First home buyer programs and grants: how to check current eligibility

The real task is verification, not a list of amounts

A search for "first home buyer programs Australia" usually assumes there is one fixed list of grants and thresholds. In practice there are several separate programs, set by different levels of government, and the settings on each one change over time. Publishing a number here would be out of date the moment it changed.

So this guide treats eligibility as a checking task. Your job is to learn which program applies to your situation, find the official page that owns it, and read the criteria that are current on the day you act. Every claim below is attributed to the official source that publishes it, and where a figure appears, it is quoted as what the official page says, not as a guarantee of what you will receive.

Three layers, three separate rulebooks

The First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) is the one most people mean by "the grant". According to the Australian Treasury, the FHOG scheme was introduced on 1 July 2000 to offset the effect of the GST on home ownership, it is funded by the states and territories and administered under their own arrangements, and a one-off grant is payable to first home owners who satisfy all the eligibility criteria. Treasury's own housing page points readers to the individual state and territory contacts for that grant rather than publishing a single national figure.

This is the most important structural fact: the grant amount and the eligibility test are set where you buy, not nationally. my.gov.au makes the same point — each state and territory has information and support for first home buyers, and you may be eligible for a grant from your state or territory government.

Commonwealth programs sit alongside that. The Australian Government's First Home Buyers website describes programs designed to make home ownership more achievable, referring to three programs aimed at first-time home buyers, people re-entering the market, and aspiring homeowners across Australia. Two mechanisms appear in that material:

• The First Home Super Saver Scheme is described as a long-established program that lets you make extra voluntary contributions to your super fund, grow savings faster and take advantage of lower tax rates, to help buy or build a first home. The ATO administers the tax side of this, and my.gov.au directs readers to the ATO website for details.
• A guarantee-style scheme is described as having recently expanded eligibility so eligible buyers can purchase with a smaller deposit and mortgage. The official page refers to supporting eligible first home buyers — and those who haven't purchased within the last 10 years — to buy sooner, with a deposit as little as 5 per cent. Treat that as a statement from the official page to be re-read at the time you apply, not as a settled number.

Housing Australia publishes annual reporting on the Home Guarantee Scheme; its 6th annual report covers data on the First Home Guarantee (FHBG), Family Home Guarantee (FHG) and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) for 2024–25. If you want to see how a guarantee program is actually being used rather than how it is described, that report is the primary source.

Your lender's assessment is the third layer, and none of the sources above decide it. A government guarantee does not replace a lender's credit assessment, and a grant does not change what you can borrow.

Layer	What it is	Who sets the rules	Where to check
First Home Owner Grant	One-off grant for eligible first home owners	Your state or territory	Your state or territory revenue or revenue office page, via Treasury or firsthome.gov.au
First Home Super Saver Scheme	Voluntary super contributions with tax treatment	Commonwealth, administered by the ATO	ATO website, via firsthomebuyers.gov.au
Home Guarantee Scheme	Government support toward a smaller deposit	Commonwealth, delivered via Housing Australia	firsthomebuyers.gov.au and Housing Australia reporting
Home loan approval	Borrowing capacity and terms	Your lender	Directly with the lender

A verification checklist

Work through these in order. Each step ends at an official page, not a summary.

1. Confirm your jurisdiction first. The property's state or territory determines which FHOG rules apply. The Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia each appear in the Treasury listing as separate administering jurisdictions.
2. Read the FHOG eligibility criteria on the state or territory page. Treasury states the grant is payable only to applicants who satisfy all the criteria. "All" is doing real work there — one failed condition ends it.
3. Check the Commonwealth programs on firsthomebuyers.gov.au. Look for which of the described programs matches you: first-time buyer, re-entering the market, or aspiring homeowner.
4. Check whether a guarantee program applies to your deposit size and purchase type. The official page describes a deposit as little as 5 per cent; confirm the current settings, the property price conditions and whether a regional or family-stream guarantee is the right one for you.
5. If you plan to save through super, read the ATO's FHSS material. Voluntary contributions are made on your side, but release conditions are governed by the scheme rules and tax law.
6. Check the timing. The FHOG material on firsthome.gov.au refers to asking for the funds when you're ready to buy your first home. Grant timing and application windows are practical constraints, not details.
7. Record what you read. Save the page, the date and the section. If a setting changes between now and settlement, that record is what you compare against.

Questions to put to the official source

Do not rely on memory or on third-party summaries for any of these:

• Am I a first home owner under this program's definition, given any prior ownership?
• Does the property need to be new, substantially renovated, or can it be established?
• Is there a price cap, and is it applied to the purchase price or the value?
• Do I need to live in the property, and for how long?
• Does the guarantee stream depend on where I buy, or on my household situation?
• Are there income tests, and whose income is counted?
• What is the application deadline relative to settlement?

If a source does not clearly answer one of these, that gap is the answer: you need the administering agency's own page, or a direct question to it.

Where the official sources stop

my.gov.au frames first home buying around grants and saving for a deposit, and separately notes that home insurance helps cover the cost of replacing or repairing your home and belongings if something goes wrong. That is a useful reminder that buying costs extend past the deposit and the grant — insurance, conveyancing, inspections and lender charges all sit outside these programs.

The sources also do not tell you whether you should buy, what you can afford, or which loan suits you. Those depend on your income, expenses, debts and plans, and they are the parts where a licensed professional is the right person to ask.

Next step

Pick your state or territory first, open its FHOG page through the Treasury or firsthome.gov.au listing, and read the eligibility criteria end to end. Then open firsthomebuyers.gov.au and check which Commonwealth program matches your situation. Do this before you make an offer or sign anything, and repeat it if your settlement date is months away.

If you want to see how deposit size affects borrowing in general terms, the home loan explainers at /money/home-loans/ cover the mechanics. If you'd rather start from your own numbers and see what options are available to you, /match/ is the place to begin.

General information only

This article is general information about where official first home buyer programs are published and how to check them. It is not legal, tax, credit or financial advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy property or to use any particular program or lender. Programs, eligibility criteria, amounts and availability change; always confirm current details with the administering government agency and the ATO before you rely on them, and consider speaking with a qualified professional about your circumstances. Australian Cash is not a lender, broker, government body or regulator.