First home buyer grants, state by state
Every state sets its own first home help, so what you can get depends on where you buy. Where a state pays a first home owner grant, it's usually only for a newly built home under a price limit. Most first buyers buy an established home, and for them the bigger help is usually the stamp duty concession, which more often covers established homes too.
Choose your state
Each page has that state's grant, its stamp duty relief and its price limits, with the government source and the date each was checked.
The condition that rules most buyers out
A first home owner grant is usually for a new home: one that's never been lived in, or one you build. Buy an established home and, in most states, there's no grant at all.
Stamp duty relief often works differently. In Victoria, for example, the grant is $10,000 for a new home valued up to $750,000, but the duty exemption and concession cover new homes, established homes and vacant land to build on. For a buyer of an established home, the concession is the help that's actually on offer.
"First home buyer" means different things to different schemes
Each grant, concession and scheme has its own test, and passing one doesn't mean passing the others. Queensland shows how far apart they sit:
The Queensland grant. You and your spouse can't have owned a home in Australia that you lived in since 1 July 2000, or any home in Australia before then.
The Queensland duty concession. You can't have held an interest in any other home, in Australia or overseas. A home owned abroad counts.
The federal 5% Deposit Scheme. No interest in any property in the last 10 years, including land, commercial property, or a home you never lived in.
If you've owned anything before, even land, an overseas home or a share with a former partner, check each test separately.
What the limits look like in two states
The figures for Queensland and Victoria, as published by each state's revenue office. Every other state's figures are on its own page.
| Queensland | Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant | $30,000, new homes only | $10,000, new homes only |
| Grant price limit | Under $750,000, including land | Up to $750,000 |
| No stamp duty up to | $700,000 | $600,000 |
| Some duty relief up to | $799,999 | $750,000 |
| Duty relief on established homes | Yes | Yes |
| Source updated | 5 Aug 2026 (grant), 31 Jul 2026 (duty) | 29 Sep 2026 (grant), 15 Sep 2026 (duty) |
Queensland's grant applies to contracts signed from 20 November 2023. Queensland calls stamp duty "transfer duty".
Residency and moving in
You have to live in it. Queensland's grant needs you to move in within a year and live there for 6 months in a row. Victoria's duty relief needs 12 months in a row, starting within 12 months of settlement.
Citizen or permanent resident. Usually at least one buyer must be. Queensland added this test to its duty concession from 1 August 2026.
Victoria's extra test. Every buyer must be enrolled to vote in Victorian elections. Active ADF members are exempt from the residency requirement; reservists and public servants aren't.
If you plan to rent the home out early or move for work, check the occupancy rule before you sign.
State help alongside the federal schemes
Grants and stamp duty relief are state money. The federal schemes are separate, and they help with different parts of the purchase.
The 5% Deposit Scheme doesn't pay you anything: it lets you buy with a smaller deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance. Its deposit test counts what you've saved after costs like stamp duty, which is where a duty concession helps. Help to Buy's own page says state grants and stamp duty concessions still apply alongside it, though it can't be combined with the 5% Deposit Scheme. The first home super saver scheme releases your own savings from super.
What the whole package is worth
An illustration, not a client file. A first 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. Through the 5% Deposit Scheme, a $35,000 deposit is enough, and the price is under the $1,000,000 limit for Brisbane. That's $54,525 of state help on a purchase with a $35,000 deposit.
Change one thing, buy an established home at the same price, and the grant falls away. The duty saving and the deposit scheme still apply.
How and when to apply
Check every test before you sign. The grant, the duty relief and any federal scheme each have their own conditions. A contract signed on the wrong terms can't be undone.
Know who lodges it. In some states your lender lodges the grant for you; in others you apply to the revenue office yourself. In Western Australia, for example, you lodge through an approved agent or RevenueWA.
Watch the deadline. Western Australia gives you 12 months from completion. Each state sets its own.
Claim the duty relief at settlement. It's usually applied when the duty is assessed, so your conveyancer or solicitor needs to know you're claiming it.
Don't count the grant as your deposit
A grant isn't paid when you sign. It's usually paid at settlement on a purchase, or at the first progress payment on a build, so it can't pay the deposit you need on the day you exchange contracts. Whether a lender counts it toward your own contribution is the lender's call, and lenders differ. Plan your deposit without it, and treat the grant as money that arrives later.
Questions first buyers ask about grants
In most states, no. Grants are usually for new homes only. Stamp duty relief is more often available on established homes, and for most buyers it's worth more.
Buying your first home?
Tell me where you're buying, roughly the price, whether it's new or established, and what you've saved. I'll tell you which grant, duty relief and federal scheme you'd qualify for, and what they add up to.
You'll hear back within the hour in business hours, and by 9am the next business day after hours.
Sources
- 1
Queensland Revenue Office, First Home Owner Grant eligibility (updated 5 August 2026). Checked 2 October 2026.
- 2
Queensland Revenue Office, First home concession, transfer duty (updated 31 July 2026). Checked 2 October 2026.
- 3
State Revenue Office Victoria, First Home Owner Grant current rates (updated 29 September 2026). Read 2 October 2026.
- 4
State Revenue Office Victoria, First home buyer duty exemption or concession (updated 15 September 2026). Read 2 October 2026.
- 5
Housing Australia, 5% Deposit Scheme guide dated 1 July 2026. Checked 29 September 2026.
- 6
First Home Buyers (Australian Government), Help to Buy scheme page. Checked 2 October 2026.
- 7
Western Australia, Department of Treasury and Finance, First Home Owner Grant. Read 27 August 2026.
Updated 3 October 2026