For first home buyers, in every state and territory
First home buyer grants by state: what each one pays, and when stamp duty relief is worth more
You want to know what help you can get with your first home, and the answer changes at every state border. Seven of the eight states and territories pay a first home grant, from $10,000 to $50,000, but each is for a new home, or in two states a substantially renovated one. If you're buying an established home there is no grant, so the state help is stamp duty relief where your state gives it, and that differs again by state. Add the federal schemes and the help can run past $50,000 on some purchases, as long as you pass each test.
$10,000 to $50,000 the first home owner grant, depending on your state; the ACT doesn't run one the way the states do [1][4][7][9][12][14][17][16]
New homes are what every state and territory grant pays for; two states also take a substantially renovated home, and none pays on an established one [1][4][7][9][12][14][17]
$30,187 the stamp duty a first home buyer doesn't pay on an $800,000 home in New South Wales, about three times its grant [4][5][6][21]
Which first home help you may be eligible for
Answer seven questions and the list below updates as you go. Nothing leaves this page unless you ask for the list by email.
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General information only, not credit assistance. "May be eligible" is not a promise: each scheme's owner decides who qualifies, on its own rules and dates. Darren Parker, Credit Representative 501592, authorised under Australian Credit Licence 389328.
The first home buyer grants guide
Twenty-four parts that answer what first home buyers ask about grants, drawn from each state's revenue office and the federal schemes' own rules.
What is the first home owner grant?
The first home owner grant is a one-off payment a state or territory makes to a first home buyer who buys or builds a new home. It isn't a loan, and you don't pay it back. Each state runs its own through its revenue office, so the amount, the price limit and the rules change at the border [1][4][7][9][12][14][17].
It's separate from stamp duty relief, which cuts a tax rather than paying you money, and from the federal schemes, which help with the deposit or the loan. A buyer can qualify for one and not the others, which is why this guide takes each in turn.
Each state's full rules are on its own page: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.
How much is the first home owner grant in each state?
The first home owner grant runs from $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the state, and the ACT doesn't run one [1][4][7][9][12][14][17][16]. Here is each one side by side, from each revenue office's own pages.
| State | Grant | What it's for | Price limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | $30,000 [1] | A new home | Under $750,000, land and variations included [1] |
| New South Wales | $10,000 [4] | A new or substantially renovated home | $600,000 to buy; $750,000 for land and a build [4] |
| Victoria | $10,000 [7] | A new home | Up to $750,000 [7] |
| Western Australia | Up to $10,000 [9] | A new or substantially renovated home | $800,000 south of the 26th parallel; $1,000,000 north of it [9] |
| South Australia | Up to $15,000 [12] | A new home | No price limit [12] |
| Tasmania | $20,000 [14] | A new home: a contract to build, laying the foundations, or off the plan | None stated on the State Revenue Office's eligibility page [14] |
| Australian Capital Territory | No grant of that kind [16] | — | Help comes through a stamp duty exemption instead [16] |
| Northern Territory | $50,000, the HomeGrown Territory grant [17] | A new home, including owner-builders and off the plan | No price cap [17] |
What this means for you: the amount is the number people search, but the new-home rule and the price limit decide whether you get it. In New South Wales, a home bought finished has to cost $600,000 or less [4].
Which state has the biggest first home buyer grant?
The Northern Territory has the biggest first home buyer grant: $50,000 under its HomeGrown Territory grant, for a first home buyer who builds or buys a new home, with no cap on the price [17]. It replaced the Territory's $10,000 First Home Owner Grant [17].
Next is Queensland at $30,000, then Tasmania at $20,000 and South Australia at up to $15,000. New South Wales and Victoria pay $10,000, and Western Australia up to $10,000 [1][4][7][9][12][14].
Grants move. Tasmania's was $30,000 for earlier transactions and is $20,000 for later ones, set by when your transaction starts [14]. Queensland's was $15,000 on older contracts [1]. That's why each figure here comes from the revenue office's own page, with the day we read it in the sources.
