For registered chiropractors
Home loans for chiropractors: buy with 10% down, or 5% at NAB, and no LMI
You've done the degree, the clinic years and the long adjusting days, and now the 20% deposit is what stands between you and the home. If you're a registered chiropractor, NAB can lend you 95% of the price with no lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), and ANZ 90%, while none of the other nine lender groups we checked names chiropractors in its waiver. And whether you're an associate on a payslip, contracting on an ABN or running your own clinic often decides the loan more than the waiver does.
95% lent with no LMI to a registered chiropractor buying a home at NAB; 90% at ANZ [1]
2 of 11 lender groups we checked name chiropractors in their LMI waiver [1][2]
about $19,300 the LMI a waiver saves on a 90% loan for an $800,000 home, on one insurer's card [4]
The chiropractor home loan guide
Thirty-one questions chiropractors ask before they buy, answered from each lender's own policy, with the date we checked it.
Can a chiropractor get an LMI waiver?
Yes. A registered chiropractor can get an LMI waiver at two lender groups. NAB waives lenders mortgage insurance up to 95% of the price for a home to live in and 90% for an investment, and lists chiropractors in the same medical practitioners group as GPs and specialists. ANZ waives it up to 90% on principal-and-interest loans, for a home or an investment [1]. Money Brain checked each one against the lender's own policy.
LMI is insurance the lender takes out when you borrow more than 80% of the price, and you pay for it. LVR, the loan as a share of the property's value, is the number every waiver is written around. On a $760,000 loan at 95% LVR, LMI can run past $34,000 (part 7). The waiver means a chiropractor doesn't pay it.
Which banks waive LMI for chiropractors?
Two of the eleven lender groups Money Brain checked name chiropractors in their LMI waiver. Several others waive LMI for doctors or for other health roles, but their policies don't name chiropractors.
| Lender | Waives LMI for chiropractors? | Who and on what terms |
|---|---|---|
| NAB | Yes, to 95% | Chiropractors, in its medical practitioners group. AHPRA registration; your main income from the profession; a property up to $4.5 million. 90% for an investment. |
| ANZ | Yes, to 90% | Chiropractors, in its second medical group with physiotherapists, optometrists and vets. Principal and interest, for a home or an investment. No minimum income. Not eligible for 95%. |
| Bank First | For healthcare workers, to 90% | First home buyers only. Loans up to $800,000. Not for building. It doesn't list roles, so whether a chiropractor counts is one to confirm with Bank First. |
| Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA | Not named | Its second medical group names nurses, midwives, pharmacists, physios, psychologists, optometrists and vets, then other "allied" roles it doesn't list. Chiropractors aren't named (part 4). |
| CommBank | No | Its medical waiver is a list of professions by name, and chiropractor isn't on it. |
| Bankwest | Not named | Its medical waiver leaves out physios, psychologists and nurses by name, and the groups we hold don't name chiropractors. |
| Suncorp | No | Its waiver is for medical practitioners only; other health roles aren't eligible. |
| Macquarie | No | It has withdrawn its professional waiver. |
| ING, AMP | No | LMI applies above 80%. |
| Teachers Mutual Bank group | No | No professional waiver at any of its four brands, Health Professionals Bank included. LMI applies above 80%. |
Every lender here still runs its normal credit tests. The waiver removes LMI, not the assessment of your income, debts and living costs.
What this means for you: a chiropractor has two lenders whose waiver names you, and they aren't the same. NAB goes to 95%, but wants your main income to come from chiropractic. ANZ stops at 90%, on principal and interest, with no minimum income. Which one fits depends on your deposit, your pay and how you're paid, not on the headline number.
Why do chiropractors get 95% at NAB but 90% at ANZ?
Chiropractors get 95% at NAB because NAB lists chiropractors in the same medical practitioners group as GPs, surgeons, specialists and dentists, at the same limits: 95% for a home to live in and 90% for an investment [1].
ANZ puts chiropractors in its second medical group, with physiotherapists, optometrists and vets. That group stops at 90%. ANZ's first group, for doctors, dentists and specialists, goes to 95%, and ANZ's policy says plainly that the chiropractor group isn't eligible for it [1].
