First Home Buyer Grants in Australia: Every State and Scheme in 2026

The five types of first home buyer help in 2026

Australia does not have one single grant for first home buyers. It has a stack of separate schemes, run by different levels of government, and each one helps with a different cost.

• First Home Owner Grants (FHOG): cash payments from your state or territory government, worth $10,000 to $50,000 in 2026. Every one of them now applies only when you build or buy a brand-new home.
• Stamp duty exemptions and concessions: state governments waive or reduce transfer duty for eligible first home buyers. On a typical purchase this is often worth more than the grant itself.
• The 5% Deposit Scheme: the federal scheme formerly known as the First Home Guarantee. It lets you buy with a 5% deposit and pay no lenders mortgage insurance.
• The First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS): a federal arrangement that lets you save a deposit inside superannuation, then withdraw it when you buy.
• Shared equity schemes: the government chips in part of the purchase price in exchange for a share of the home. The federal Help to Buy scheme and Queensland's Boost to Buy are the two live options in 2026.

The grant gets the headlines, but the real money is usually in combining several of these. We come back to stacking at the end of this guide.

First Home Owner Grant amounts by state and territory

Every First Home Owner Grant in the table below is for new homes only: a newly built house, a home bought off the plan, or a home that has never been lived in. There is no state grant anywhere in Australia for buying an ordinary established home in 2026.

Two standouts: the Northern Territory pays the biggest grant in the country, and Queensland's $30,000 is the largest on the east coast. Each state also sets its own eligibility rules around age, residency, prior property ownership and how long you must live in the home. Those rules differ, so check your state revenue office before you count the grant in your budget.

Stamp duty exemptions and concessions for first home buyers

Stamp duty (called transfer duty in some states) is often the biggest upfront cost after your deposit. Every state and territory offers first home buyers some relief, but the rules vary wildly. As of July 2026:

• NSW: no duty on homes up to $800,000, and a concessional rate from $800,000 to under $1,000,000. Vacant land is exempt up to $350,000, with a concession to under $450,000. These thresholds have not moved since July 2023, so many Sydney buyers now sit above them.
• Victoria: no duty up to $600,000 of dutiable value, with a sliding concession from $600,001 to $750,000, for new or established homes. A separate temporary off-the-plan concession for apartments and townhouses (open to all buyers, no price cap) runs until late October 2026.
• Queensland: zero duty on new homes with no price cap, for contracts from 1 May 2025. For established homes, no duty up to $700,000 and a partial concession to under $800,000, worth up to about $24,500.
• Western Australia: for transactions from 7 May 2026, no duty up to $600,000 with a concession to $800,000. Vacant land is exempt to $450,000, with a concession to $550,000. The enabling legislation was still before parliament in mid-2026, so confirm the current thresholds with RevenueWA.
• South Australia: no stamp duty at all for first home buyers building or buying a new home, or buying vacant land to build on, with no price cap. There is no SA duty relief for established homes.
• Tasmania: the exemption for established homes up to $750,000 ended for settlements after 30 June 2026. Tasmanian first home buyers now pay full duty on established homes.
• ACT: from 1 July 2026, stamp duty is abolished for eligible first home buyers, with no income test and no price cap. It is an Australian first.
• Northern Territory: the House and Land Package Exemption removes duty entirely, with no cap, until 30 June 2027. There is no general duty concession for buying an established home.

Duty thresholds move with state budgets, sometimes more than once a year. Before you count a saving in your numbers, check the current figures with your state revenue office.

The 5% Deposit Scheme (the new First Home Guarantee)

The scheme most buyers still call the First Home Guarantee was rebranded in late 2025 as the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, and the rules changed dramatically at the same time. Since 1 October 2025:

• There are no income caps, unlimited places and no waiting list.
• You need a minimum 5% deposit (2% for eligible single parents).
• The government guarantees part of your loan, so you pay no lenders mortgage insurance. On a small deposit, that alone can save tens of thousands.
• Both new and existing homes qualify, subject to property price caps.

The price caps as of July 2026:

These caps are reviewed around 1 July each year, so check the federal government's first home buyer website or ask your lender for the current figure before you rely on it.

The First Home Super Saver Scheme

The First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS) lets you save a house deposit inside your superannuation fund. You make voluntary contributions on top of what your employer pays, then apply to the ATO to release that money when you are ready to buy your first home.

• Up to $15,000 of voluntary contributions per financial year count towards the scheme.
• You can release a maximum of $50,000 of contributions across all years, plus the earnings associated with them.
• Only voluntary contributions qualify. Your employer's compulsory contributions stay in super.

