Australia wide
Grants, schemes and the 2026 tax changes
Every federal and state scheme in one place, plus what the 2026 negative gearing, CGT and anti-money laundering changes actually mean for you. Updated when the rules move.
Updated August 2026
There is no single Australian first home buyer scheme. There is a federal layer that works the same everywhere, and a state layer that is completely different in every jurisdiction. Most people only find out about half of what they were entitled to, usually after settlement.
Here is the whole picture, nationally.
The federal layer: same everywhere
Updated August 2026
The 5% Deposit Scheme (First Home Guarantee)
The government guarantees part of your loan so you can buy with a 5% deposit and pay no Lenders Mortgage Insurance. It is a guarantee to your lender, not cash to you. You still borrow 95% and pay interest on all of it.
What changed on 1 October 2025, and still applies:
- Income caps abolished. The old $125,000 single and $200,000 couple limits are gone entirely.
- Place limits abolished. The 35,000 a year cap is gone, so there is no queue and no racing to apply in July.
- Property price caps lifted sharply.
- You can qualify as a returning buyer if you have not owned property in Australia for ten years.
- Two or more people can apply together, including friends and siblings, not just couples.
Property price caps for capital cities and major regional centres:
| State | Capital and major regional centres |
|---|---|
| NSW | $1,500,000 (Sydney, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Illawarra) |
| VIC | $950,000 (Melbourne, Geelong) |
| QLD | $1,000,000 (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast) |
| WA | $850,000 (Perth) |
| SA | $900,000 (Adelaide) |
| TAS, ACT, NT | Separate caps apply. Check the current table. |
Caps outside those areas are lower. Both the purchase price and the lender's valuation must sit at or under the cap.
The mistake this causes
Half the people who tell me they do not qualify are working off the old rules. If you ruled yourself out because of your income, or because places had run out, check again.
There is also the Family Home Guarantee, a 2% deposit pathway for single parents and eligible guardians, and a Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee for people who have lived in their region for twelve months or more.
You cannot apply directly. It goes through a participating lender, so a broker is the practical route. Official source: housingaustralia.gov.au
The state layer: different everywhere
Two separate things exist at state level and people constantly confuse them.
The First Home Owner Grant is cash. As at 2026, every state and territory restricts it to new homes: newly built, off the plan, or substantially renovated. If you are buying an established house, you cannot get the grant anywhere in Australia.
Stamp duty (transfer duty) concessions are a discount on a tax you would otherwise pay. These often do apply to established homes, and on a mid-priced purchase the duty saving is frequently worth more than the cash grant.
The mistake this causes
Buyers chase the state with the biggest grant, or buy a new build purely to qualify for one, without adding up the duty concession they already had on an established home. Compare the two together, not the headline cash figure alone.
| State | Grant (new homes only) | Stamp duty relief for first home buyers | Check here |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $10,000 | Full exemption to a threshold, then a tapering concession to a higher ceiling. Applies to new or established. | Revenue NSW |
| VIC | $10,000 | Full exemption to a threshold, sliding concession above it, new or established. A separate off-the-plan concession runs for apartments and townhouses. | SRO Victoria |
| QLD | $30,000 | First home concession can bring duty to zero under the threshold, new or established. Check the current date range, it has been extended more than once. | Queensland Revenue Office |
| WA | $10,000 | Exemption to a threshold with a concessional band above it. Thresholds differ metro versus regional. | WA Treasury |
| SA | $15,000 | Relief is focused on new homes. Established purchases are treated differently to most other states. | RevenueSA |
| TAS | Grant available for new builds | The temporary established-home exemption has ended. Confirm what replaced it before you budget. | SRO Tasmania |
| NT | The largest cash grant in the country | No first home buyer duty concession. The grant does the work instead. | NT Government |
| ACT | No grant | The Home Buyer Concession Scheme instead, with the highest duty exemption threshold in Australia, new or established. It is income tested. | ACT Revenue Office |
Grant amounts and thresholds move with every state budget, and I have deliberately not printed some figures that were reported inconsistently across sources. Open the official link for your state and read the current number yourself. That habit is worth more than any table.
Negative gearing and CGT: what changed in 2026
Updated August 2026
The May 2026 Budget made the biggest change to Australian property tax in a generation, and it is no longer just an announcement. The legislation has passed.