What this means for you: if you've read that "medical professionals get 95%", for a chiropractor that's true at NAB only. See home loans for doctors and dentists for how the first groups work.
Does Westpac waive LMI for chiropractors?
Westpac's waiver policy doesn't name chiropractors. Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA share one policy. Its second medical group names registered nurses, midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists, optometrists and vets, and then adds other "allied" health roles without listing them [2].
That group goes to 90% on principal and interest, for people earning at least $90,000 gross from their eligible qualifications [2]. Whether a chiropractor counts as "allied" isn't set out in the policy as we hold it, so Money Brain doesn't count Westpac Group as a chiropractor lender. It's a fair question to put to the lender before you plan around it.
St.George's own page says its profession offer covers "the listed healthcare and emergency service professions", including people in those fields who are self-employed or casual [5]. We haven't confirmed that chiropractors are on that list.
What this means for you: if Westpac Group did accept you, its $90,000 floor would apply (part 6). Until the lender says yes in writing, NAB and ANZ are the waivers a chiropractor can count on.
Which registrations and roles qualify?
The waivers are written around your registration and your profession, not your job title.
A registered chiropractor: named by NAB and ANZ [1]. NAB asks for current AHPRA registration, so a chiropractor whose registration has lapsed doesn't qualify there.
Keep it current through the application: a lapse, even a short one between renewals, can stop a waiver loan at the point the lender checks it.
Neighbouring roles: NAB's and ANZ's groups, as we hold them, name chiropractors but not osteopaths, myotherapists or remedial massage therapists. If you work in one of those, don't assume the chiropractor terms apply; it's a question to settle with the lender before you apply [1].
Your main income: NAB also wants your main income to come from the profession [1]. A chiropractor who earns more from a wellness business, product sales or teaching than from practice may not meet that.
If your role isn't named, your path to a small deposit may be the 5% Deposit Scheme (part 25) rather than a waiver.
Is there a minimum income for a chiropractor LMI waiver?
Neither chiropractor waiver has a dollar income floor. ANZ sets no minimum income for its professional waivers. NAB's conditions, as we hold them, are AHPRA registration and earning your main income from the profession, with no dollar figure [1]. The $90,000 floor you may have read about is Westpac Group's, on a group that doesn't name chiropractors [2].
| Lender | Income test | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ANZ | No minimum income | A first-year or part-time chiropractor can still meet the waiver itself |
| NAB | No dollar figure in its conditions; your main income must come from the profession | The test is where your income comes from, not how much |
| Westpac Group | At least $90,000 gross from eligible qualifications | Only matters if Westpac accepts a chiropractor as "allied" |
What this means for you: no floor doesn't mean no test. Every lender still checks that your income carries the repayments, so a part-time or first-year chiropractor can meet the waiver's own terms and still borrow less than a full-time one.
What the waiver is worth, in dollars
The waiver is worth the LMI you'd otherwise pay. Here's what LMI would cost on a home to live in, from one insurer's published rate card [4]. At NAB or ANZ, a chiropractor borrowing 90% doesn't pay the 90% column. Only at NAB does a chiropractor borrowing 95% skip the 95% column.
| Home price | Deposit at 10% | LMI at 90%, about | LMI at 95%, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600,000 | $60,000 | $11,300 | $19,400 |
| $800,000 | $80,000 | $19,300 | $34,800 |
| $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $24,100 | $43,500 |
These figures are illustrations from one insurer's card, not quotes. Your premium depends on the insurer, the loan and the lender.
What this means for you: on an $800,000 home, going from 90% to 95% adds about $15,500 of LMI without a waiver, for $40,000 more of borrowing. At NAB that step costs a chiropractor nothing in LMI. At ANZ the waiver stops at 90%, so above that, LMI applies.
5% or 10% deposit: which lenders fit a chiropractor?
With a 5% deposit, one lender waives LMI for a chiropractor buying a home: NAB. With 10%, two do: NAB and ANZ. That matters because the lender with the waiver isn't always the lender that fits your income, your structure or your plans.
| Deposit | Lenders that waive LMI | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | NAB, for a home to live in | Your main income must come from chiropractic; a property up to $4.5 million |
| 10% | NAB, ANZ | ANZ on principal and interest; Bank First for a first home up to $800,000, if it counts you as a healthcare worker |
| 20% | Every lender | No LMI applies at 80% or less, so the waiver isn't needed |
A 10% deposit also lets you choose on the rest of the loan, such as the rate, the features and how the lender reads your pay, rather than on the waiver alone.