Why bother? Voluntary super contributions are generally taxed at concessional rates, so many savers end up with more in hand than the same money would earn in an ordinary savings account. The exact benefit depends on your income and circumstances, so treat the FHSS as a savings structure worth investigating rather than guaranteed free money, and check the ATO's current rules before you start contributing.

One trap to watch: articles written before July 2022 quote a $30,000 total cap. The cap has been $50,000 since 1 July 2022. The FHSS also sits comfortably alongside the other schemes on this page, because the money you release simply becomes part of your deposit.

Shared equity schemes still open in 2026

In a shared equity scheme, the government contributes part of the purchase price and takes an equity stake in your home. You need a much smaller deposit and a smaller loan, and you can usually buy the government's share back over time. Two schemes are open as of mid-2026.

Help to Buy (federal)

• Opened for applications on 5 December 2025.
• Minimum 2% deposit, with a government equity contribution of up to 40% for new homes and 30% for existing homes.
• 10,000 places per year.
• Income caps of $103,000 for individuals and $165,000 for joint applicants and single parents in FY2026, indexed over time.
• Price caps are similar to the 5% Deposit Scheme but not identical. In NSW, for example, the Help to Buy cap is $1,300,000 for Sydney and regional centres, against $1,500,000 under the deposit scheme.

Boost to Buy (Queensland)

• Equity contribution of up to 30% for new homes and 25% for existing homes, with a 2% minimum deposit.
• Income caps of $155,000 for singles and $232,000 for couples or singles with dependants, and a $1,000,000 property cap.
• A second round opened in April 2026, taking total places to 1,000 and scaling towards 2,000.

Two well-known schemes are now closed: the Victorian Homebuyer Fund stopped taking applications on 10 September 2025, and the NSW Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper closed on 30 June 2024. Many articles still list them as open. WA's Keystart and SA's HomeStart run separate state-backed low-deposit lending programs; check those agencies directly for current terms.

How to stack multiple first home buyer schemes

Here is the part most guides skip: these schemes come from different levels of government and pay for different things, so many of them can be used together on the same purchase.

Take a first home buyer building a new home in Queensland for $650,000 in 2026. They could potentially:

1. Save their deposit through the FHSS, releasing up to $50,000 plus earnings from super.
2. Buy with a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance under the 5% Deposit Scheme.
3. Receive the $30,000 Queensland FHOG, since the home is new and under $750,000.
4. Pay zero stamp duty, because Queensland charges first home buyers no duty on new homes at any price.

That is tens of thousands of dollars of combined support on a single purchase. The same logic applies in every state: pair your state's grant and duty concession with the federal deposit help.

Two cautions. Shared equity schemes (Help to Buy and Boost to Buy) have their own income caps and application processes, so never assume they combine with everything else; confirm with the scheme administrator and your lender. And every scheme carries residence requirements, ownership history tests and fine print that differ between states.

Working out which combination actually fits your deposit, income and target suburb is what a good broker does all day. Byrz offers free tools that build your loan profile, show you a borrowing estimate, and connect you with a broker who can check your scheme eligibility as part of the conversation.

What changed in 2026, and the traps in older guides

First home buyer schemes changed faster in the year to July 2026 than in the five years before it. If you are reading an article written before mid-2026, treat every figure in it with suspicion. The big shifts:

• Queensland's $30,000 grant did not end. Many articles said it would revert after 30 June 2026. The June 2026 state budget extended it to contracts signed up to 30 June 2030.
• Tasmania went the other way. Its $750,000 established home duty exemption ended for settlements after 30 June 2026, and its grant dropped from $30,000 to $20,000 on 1 July 2026.
• The ACT abolished stamp duty for eligible first home buyers from 1 July 2026. Older guides quoting a $1,020,000 cap and a $250,000 income test describe the scheme this replaced.
• The First Home Guarantee no longer has income caps or place limits. Anything citing 35,000 annual places or $125,000 and $200,000 income caps describes the scheme before October 2025.
• WA lifted its thresholds in May 2026. Guides quoting a $500,000 duty exemption or a $750,000 grant cap for Perth are out of date.
• The shared equity landscape flipped. Victoria's Homebuyer Fund and NSW's Helper closed, while federal Help to Buy and Queensland's Boost to Buy opened.

The rule of thumb: any figure that matters to your budget deserves a two-minute check on your state revenue office website, ideally on a page dated within the current financial year.

Frequently asked questions