What this means for you: a bigger grant doesn't make a state cheaper to buy in. The grant is one piece; stamp duty and the price limits are the others, and for many buyers they matter more.
Can you get a first home owner grant on an established home?
No. Every state and territory first home owner grant we hold is for a new home (in New South Wales and Western Australia, a substantially renovated one can count too), so buying an established home means no grant, wherever you buy [1][4][7][9][12][14][17]. New South Wales says it outright: the grant is not available for established homes [4].
The Northern Territory did pay $10,000 toward an existing home for a time, but that offer was for contracts signed in a window that has now closed [17].
Stamp duty relief is where an established-home buyer gets help. Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria give their first home duty relief on established homes as well as new ones, and the ACT's exemption covers every kind of home [2][5][8][16]. Tasmania's relief for established homes has ended [15].
What this means for you: if you're weighing a new home against an established one, the grant is only part of the difference. Price, location and the duty relief can matter more.
What counts as a new home for the grant?
Each state words "new home" its own way, and the edges are where buyers get caught.
Queensland: a home not previously occupied or sold as a place of residence, whether you buy it finished or build it [1].
New South Wales: newly built, bought off the plan, or substantially renovated [4].
Victoria: a new home; on an off-the-plan purchase, the contract price is the value tested [7].
Western Australia: a new home, or one that has had substantial renovations [9].
South Australia: a new home [12].
Tasmania: a contract to build, laying the foundations, or buying off the plan, and the building must be finished within 24 months [14].
Northern Territory: never lived in or sold as a home, permanently fixed and legally approved to live in; owner-builders and off-the-plan purchases count [17].
A house-and-land package and an off-the-plan unit can be treated differently from one state to the next, so check the contract type against your state's wording before you sign.
What counts toward the grant's price limit?
The grant's price limit is tested on a value each state defines, and it can be more than the price on the contract. In Queensland the value has to be under $750,000 and includes the land and any variations to the building contract, so exactly $750,000 doesn't qualify [1]. In New South Wales, a land-and-build purchase counts the land, the building contract and variations together against $750,000; a home bought finished or off the plan is tested on its purchase price against $600,000 [4]. In Victoria, an off-the-plan purchase is tested on its contract price [7].
Western Australia sets two limits by where you buy: $800,000 south of the 26th parallel and $1,000,000 north of it [9]. South Australia and the Northern Territory set no price limit, and Tasmania's eligibility page states none [12][14][17].
What this means for you: on a build, upgrades signed after the contract can push the value over the limit and cost you the whole grant. Add every variation to the land and build price before you sign it.
Do first home buyers pay stamp duty? Each state's relief
Often not, up to a price each state sets. Stamp duty is a state tax on buying property (Queensland and New South Wales call it transfer duty, the ACT conveyance duty), and most states and territories give first home buyers some relief from it [2][5][8][10][13][16].
| State | No duty up to | Reduced duty up to | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | $700,000 [2] | $799,999, shrinking in steps from $710,000 [2][3] | New and established homes [2] |
| New South Wales | $800,000 [5] | Below $1 million [5] | New and established homes; land to build on, no duty to $350,000 and reduced below $450,000 [5] |
| Victoria | $600,000 [8] | $750,000 [8] | New and established homes, and land to build on [8] |
| Western Australia | $600,000 [10] | $800,000, at $16.15 per $100 above $600,000 [10] | Homes; vacant land, no duty to $450,000 and reduced to $550,000 [10] |
| South Australia | Any value: full relief [13] | — | New homes and land to build on [13] |
| Tasmania | No first home relief named [15] | — | Its relief for established homes has ended [15] |
| Australian Capital Territory | Any value, for eligible buyers [16] | — | New and established homes and residential land; not only first buyers [16] |
| Northern Territory | No first home duty figure we hold | — | A house-and-land package bought from a building contractor can be exempt, with no value cap [17] |
Duty relief isn't paid to you. It's applied when your duty is assessed, usually through your conveyancer or solicitor, so it lowers a bill rather than putting money in your account. In South Australia, it doesn't cover the foreign ownership surcharge [13].
