Schemes and concessions by state

Selling agents know these numbers well, and it pays to know them too: they shape what you can pay, what you’ll pay in duty and which homes the price caps let you buy.

The federal 5% Deposit Scheme

The headline program, formerly the Home Guarantee Scheme, was overhauled on 1 October 2025 and renamed the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. The deal: you buy with a 5 per cent deposit, the government guarantees the portion of the loan above 80 per cent, and you pay no lenders mortgage insurance. On a 95 per cent loan that saves roughly $22,000 to $33,000 on a $750,000 purchase (Chapter 2’s table).

The October 2025 reforms removed the two biggest barriers: there is no longer any cap on places (the old 35,000-a-year lottery is gone) and no income test. Property price caps still apply and were raised substantially: $1.5 million for Sydney and the major NSW centres, $950,000 for Melbourne and Geelong, $1 million for Brisbane and South East Queensland’s centres, $900,000 for Adelaide, $850,000 for Perth, with lower caps outside the capitals. You must live in the home, prior property ownership rules apply, and you apply through a participating lender, not the government. One honest caveat: a guarantee is not a discount. You still borrow 95 per cent, and the repayments that come with it.

Help to Buy: the government as co-owner

Help to Buy is the federal shared equity scheme, launched in December 2025. The Commonwealth contributes up to 40 per cent of the price of a new home (30 per cent for an established one) in exchange for an equity stake, and you can enter with a 2 per cent deposit. It is income-tested ($103,000 for singles, $165,000 for couples and single parents, from 1 July 2026), capped at 10,000 places a year, and runs through participating lenders, initially Commonwealth Bank and Bank Australia, with more joining through 2026. City price caps apply (Sydney $1.3 million, Melbourne $950,000, Brisbane $1 million, with lower caps in the smaller capitals and regions). You repay the government’s share when you sell, or buy it back in stages; the government’s slice of your capital growth goes with it. For buyers locked out by repayments rather than deposit, it’s the most powerful lever on this page. Read the equity mechanics carefully before signing; our Help to Buy calculator shows the shares.

The First Home Super Saver scheme

FHSS lets you make voluntary super contributions (up to $15,000 a year, $50,000 in total per person) and later withdraw them, plus deemed earnings, for a first home deposit. Because contributions can go in pre-tax at 15 per cent instead of your marginal rate, a couple can put $100,000 of deposit savings through super and come out thousands ahead of a bank account. The catches: paperwork order matters (request your determination from the ATO before you sign a contract), release takes weeks, and only voluntary contributions count, never the compulsory employer kind. Our FHSS calculator estimates the difference.

State grants and stamp duty relief

States stack their own help on top: a First Home Owner Grant (cash, for new builds only) and stamp duty exemptions or concessions. Settings as at 14 October 2026, checked against each revenue office:

Three patterns worth seeing. First, the grants chase new builds: governments want construction, so the cash goes to house-and-land and off-the-plan buyers. Second, the duty relief increasingly covers established homes too, which is where most first home buyers actually shop. Third, every scheme has eligibility fine print (residence periods, citizenship, prior ownership), and the dollar settings above change with budgets and by contract date (by settlement date in Tasmania). Verify your state’s current numbers with its revenue office before you sign anything; the table is a map, not a contract. Our first home buyers hub links each state’s guide.