Associate, contractor or clinic owner: how lenders see you
An employed associate, a contractor and a clinic owner are three different applications to a lender, even on the same income. The waiver depends on your registration. What you can borrow depends on how you're paid, and chiropractic uses all three.
| How you're paid | What the lender reads | History usually wanted |
|---|---|---|
| Employed associate, on the clinic's payroll | Payslips and your employment agreement | Time in the job (part 18) |
| Contractor to a clinic, on your own ABN | Your tax returns, read as self-employed income | Usually two years of returns |
| Clinic owner | Your tax returns and the clinic's financial statements | Usually two years |
What this means for you: two chiropractors in the same clinic, seeing the same patients, can get different answers. The one on payroll shows payslips. The one invoicing the clinic for a share of collections shows tax returns, and if the arrangement is new, there may not be enough of them yet.
Associate chiropractors paid on a percentage of collections
An associate chiropractor paid a percentage of what they bill can be an employee or a contractor, and the lender goes by which. If the clinic pays you through its payroll, with tax taken out and super paid, you're an employee and the lender reads your payslips. If you invoice the clinic through your own ABN, you're read as self-employed, whatever the agreement calls you (part 11).
Pay that rises and falls with your bookings is read more carefully than a flat wage. A longer run of payslips, and last year's income statement, shows the lender what's steady. If your agreement pays a base amount plus a percentage, payslips that show the two separately make that easier to see.
Contractor chiropractors on an ABN
A contractor chiropractor is paid a share of collections, or a fee, through their own ABN, and lenders usually read that as self-employed income. So they ask for tax returns and notices of assessment rather than payslips, usually two years of them [8][9]. The waiver itself still turns on your registration, not on how you're paid.
The NAB and ANZ policies we hold don't say how each treats a self-employed chiropractor for the waiver. So it's settled with the lender before you rely on it.
A chiropractor who has just moved from payroll to contracting can earn the same and borrow less for a while, because the lender now wants self-employed history. If a move like that is coming, it's worth knowing which order to do things in. The full rules are on self-employed home loans.
Can a self-employed chiropractor borrow on one year of tax returns?
Sometimes, but often only at 80% of the value or less, which is a 20% deposit. NAB considers a single year's financial statements at 80% or less [10]. One lender's one-year pathway for 11 listed professions names medical professionals, pharmacists, psychologists, podiatrists and optometrists, but not chiropractors [8].
What this means for you: the one-year routes mostly sit at a 20% deposit, where there is no LMI to waive. A self-employed chiropractor with one year of figures is usually choosing between a bigger deposit now and the waiver once a second year is lodged.
Lenders also set how old your figures can be. MyState doesn't accept tax returns or financials more than 18 months old when you apply, and doesn't take draft returns [11]. Late in a financial year, a chiropractor whose newest return isn't lodged can fall outside a rule like that without noticing.
Clinic owners: what a lender reads
A clinic owner's income comes through the business, often a company or trust, so the lender reads the clinic as well as you.
Two years is the usual rule: your personal returns, and for a company or trust its returns and financial statements too [8][9].
Add-backs: at the two lenders whose policies we read, wages the business pays you, super above the compulsory amount, interest on business loans being refinanced and one-off costs are added back to profit [8][9].
Depreciation: added back only up to 20% of the business's net profit, at both lenders. For a clinic with adjusting tables, imaging equipment and a fit-out, that cap can matter [8][9].
A rising year: Firstmac uses the lower of your latest year's taxable income or 120% of the year before. A change of 20% or more between the two years has to be explained [9].
Company profit: Firstmac counts only what reaches you, as wages, directors' fees or dividends, for a loan in your own name [9].
NAB's main-income test: if the clinic also earns from products, classes or other practitioners' rooms, NAB's condition that your main income comes from the profession is worth checking before you apply [1].
The full list, with the business structures, is on self-employed home loans.