What this means for you: the duty line matters most to anyone buying an established home, because it's often the only state help on offer. A home just over the line can need thousands more on settlement day than one just under it.
Is the stamp duty concession worth more than the grant?
Often, yes. On an $800,000 home in New South Wales, the duty a first home buyer doesn't pay is $30,187, about three times the $10,000 grant, and that home is above the grant's limit anyway [4][5][6][21].
| State | Home | Duty a first home buyer saves | Grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | $700,000, new | Up to $24,525 [2] | $30,000 [1] |
| New South Wales | $800,000, established | $30,187 [6][21] | None: established, and over the limit [4] |
| Western Australia | $600,000, new | $22,515 [10][11][21] | Up to $10,000 [9] |
| South Australia | $700,000, new | $32,330 [13][21] | Up to $15,000 [12] |
| Tasmania | $600,000, established | None: the duty is about $22,500 [15] | None: established [14] |
Here is the duty saved against the grant at sample prices, worked from each state's own rates [21]. Victoria and the territories aren't in it, because we don't hold their general duty rates; the stamp duty calculator gives the duty at your price.
What this means for you: in the New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia examples, the duty saved is bigger than the grant. In Tasmania, where the relief for established homes has ended, a first buyer of an established $600,000 home pays about $22,500 in duty on the general rates, and the $20,000 grant only helps if the home is new [14][15].
Who counts as a first home buyer?
It depends on which grant or scheme is asking. Each one has its own test of what you've owned before, and passing one tells you nothing about the others.
| Grant or scheme | What rules you out |
|---|---|
| Queensland grant | A home in Australia you or your spouse owned and lived in within the Queensland Revenue Office's test period, or any home in Australia owned before it [1] |
| Queensland duty concession | Any interest in any other home, in Australia or overseas [2] |
| New South Wales grant | A home owned before by you, your spouse, partner or co-buyer, under Revenue NSW's date test [4] |
| New South Wales duty exemption | Residential land in Australia ever owned by you or your spouse, even if your spouse isn't on the contract [5] |
| Tasmania grant | A home in Australia owned before the State Revenue Office's cut-off, one owned and lived in for more than six months after it, or an earlier grant [14] |
| Northern Territory HomeGrown grant | Having owned a home before anywhere in Australia [17] |
| ACT duty exemption | Any property owned or held in the last 5 years, by any buyer or their partner; you needn't be a first home buyer [16] |
| 5% Deposit Scheme | Any property in Australia in the last 10 years, including land and commercial property [18] |
| First Home Super Saver | Ever owning property in Australia, including an investment, vacant land or commercial property, bar a financial hardship case [20] |
What this means for you: someone who owned an investment unit years ago, or a home overseas, can pass one test and fail the next. That's why we run your own history through each test that applies before you sign.
Is there a grant for second home buyers?
In the Northern Territory, yes. Its FreshStart New Home Grant offers $30,000 to people who already own a home, toward buying or building a new one, and it can't be combined with the HomeGrown Territory grant [17].
No other state grant we hold is for people who have owned before. Western Australia's grant and its duty rate are both for first home owners [9][10]. The ACT's stamp duty exemption doesn't require you to be a first home buyer, but it does rule out anyone who has owned property in the last 5 years [16].
How long do you have to live in the home?