Negative gearing
From 1 July 2027, rental losses on established residential property bought after 7:30pm on 12 May 2026 can no longer be offset against your salary. They can still be offset against residential rental income or against capital gains from rental property, and unused losses carry forward.
Where you sit depends on when you bought:
- Owned, or under contract, before 7:30pm 12 May 2026. Fully grandfathered. Nothing changes, indefinitely. Being under contract but not yet settled still counts.
- Bought an established property after that, but before 1 July 2027. You can negatively gear as normal until 30 June 2027, then the salary offset stops.
- Buying an established property from 1 July 2027. Losses only offset property income or property capital gains.
- Buying a new build. Exempt. Keeps full negative gearing and the 50% CGT discount.
Capital gains tax
From 1 July 2027 the 50% CGT discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships is replaced by cost base indexation plus a minimum 30% tax on net capital gains. It applies to all CGT assets, not just property, with transitional rules confining it to gains arising on or after that date.
If you already own, your sale gets split: gains up to 1 July 2027 under the old 50% discount, gains after under the new system. Ask your accountant whether a valuation before that date is worth getting.
The date people get wrong
It is Budget night, 12 May 2026, not the 2027 start date. Buying an established investment property today does not put you back under the old rules.
What it actually means
Investing is not over. It means the tax break is no longer doing the heavy lifting, so the deal has to work on its own numbers. Yield, holding costs and your real weekly position matter more than they did.
Commercial property was not caught by the residential change, which is why it is suddenly in every conversation.
This is general information, not tax advice. Talk to your accountant about your own position.
The new AML checks: what buyers get asked for now
Commenced 1 July 2026. This affects every property purchase in Australia.
Australia's anti-money laundering laws have covered banks since 2006. From 1 July 2026 they were extended to real estate agents, buyer's agents, property developers, conveyancers, lawyers and accountants. This is the change everyone calls Tranche 2.
For you as a buyer, it means one thing above all: you will be asked to prove who you are and where your money came from, and the agent is now legally required to ask.
What you will actually be asked for
Exactly what gets requested varies with the agency and the transaction, but expect some combination of:
- Photo identification, verified rather than just glanced at
- Evidence of where your deposit came from: payslips, savings history, a gift letter from a parent, sale proceeds, an inheritance
- If you are buying through a company or trust, details of who actually owns and controls it
- Sanctions and politically exposed person screening, which happens in the background
Being asked does not mean you are suspected of anything
This is the part that catches people off guard. These checks are now a routine step in a regulated transaction, in the same way a bank asks for identification when you open an account. Everyone gets asked. It is not personal and it is not a judgement about you.
The thing that will actually cost you
Delay. If you cannot evidence your funds quickly, the process stalls, and it stalls at the worst possible moment: after your offer is accepted, with a settlement date already agreed.
The buyers who sail through are the ones who prepared before they started looking.
How to be ready before you make an offer
- Keep your deposit in one traceable place. Money moved between five accounts in the months before settlement is harder to evidence, even when it is entirely legitimate.
- Keep six to twelve months of statements for the account holding your deposit.
- If family is helping, get it in writing at the time. A short signed letter saying who gave what, when, and whether it is a gift or a loan. Write it when the money moves, not when the agent asks. Your lender will want this too.
- If any of it came from crypto, an overseas account, or a cash business, assume it will take longer and start gathering the trail early.
- Buying through a trust or company? Have the structure documents ready.
- Keep your identification current. An expired licence is a genuinely common holdup.
What it means for how agents behave
Agencies now have to enrol with AUSTRAC, run a documented compliance program, train their people and keep records for seven years. Penalties for getting it wrong are serious.
Practically, that means the identity conversation will come earlier and be firmer than it used to be, and no agent can waive it to be helpful. If one offers to, that tells you something about the agency.
Official source: austrac.gov.au
Before you act on any of this
This page is general educational information. It is not financial, credit, tax or legal advice, and it does not consider your circumstances. Roxanne Alterio is a licensed real estate agent, not a financial adviser, credit adviser or accountant.
Eligibility for every scheme above depends on details this page cannot know about you. Confirm your own position with your state revenue office, a licensed mortgage broker, and your accountant before you make a decision or sign anything.