How add-backs change a clinic owner's number
Add-backs can move a clinic owner's assessed income by tens of thousands of dollars. An illustration, not a client file, using the rules in part 13. A chiropractic clinic shows a net profit of $180,000. It claimed $50,000 in depreciation on equipment and fit-out, a one-off legal bill of $6,000, $10,000 of super above the compulsory amount, and $4,000 on advertising.
Depreciation is capped at 20% of $180,000, so $36,000 is added back, not $50,000. The legal bill and the extra super are added back in full. Advertising isn't. The income a lender would start from is $232,000, not the $180,000 on the return. Each lender's own list differs, so the real figure depends on which lender you use.
If your income jumped, the year used matters too. At Firstmac, a chiropractor who earned $90,000 one year and $140,000 the next would be assessed on $108,000, which is 120% of the earlier year [9].
Is a chiropractor loan for the clinic or the home?
A "chiropractor loan" can mean two different things: a home loan for a chiropractor, which is what this guide covers, or finance for a clinic, its fit-out or its equipment, which is business lending with its own rules. The LMI waivers in part 2 are home loan policies.
The two meet in one place. Any clinic or equipment loan you're personally on counts against what you can borrow for a home, and so does a guarantee you sign for the clinic's company (part 16).
Buying into a clinic while buying a home
Buying into a clinic and buying a home is one decision, not two. Any loan you're personally on for the clinic, its fit-out or its equipment counts against what you can borrow for the home, and so does a guarantee you sign for the clinic's company.
The order matters. Buy the home first and the clinic's lender sees a larger personal debt. Buy into the clinic first and the home lender may want to see a full year of your new income before it counts it. Work out both loans on one page before you sign either contract.
Clinic debt also counts toward your debt-to-income ratio, which APRA watches closely (part 20).
Casual and locum chiropractors
Casual and locum pay through a clinic's payroll can count, but each of the lenders we checked wants a minimum time in the job first. A locum on their own ABN is read as self-employed instead (part 11).
Westpac Group: counts casual pay in full after 6 months continuous with the same employer or agency, spread over 52 weeks [6].
Suncorp: counts it in full after 6 months continuous, or 12 months in a similar role [6].
NAB: averages the last 180 days, penalty rates included, with overtime split out at 80% [6].
Bankwest, Macquarie, ING: want 6 months in the current job (Macquarie also takes the past 6 months in the same field) [6].
AMP: wants 6 months with the employer and 12 months in the same industry and role; under 6 months isn't accepted [6].
ANZ: wants 6 months employed. On a loan with LMI, a casual can't be the only or main earner [6].
Locum work that moves you between clinics often, with gaps, is the hardest pattern for a lender to read. A few months with one clinic before you apply can make it simpler.
New graduate chiropractor, or a new job
A new graduate chiropractor can get a home loan with a waiver. Neither NAB's nor ANZ's waiver policy, as we hold them, sets a minimum time since registration, and neither sets a dollar income floor [1]. Every lender still checks that your income carries the repayments.
What a new graduate needs most is time in the job. At Westpac, a loan without mortgage insurance needs you to have started and been paid at least once. A mortgage-insured loan needs 3 months in the job, or less than that with 12 months in the same occupation and no gap of more than 2 months between jobs [7]. Other lenders set their own rules, so the time you've been in the job helps decide which lender fits.
If you start as a contractor rather than an employee, the self-employed rules in part 11 and part 12 apply instead, and they want a longer history.
Part-time, or on parental leave
An employed chiropractor can buy while working part-time or on parental leave. At Westpac, permanent part-time pay counts as base pay, using the lowest base rate and hours on your payslips unless there's a reason they vary. One-off unpaid leave can be counted back in if you confirm you're back to your normal hours [7].
On leave, Westpac can use your return-to-work pay, base pay only, with a letter from your employer giving your return date, your hours and your pay. Every child counts as a dependant, including one not yet born. If your first repayment falls before you return, you'll need savings that cover the gap, on top of the money for the purchase [7].
NAB and ANZ set no dollar floor on the waiver, so part-time pay doesn't bar it, though it lowers what you can borrow (part 6). A contractor or clinic owner on leave is read from their returns, so the timing of a leave year matters.