Every grant asks you to live in the home, and the strictest rule among the ones you use is the one that counts.
| Grant or scheme | Move in | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Queensland grant | Within 1 year of completion [1] | Live there 6 months in a row [1] |
| Queensland duty concession | Within 1 year of settlement; it can't be extended [2] | Don't lease the whole home in the first year [2] |
| New South Wales grant and duty exemption | Within 12 months [4][5] | Live there 12 months in a row [4][5] |
| Victoria duty relief | Within 12 months of settlement [8] | Live there 12 months in a row [8] |
| Western Australia grant | Within 12 months [9] | Live there 6 months in a row [9] |
| South Australia grant | Within 12 months [12] | Live there 6 months in a row [12] |
| Tasmania grant | Within 12 months of completion [14] | Live there 6 months in a row [14] |
| ACT duty exemption | Within 1 year of settlement, or of the occupancy certificate on a new build [16] | Live there 1 year in a row [16] |
| Northern Territory HomeGrown grant | From taking possession, or once the build is complete [17] | Live there at least 12 months [17] |
| 5% Deposit Scheme | Within 6 months of settlement [18] | Keep living there; it can't be rented out while guaranteed [18] |
What this means for you: if you use the 5% Deposit Scheme, plan to move in within 6 months of settlement, not the year most states allow, and don't plan to rent the home out while the guarantee is in place [18].
Do you need to be a citizen to get a first home grant?
Usually at least one buyer must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, but the details differ.
Queensland: the grant takes a citizen or permanent resident, or someone buying with one [1]. The duty concession now asks for a citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree [2].
New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory: at least one applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident [4][9][17].
Victoria: for the duty relief, at least one buyer must be a citizen or permanent resident, and every buyer must be enrolled to vote in Victorian elections. Active ADF members are exempt from the residency requirement; reservists and Australian Public Service staff aren't [8].
Help to Buy: every applicant must be an Australian citizen [19].
First Home Super Saver: its eligibility list has no citizenship test [20].
On a visa? See [home loans for visa holders](/home-loans-for-visa-holders/).
Can you get a state grant and a federal scheme together?
Mostly, yes. A state grant and duty relief are state money; the federal schemes are separate and help with different parts of the purchase. The 5% Deposit Scheme's guide says using it doesn't stop you getting state or territory help, and Help to Buy's page says grants and stamp duty concessions still apply [18][19].
| Combination | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| A state grant or duty relief + the 5% Deposit Scheme | Yes [18] |
| A state grant or duty relief + Help to Buy | Yes, but not with a state shared equity scheme, loan or guarantee [19] |
| 5% Deposit Scheme + Help to Buy | No [18] |
| Northern Territory HomeGrown + FreshStart | No [17] |
| Queensland grant + Queensland duty concession | Yes, on a new home that meets both tests [1][2] |
The 5% Deposit Scheme lets you buy with a 5% deposit (2% for single parents and legal guardians) and no lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), the insurance a lender charges you for when you borrow more than 80% of the price, because Housing Australia guarantees the lender instead [18]. Help to Buy is shared equity: the government contributes up to 30% of an existing home's price, or up to 40% of a new one, from a 2% deposit [19]. The First Home Super Saver lets you save up to $15,000 a year, and $50,000 in all, in voluntary super contributions toward a first home [20].
See the 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy, First Home Super Saver and how the schemes fit together.
Where do the grant limits and the 5% Deposit Scheme caps meet?
The 5% Deposit Scheme has its own price cap in each state, higher in the capital and a few named regional centres. Both the price you pay and the lender's valuation have to be at or under it [18].
| State | Grant price limit | 5% Deposit Scheme cap: capital and named centres | Rest of the state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | Under $750,000 [1] | $1,000,000 [18] | $700,000 [18] |
| New South Wales | $600,000; $750,000 for land and a build [4] | $1,500,000 [18] | $800,000 [18] |
| Victoria | Up to $750,000 [7] | $950,000 [18] | $650,000 [18] |
| Western Australia | $800,000 south of the 26th parallel; $1,000,000 north [9] | $850,000 [18] | $600,000 [18] |
| South Australia | None [12] | $900,000 [18] | $500,000 [18] |
| Tasmania | None stated [14] | $700,000 [18] | $550,000 [18] |
| Australian Capital Territory | None of that kind [16] | $1,000,000, all areas [18] | — |
| Northern Territory | None [17] | $750,000, Darwin [18] | $600,000 [18] |
The named regional centres are a short list: in New South Wales, the Central Coast, Coffs Harbour-Grafton, Illawarra, the Mid North Coast, Richmond-Tweed, and Newcastle and Lake Macquarie; in Victoria, Geelong; in Queensland, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast [18]. Everywhere else in a state outside its capital city is on the rest-of-state cap.
