First Home Buyer Grants and Schemes in Australia

A first home buyer buying the right kind of home can collect a cash grant, pay zero stamp duty, skip a five-figure insurance premium, and build their deposit at a tax discount — all at once, all by design.

Most buyers pull one lever, maybe two, because the help is scattered across two levels of government and eight state and territory revenue offices. Here's every major lever, what it's worth, and which ones you can pull at the same time.

Every state and territory runs a First Home Owner Grant — a straight cash payment, almost always restricted to new homes: new builds, off-the-plan, or places never lived in. Governments will pay you to add a dwelling to the country, not to outbid someone for an existing one.

Amounts mostly sit in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, with price caps that vary by state. Queensland is the standout at $30,000 for new homes under $750,000. Every version has a residence requirement — typically moving in within a year and staying six to twelve months — with full repayment as the penalty.

Buying established? Skip this lever and move to the next one, where established-home buyers get their win.

Stamp duty — the state tax on property purchases — is usually the largest upfront cost after the deposit itself, and every state discounts it for first home buyers. On a typical purchase the saving runs from several thousand dollars to $30,000-plus.

The catch: thresholds are wildly inconsistent. Queensland zeroes duty on established homes to $710,000 and on new homes with no cap at all. Other states draw their lines at completely different prices, and a home that's duty-free on one side of a border can cost five figures in duty on the other.

The universal constants: you get the concession once, you have to actually live in the home, and the free threshold gives way to a taper zone where the discount shrinks as the price climbs. Check your state's exact lines before you set a budget.

Normally, borrow more than 80% of a home's value and the bank makes you buy lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) — a policy that protects the bank, paid for by you, often costing $15,000 to $30,000.

The federal First Home Guarantee removes that toll. Buy with as little as a 5% deposit and the government guarantees the gap up to 20%, so the bank drops the LMI requirement. Since October 2025 the scheme has no income caps and no limit on places. Property price caps still apply and vary by area, from around $1 million in Brisbane to $1.5 million in Sydney.

The honest caveat: you're still borrowing 95% of the price, and a bigger loan means more interest for decades. It solves the deposit problem, not the affordability problem.

The First Home Super Saver scheme is the federal tax play: build your deposit with voluntary super contributions taxed at 15% instead of your marginal rate — the tax on your last dollar earned. Up to $15,000 a year counts, $50,000 in total per person (so $100,000 for a couple), plus deemed earnings. The main rule: get your paperwork with the ATO in order before you sign, and never after settlement.

Shared equity — schemes like the federal Help to Buy — has the government contribute a chunk of the purchase price and own that slice of your home until you buy it back. It slashes the deposit and the loan, at the cost of not owning all of your house. Income caps and scheme rules apply.

Shared equity suits buyers who'd otherwise stay locked out entirely. If you can get there with the other four levers, most people prefer owning the whole asset.

The big four stack: FHSS builds the deposit, the state grant tops it up, the duty concession cuts the upfront bill, and the federal guarantee waives LMI. Each has its own eligibility test, but none disqualifies you for using the others.

The main either-or: shared equity schemes generally can't be combined with the deposit guarantee — the government won't hold equity in your home and guarantee your loan at the same time.

Watch the definitions too. Grants and the uncapped QLD duty exemption need a new home; the guarantee and FHSS don't care. Each scheme also defines 'first home buyer' slightly differently — some count your spouse's history, some look overseas, FHSS judges you alone. Do the eligibility homework once per scheme, then pull every lever you're entitled to.