How much can a chiropractor borrow?
How much a chiropractor can borrow comes down to three things: what a lender counts of your income, your debts, and your living costs. Banks then check you could still make the repayments if rates were at least 3 percentage points higher, the buffer APRA expects [14].
Your debt-to-income ratio, or DTI, is your total debts as a multiple of your gross income. APRA limits each bank's new home lending to people whose debts are 6 or more times their income to 20% of that lending [14]. Clinic loans you're personally on count toward it.
What this means for you: a chiropractor earning $120,000 reaches 6 times at $720,000 of debt. That's why the same chiropractor can get quite different answers from two lenders: one that reads your contract or clinic income more fully can lend noticeably more than one that reads less of it. See how much can I borrow.
When the waiver isn't worth taking
The waiver saves LMI. It doesn't make a bigger loan the right loan.
When the rate costs more than the LMI. A waiver saves LMI once; a higher rate costs you every year. As an illustration, on a $720,000 loan a rate 0.25% higher costs about $1,800 in the first year, and after ten years or so it can outweigh the $19,300 of LMI the waiver saved. Compare the whole loan, not one line of it.
When the lender reads your pay worse. If another lender counts more of your contract or clinic income, it may lend you more or suit you better, even with LMI to pay.
When 95% leaves nothing in reserve. Borrowing 95% at NAB means a bigger loan and more interest than borrowing 90%, even with no LMI. If you're about to buy into a clinic, that cash may be worth more there.
When you need interest-only. ANZ's chiropractor waiver is written on principal-and-interest loans [1]. An investor who wants interest-only should check that before choosing on the waiver (part 23).
Do chiropractors get a cheaper interest rate?
Money Brain doesn't print a chiropractor interest rate, because none of the waiver policies we hold sets one we could rely on. ANZ's policy for its chiropractor group has referred to medico rate concessions, but the most recent card we read no longer states them [1]. The waiver is about LMI, not price.
Rates change far more often than waiver policies. The rate worth comparing is the one each lender offers on your loan, at your LVR, on the day you apply.
Can you go interest-only with a chiropractor waiver?
Only on terms. ANZ's chiropractor group is written on principal and interest, for a home or an investment [1]. NAB's conditions, as we hold them, don't set a repayment type, so it's one to confirm.
Interest-only lowers repayments for a while and suits some investment plans. It also means the loan doesn't fall while you pay it. See interest only or principal and interest.
Buying an investment property as a chiropractor
A chiropractor waiver can carry over to an investment loan. NAB goes to 90% on an investment, against 95% for a home. ANZ goes to 90% on principal and interest for either [1].
Bank First's waiver is for first home buyers only [3]. Once you own one property, the order you buy the next ones in decides whether you can keep going. See using equity to buy an investment.
Chiropractor first home buyer? The waiver, the 5% Deposit Scheme or Help to Buy
A chiropractor buying a first home has two ways to buy with 5% and no LMI, and they suit different buyers. The waiver is a lender's own policy. The 5% Deposit Scheme is the government guaranteeing part of the loan in place of LMI, and it has no job test [12].
| Chiropractor LMI waiver | 5% Deposit Scheme | |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | 5% at NAB; 10% at ANZ [1] | At least 5% and less than 20% [12] |
| Price limit | None by area; NAB to a $4.5 million property [1] | Capped by area, for example $1.5 million in Sydney, $1 million in Brisbane, $950,000 in Melbourne [12] |
| Income test | No dollar floor at NAB or ANZ [1] | No income caps [12] |
| First home only? | No, at NAB and ANZ [1] | Yes, and no property owned in the last 10 years [12] |
| Renting it out later | Investment loans covered to 90% (part 24) | Not while the guarantee is in place [12] |
What this means for you: a chiropractor buying under the area's price cap with 5% saved can use the scheme at any lender on its panel, not only NAB. A chiropractor buying above the cap, or planning to rent the home out later, may find the waiver the better fit.
Help to Buy, where the government takes a share of the home's value so you borrow less, needs a deposit of at least 2% and is open only on incomes up to $103,000 alone or $165,000 together. It can't be used with the 5% Deposit Scheme [12][13]. See the 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy, guarantor home loans and the first home buyer grants in your state.