What this means for you: in regional Western Australia, the 5% Deposit Scheme's $600,000 cap sits below the grant's $800,000 limit, so the scheme's cap bites first. In regional Queensland, the scheme's $700,000 cap lines up with the duty concession's no-duty line [2][9][18].
What is the whole package worth?
An illustration, not a client file. A first home buyer pays $700,000 for a newly built home in Brisbane. The Queensland grant is $30,000, transfer duty is nil (a saving of up to $24,525), and through the 5% Deposit Scheme a $35,000 deposit is enough, under the $1,000,000 Brisbane cap. That's up to $54,525 of state help [1][2][18][21].
The same $700,000 new home in Adelaide brings a grant of up to $15,000 and full stamp duty relief worth $32,330, under the $900,000 Adelaide cap for the 5% Deposit Scheme: up to $47,330 of state help [12][13][18][21].
In Darwin, a $600,000 new home brings the $50,000 HomeGrown Territory grant, and the price is under the $750,000 Darwin cap, so the 5% Deposit Scheme works on a $30,000 deposit [17][18][21].
And an established $800,000 unit in Sydney: no grant, but no transfer duty, a saving of $30,187, with a $40,000 deposit under the 5% Deposit Scheme [4][5][6][18][21].
What this means for you: the same price can bring very different help depending on the state and whether the home is new. Each revenue office explains its own help and the federal sites explain theirs, so the total on your own purchase is worth adding up before you choose between homes.
Can the first home owner grant be used for a deposit?
Usually not at the time you need it. The grant is usually paid at settlement, or at the first progress payment on a build, so it can't pay the deposit you hand over when you sign the contract.
The Northern Territory is the exception worth knowing. Its HomeGrown Territory grant is paid to your lender once your eligibility is confirmed, and the Territory says you can ask your lender to release it early to help with your deposit, subject to the lender's normal approval [17].
Everywhere else, plan your deposit from your own savings and treat the grant as money that arrives later. For the 5% Deposit Scheme, remember the ceiling: if you have 20% or more left after purchase costs such as stamp duty and legal fees, you can't use it [18].
How and when do you apply for the grant?
Who lodges the grant, and the deadline, depend on the state.
New South Wales: apply within 12 months of settlement, or of the build being completed, through an approved agent [4].
Western Australia: lodge within 12 months of completion, through an approved agent or RevenueWA [9].
Northern Territory: apply within 12 months of settlement. The grant is paid to your lender after settlement on a purchase, or after the foundation is laid on a build [17].
South Australia: the grant and the stamp duty relief are applied for separately [13].
Duty relief: it's applied when your duty is assessed, usually through your conveyancer or solicitor, so tell them you're claiming it.
Check your own state's deadline before you settle, on its page or with us.
Building a new home: what the grant and the 5% Deposit Scheme each ask
A new build is where most grants live, and each sets its own timing. Tasmania's grant needs the building finished within 24 months [14]. The Northern Territory's grant is paid after the foundation is laid, and it's open to owner-builders [17].
The 5% Deposit Scheme is stricter on builds. The building contract must be signed within 6 months of the loan settling, building must start within 12 months and finish within 36, and you move in within 6 months of the occupancy certificate. Owner-builder contracts don't qualify; the builder must be licensed, insured and on a fixed-price contract [18].
Two traps: the land has to be titled before the guarantee can be issued, inside the 90-day pre-approval window, and if you already own the vacant land, you can't use the scheme to build on it [18]. See construction loans.
