differ.

NSW’s $10,000 grant remains restricted to qualifying new homes. A newly built property must generally cost no more than $600,000. For vacant land followed by a building contract, the combined eligible value is capped at $750,000.

Queensland currently provides a $30,000 grant for eligible new-home transactions. The Queensland Government announced in June 2026 that the increased grant would continue for eligible contracts from 1 July 2026.

Victoria provides $10,000 for an eligible new first home valued up to $750,000.

Western Australia’s FHOG remains up to $10,000 for an eligible new home. The value cap for homes south of the 26th parallel increased to $800,000 for eligible transactions from 7 May 2026.

South Australia provides up to $15,000 for an eligible new home. No property-value cap applies to contracts entered into on or after 6 June 2024.

Tasmania changed its grant again on 1 July 2026. Eligible transactions commencing between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027 receive $20,000. The $30,000 amount applied during the previous financial year.

The Northern Territory’s HomeGrown Territory Grant currently provides $50,000 to eligible first-home buyers purchasing or building a new home, with no purchase-price cap under the program. The temporary $10,000 grant for established homes applied only to contracts entered into up to 30 September 2025.

A common mistake is assuming that being a first-home buyer automatically qualifies you for the FHOG. In most states, buying an ordinary established home does not qualify for the grant even though you could still qualify for transfer-duty relief or a federal homebuyer scheme.

Stamp Duty Exemptions And Concessions For First Home Buyers

Stamp duty (also called transfer duty) is a state and territory tax charged when you buy a property. For most buyers, it’s one of the largest upfront costs on top of their deposit.

To ease this burden, stamp duty exemptions and concessions are available for first-home buyers in Australia.

• A stamp duty exemption means you don’t have to pay duty at all if your property’s value is under a certain threshold.
• A stamp duty concession means you pay a reduced rate if your property is slightly above the exemption threshold.

NSW’s First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme exempts eligible new and established homes valued at $800,000 or less. A concessional rate applies above $800,000 and below $1 million. Vacant-land thresholds are $350,000 for an exemption and below $450,000 for a concession.

Queensland’s rules now depend heavily on whether you buy a new or established home. Contracts for qualifying new first homes dated from 1 May 2025 receive a full transfer-duty concession with no home-value cap. For established first homes, no duty is payable at $700,000 or below, with the first-home concession phasing out before $800,000.

Victoria exempts eligible first-home buyers from land-transfer duty up to $600,000 and provides a concession between $600,001 and $750,000. The property may be new or established.

Western Australia announced higher first-home owner duty thresholds in its 2026-27 housing package. The reforms provide no duty on eligible new or established homes up to $600,000 and a concession up to $800,000. Buyers should check implementation for their transaction date because the changes required legislative and system updates after their May 2026 announcement.

Tasmania currently offers eligible first-home buyers a 50% duty concession when purchasing an established home with a dutiable value of $750,000 or less.

The ACT made a major change from 1 July 2026. Eligible buyers under the Home Buyer Concession Scheme now pay no conveyance duty, and the previous income and property-value limits have been removed. Buyers and their domestic partners still need to satisfy the prior-property and residence requirements.

This is another area where the purchase contract date matters. A threshold you read while saving for a deposit may no longer be the threshold that applies when you eventually exchange contracts.

State-Specific Shared Equity Schemes

Shared equity schemes in Australia are government or partner-backed programs that allow home buyers to purchase a property by sharing the ownership cost with an equity partner, usually the government or a non-profit organisation.

Example: $176,500 Saved By Combining Schemes

By combining the First Home Guarantee, the NSW stamp duty exception and the $10,000 FHOG, you could reduce your upfront costs from $204,000 down to $27,500.

That’s a total saving of $176,500, enough to turn what felt like a decade of saving into buying your home sooner.

How to Apply for Government Housing Grants

Applying for government housing grants involves coordinating with state revenue offices, the ATO, and participating lenders. To ensure a smooth approval process, follow these steps:

Check your eligibility: Confirm that your income, citizenship status (Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident), and property price caps align with the specific grant criteria.

Get your Notice of Assessment: For schemes like the FHSSS, you must request a determination and release of funds from the ATO before closing on a property.

Apply through a participating lender or mortgage broker: Most guarantees cannot be applied for directly. Home Loan Experts can handle the entire application ecosystem for you, submitting the required government paperwork alongside your standard home loan application.

How Can We Help?

Government assistance should be assessed alongside the home loan rather than after you have chosen a property. At Home Loan Experts, we look at your deposit, borrowing capacity, property type and available first-home buyer assistance before recommending a lending strategy.

• We help you:
• Compare participating lenders.
• Work out which benefits are compatible.
• Arrange eligible upfront property valuations.
• Prepare for approval, purchase and settlement.
• Check which government schemes fit your circumstances.
• Review the home loan alongside your scheme requirements.
• Calculate the deposit and purchase costs you still need to fund yourself.

This is particularly useful where several schemes appear to apply. A 5% deposit scheme, FHOG and duty concession each have separate rules, and passing one eligibility test does not confirm the others.

Call 1300 889 743 or complete our free assessment form to discuss your first-home purchase with one of our mortgage brokers.