Buying with a partner who isn't a chiropractor
You can. Your partner's income counts toward what you can borrow together. ANZ's chiropractor waiver sets no income test of its own [1].
NAB's waiver asks that your main income comes from the profession. How NAB applies that test on a joint loan isn't set out in the policy we hold, so it's one we confirm for you [1].
Overseas-trained chiropractors and visa holders
If you're registered with AHPRA and working as a chiropractor here, the same waiver terms apply; NAB's waiver depends on that registration [1]. What changes is your visa: many lenders treat permanent residents like citizens and ask more of temporary visa holders. See home loans for visa holders.
What to have ready
Your AHPRA registration, current
Your last two payslips and your associate agreement, if you're employed, with any base amount and percentage shown separately
Two years of tax returns and notices of assessment, if you contract or own the clinic
The clinic's financial statements, if you own it or a share of it
Statements for any clinic, fit-out or equipment loans you're on, and any guarantee you've signed
An employer letter, if you're new, on leave or about to change roles
The full document list is on How it works.
Why chiropractors' applications get held up
These come up most often:
Applying for a chiropractor waiver at a lender whose policy doesn't name chiropractors, such as CommBank, Bankwest or Suncorp (part 2)
Expecting 95% at ANZ, where chiropractors stop at 90% (part 3)
Planning around Westpac Group's "allied" group before the lender has confirmed it takes chiropractors (part 4)
A registration that lapsed between renewals (part 5)
A new contractor applying before two years of returns are lodged, with a small deposit (part 12)
Casual or locum pay with less than the lender's minimum time in the job (part 17)
Signing for clinic finance before the home loan is worked out (part 16)
Many of these can be avoided by picking the lender that fits before you apply.
What does a broker cost you?
How a broker is paid, and the rule Money Brain holds against it, is set out in full on its own page: what a mortgage broker costs.
Your first move
You've read the rules. Now there's one question left: which of the two lenders, for the way you're paid, at the price you want? That depends on your registration, your pay, your structure and your deposit, and it's what Money Brain works out before anything goes to a lender.
When you're ready, the closing section below is the simplest way to start.
Four facts, and I'll do the checking
Tell me how you're paid, what you earn before tax, roughly what you want to spend and what you've saved. I'll come back with which lenders fit, what each would count of your income, and whether 5%, 10% or another way in comes out ahead.
You'll hear back within the hour in business hours, and by 9am the next business day after hours.
Questions chiropractors ask
Yes, at two lender groups. NAB waives lenders mortgage insurance for registered chiropractors up to 95% for a home and 90% for an investment. ANZ waives it up to 90% on principal-and-interest loans, for a home or an investment, on the policies Money Brain checked.
Sources
- 1
NAB and ANZ: LMI waiver policies for chiropractors. Checked 1 October 2026; re-checked 21 October 2026.
- 2
CommBank, Westpac Group (Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA), Bankwest, Suncorp, Macquarie, ING, AMP, Teachers Mutual Bank group: LMI waiver policies that don't name chiropractors. Checked 1 October 2026; CommBank's list of named professions read 2 October 2026; re-checked 21 October 2026.
- 3
Bank First: LMI waiver for healthcare and education workers. Checked 3 October 2026 and re-checked 21 October 2026.
- 4
LMI premium: one insurer's published rate card, standard rates. Checked 21 October 2026.
- 5
- 6
Lender credit policies on casual income: Westpac Group, Suncorp, NAB, Bankwest, Macquarie, ING, AMP, ANZ. Read 30 September 2026 (each lender's policy last updated between 22 and 29 September 2026).
- 7
Westpac credit policy on new employment, part-time income and parental leave. Read 1 October 2026.
- 8
One lender's residential home loan credit guidelines (the lender isn't named). Read 26 August 2026.
- 9
Firstmac: Residential Lending Policy, changelog to 28 July 2026. Read 26 August 2026.
- 10
NAB: self-employed home loan page. Read 26 August 2026.
- 11
MyState Bank: Mortgage Lending Procedure (broker version 1.0a), effective 1 July 2026. Read 27 August 2026.
- 12
- 13
- 14
Updated 2 October 2026