What this means for you: a Territory owner-builder can get the $50,000 grant but not the 5% Deposit Scheme on the same build, so the deposit has to be planned another way [17][18].
What has changed that an older page can get wrong?
First home help changes often, and a page written before the latest change can be out on the very figure you need.
Western Australia: the grant's limit south of the 26th parallel is now $800,000, and the first home owner duty rate now runs to $600,000 with no Perth-versus-regional split [9][10].
Tasmania: the grant is $20,000 now, down from $30,000, and the duty relief for established homes has ended with no replacement named [14][15].
The ACT: its duty concession is now a full exemption, with no income test and no property value limit [16].
Queensland: the duty concession now has a citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree test [2].
The Northern Territory: the $50,000 HomeGrown Territory grant has been extended, and the $10,000 offer on existing homes has closed [17].
New South Wales: First Home Buyer Choice, the option to pay a yearly property tax instead of stamp duty, has closed [5].
The 5% Deposit Scheme: it has no income caps and no waiting list [18].
That's why each figure on this page carries its source, with the day we read it, at the foot of the page.
Are there first home grants for teachers, nurses or other jobs?
No state or territory first home grant we've read pays more, or less, because of your job. The grant is the same for a teacher, a nurse or anyone else who meets the state's tests [1][4][7][9][12][14][17].
Where your job can matter is the loan. Some lenders waive lenders mortgage insurance for certain professions, and some count more of your overtime or allowances. See LMI waivers, teacher home loans and nurse home loans.
One job rule we hold sits in Victoria's duty relief: active ADF members are exempt from its residency requirement [8]. See Defence Force home loans.
Does a grant change how much you can borrow?
No. What you can borrow comes from your income, your debts and your living costs, and each lender works it out its own way. A grant and duty relief don't change what a lender works out you can repay; they change how much cash you need on the day.
That's why the order matters: work out what lenders will lend you first, then fit the grant and the schemes to the price. See how much can I borrow.
Where first home buyers lose the grant
These are the mistakes we see most in first home grants:
Buying established and expecting a grant: every grant we hold is for a new or substantially renovated home.
Build variations: pushing the value over the grant's limit after the contract is signed.
The duty line: budgeting for no duty on a home just over your state's threshold.
The grant as deposit: counting on money that usually arrives at settlement.
Old figures: planning on a grant or concession that has changed or closed.
Moving in late: missing the 5% Deposit Scheme's 6 months because the state allows 12.
One test, not all: passing the grant's first home buyer test and assuming the others follow.
Many of these can be avoided if it's checked before you sign.
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: on the home you want, in the state you're buying in, which of the grant, the duty relief and the federal schemes do you actually get, and in what order do you do it?
That depends on new or established, where you're buying, what you've owned and what you've saved, and it's what Money Brain works out before anything goes to a lender.
Four facts, and I'll do the checking
Tell me where you're buying, roughly the price, whether it's new or established, and what you've saved. I'll come back with which of the grant, duty relief and federal schemes look to fit, what they add up to, and which lenders fit.
You'll hear back within the hour in business hours, and by 9am the next business day after hours.
Questions first home buyers ask about grants
Queensland pays $30,000, Tasmania $20,000 and South Australia up to $15,000. New South Wales and Victoria pay $10,000, and Western Australia up to $10,000. The Northern Territory's HomeGrown Territory grant is $50,000. The ACT doesn't run a first home owner grant the way the states do; it gives a stamp duty exemption instead. Each grant is for a new home.
Sources
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
RevenueSA: First Home Owner Grant pages (eligible properties, page data 8 September 2026; eligible applicants, 30 July 2025; grant details, 13 February 2025; residence requirement, 30 July 2025). RevenueSA prints no visible date. Read 2 October 2026.
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
Money Brain's arithmetic on notes 1, 2, 5, 6, 10 to 13, 15 and 18: the duty at each sample price, the savings, the 5% deposits and the package totals. Worked 22 October 2026.
Updated 3 October 2026