Preparing financially
Government support for home buyers
Three federal schemes, three Victoria-specific programmes, and one guide covering first-home duty relief in every other state and territory — each with its own eligibility rules, price caps and application process. Read the one relevant to you — each links to its own official source.
Check your own eligibility
Rather than reading all seven guides to work out which apply to you, the first home buyer eligibility checker runs your own numbers against the 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy, the FHSSS and your state's own duty exemption/concession and grant — one result per scheme, with the reason.
What this page covers
Federal schemes on this page apply Australia-wide. The Victorian duty exemption/concession, FHOG and off-the-plan concession are detailed on their own pages below. For every other state and territory, first-home-buyer duty relief is covered in depth on the first-home buyer duty concessions outside Victoria guide, first-home-grant amounts are compared below, and general (non-first-home-buyer) duty rates are compared on the complete buying costs guide. Everything on this page is a government programme. If you're still short of a deposit after checking these, see buying with a limited deposit for guarantor, joint-purchase, shared-equity and rent-to-buy options beyond the government schemes.
The seven programmes
Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme
Buy with a 5% (or 2%) deposit without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
Help to Buy Scheme
A shared-equity scheme where the Government contributes toward your purchase price.
First Home Super Saver Scheme
Save part of your deposit inside superannuation's lower tax environment.
Victorian first-home buyer duty exemption
Pay no or reduced land transfer duty as an eligible Victorian first-home buyer.
Victorian First Home Owner Grant
A one-off grant for eligible first-home buyers of a new home in Victoria.
Off-the-plan duty concession
A temporary, currently-extended Victorian concession for eligible apartment and townhouse purchases.
First-home buyer duty concessions outside Victoria
How duty relief actually works in NSW, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, the ACT and the NT.
At a glance
What each programme actually gives you — see each guide for full eligibility rules, since these figures alone don't determine whether you qualify.
| Programme | What it gives you | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|
| 5% Deposit Scheme | Buy with a minimum 5% deposit, no LMI | Federal |
| Help to Buy | Save a minimum 2% deposit; Government co-contributes equity | Federal |
| First Home Super Saver Scheme | Save part of a deposit inside super's lower tax environment | Federal |
| Vic duty exemption | No duty up to $600,000; concessional rate up to $750,000 | Victoria |
| Vic First Home Owner Grant | $10,000 for an eligible new home | Victoria |
| Off-the-plan duty concession | Reduces dutiable value for eligible strata off-the-plan purchases | Victoria |
| First-home buyer duty concessions | Duty relief/exemption — structure varies by state, see the guide for your state | NSW, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, ACT, NT |
Figures are checked against each programme's official source — see each linked guide for the citation and full eligibility rules. This table alone doesn't confirm eligibility.
First Home Owner Grant by state
The Victorian FHOG above is one of seven current state and territory cash grants for eligible first-home buyers of a new home — amounts and eligibility differ. See the first-home buyer duty concessions outside Victoria guide for the fuller picture per state, including how each grant interacts with that state's own duty relief.
| State/territory | Grant amount |
|---|---|
| Northern Territory | $50,000 (HomeGrown Territory) (Territory Revenue Office (NT Department of Treasury and Finance), verified 7 Aug 2026) |
| Queensland | $30,000 (Queensland Revenue Office (Queensland Treasury), verified 27 Sep 2026) |
| Tasmania | $20,000 (State Revenue Office Tasmania, verified 31 Jul 2026) |
| South Australia | Up to $15,000 (RevenueSA, verified 7 Aug 2026) |
| Victoria | $10,000 (State Revenue Office Victoria, verified 7 Aug 2026) |
| New South Wales | $10,000 (Revenue NSW, verified 27 Sep 2026) |
| Western Australia | $10,000 (WA Department of Finance, verified 31 Jul 2026) |
| ACT | No cash grant — a duty concession applies instead |
Can you combine these programmes?
- Help to Buy can't be combined with another government guarantee, shared-equity arrangement or government home-purchase loan on the same purchase — so it generally rules out the 5% Deposit Scheme for that property.
- Help to Buy can still be used alongside eligible grants and duty concessions — for example, the Victorian FHOG or duty exemption.
- The 5% Deposit Scheme, the Victorian duty exemption/concession and the FHOG can often be used together on the same eligible new home — each still assesses your eligibility separately.
- Eligible off-the-plan buyers may also qualify for the first-home buyer duty exemption/concession and the FHOG on the same purchase.
- The Victorian Homebuyer Fund is closed to new applicants and has been replaced by the federal Help to Buy scheme.
None of this is a guarantee for your situation — confirm any combination directly with a Participating Lender, the SRO, or Housing Australia before relying on it.
When should you look into each one?
- While saving: check whether the First Home Super Saver Scheme suits your situation — it changes how you save, not just what you're eligible for later.
- Before seeking pre-approval: work out whether a deposit-size constraint (5% Deposit Scheme) or a borrowing-capacity constraint (Help to Buy) better describes your situation — see Help to Buy vs. the 5% Deposit Scheme.
- Before making an offer or bidding: confirm the property itself qualifies — price caps, "new home" status, and off-the-plan or strata requirements all depend on the specific property, not just your own eligibility.
This index and the guides it links to are general education, not personal financial advice, and do not state that any individual reader qualifies for any programme.
Sources on this page last verified between and against the primary source each figure cites. What “verified” means
Keep reading
- Prepare financially Step 1 of 7
- What can I buy? Tool
- Decide what to buy Next step
Turn this into your own checklist
Tell Delora what you are looking for and it checks each home you consider against official records, keeps your notes and works out the cost to buy. The guides stay free and need no account.
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