Government housing schemes Australia 2026: federal, state and territory support

Australia has more than two dozen federal, state and territory housing schemes in 2026, including deposit guarantees, shared equity schemes, first home owner grants and stamp duty concessions. More than 230,000 Australians had used the Home Guarantee Scheme since January 2020, based on Housing Australia's 2024-25 reporting.

The national public housing waitlist reached 189,536 households in June 2025, the highest figure recorded since 2014. Median house prices in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide each rose more than 12% in the year to March 2026, placing those markets above the federal 5% Deposit Scheme price caps in each city.

Section 01 · Federal schemes

Federal government housing schemes in Australia

The federal 5% Deposit Scheme supported 1 in 3 first home buyers nationally in 2024-25, with 46,022 of 50,000 available places taken up.

Federal housing support falls into two broad categories: buyer support schemes (deposit guarantees, shared equity and superannuation savings) and supply-side programmes that fund new social and affordable housing.

Most federal buyer and supply schemes listed here are administered by Housing Australia, while the First Home Super Saver Scheme is administered by the Australian Taxation Office.

Deposit and purchase support schemes

Joint borrowers received 59% of federal guarantees in 2024-25

59% of guarantees went to joint borrowers in 2024-25, down from 62% the previous year. Buyers under 30 made up 49% of all participants. Joint borrowers (median income $134,000) paid a median of $640,000, up 6%, while single borrowers (median income $85,000) paid $500,000, up 9%. Key workers, primarily nurses and teachers, made up 28% of recipients.

Section 02 · State and territory schemes

State and territory first home buyer schemes in Australia

Grant amounts range from $10,000 in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia to $50,000 under the NT's HomeGrown Territory Grant. Every state and territory offers some form of stamp duty concession for eligible buyers. Several jurisdictions have active shared equity schemes, while the federal 5% Deposit Scheme operates nationally.

First Home Owner Grant amounts by state and territory

First Home Owner Grants (FHOG) are one-off cash payments available on new homes. The amount varies by jurisdiction, from $10,000 in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia to $50,000 under the NT's HomeGrown Territory Grant. The ACT has no first home owner grant.

Stamp duty concessions for first home buyers by state and territory

Stamp duty concessions reduce the upfront cost of buying by cutting or eliminating transfer tax. In NSW and Victoria, stamp duty on a median-priced property can exceed $30,000.

Thresholds are subject to legislative change. Source: State Revenue Offices, 2026.

Section 03 · Shared equity

Shared equity schemes in Australia

Active shared equity schemes in Australia can provide government or housing authority equity contributions of up to 40%, with minimum buyer deposits from 2%.

Unlike a deposit guarantee, a shared equity scheme gives the government or housing authority a financial stake in the property. The buyer owns and occupies the home, while the government or housing authority holds a share of the equity. If the property is later sold or the buyer repays the government share, the amount owed generally moves with the property's value.

Help to Buy cannot be combined with another state or territory shared equity scheme, loan or guarantee for the same purchase.

Active shared equity schemes generally use income limits and property price caps. Source: Housing Australia; Homes Tasmania; Keystart WA; HomesVic.

Section 04 · Eligibility and price caps

Government housing scheme eligibility and property price caps

As at March 2026, median established house prices were above the federal 5% Deposit Scheme price cap in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart. Price growth in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide exceeded 12% in the year to March 2026.

This comparison uses ABS median established house transfer prices as a market benchmark. Scheme eligibility depends on the actual purchase type, postcode and price cap. Units, townhouses, house-and-land packages and some outer-suburban purchases may remain below the relevant cap even where the median established house price is above it.

Median price of established house transfers and attached dwelling transfers (unstratified) for the March quarter 2026. Source: ABS Catalogue 6432.0, Total Value of Dwellings, Table 2.

In Perth, the WA FHOG metro cap is $800,000, 20% below the March 2026 median house price of $1,000,000. Brisbane's median of $1,150,000 exceeds the federal cap of $1,000,000. Adelaide ($980,000 median, $900,000 federal cap) and Canberra ($1,071,300 median, $1,000,000 federal cap) also exceed their respective caps. Sydney and Melbourne median house prices remain below the 5% Deposit Scheme caps of $1,500,000 and $950,000 respectively.

Income limits for Australian housing schemes

Income eligibility is assessed on the prior financial year's taxable income. Source: Housing Australia; State Revenue Offices; Homes Tasmania.

Section 05 · Supply and need

Government social and affordable housing supply programmes

Federal housing support also includes supply-side programmes that fund new social and affordable housing. Major measures since 2023 include the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator and the $9.3 billion National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness.

The Housing Australia Future Fund Facility and National Housing Accord Facility had committed support for 18,650 social and affordable homes across the first two funding rounds. The Social Housing Accelerator had completed 1,057 homes, with a further 3,194 under construction or committed, according to October 2025 reporting.

The Housing Australia Future Fund

The Housing Australia Future Fund is a $10 billion co-investment fund established in November 2023. It supports social and affordable housing through community housing providers, with a target of 40,000 new homes by 2029: 20,000 social homes and 20,000 affordable homes.

Across the first two funding rounds, Housing Australia committed support for 18,650 homes: 9,284 social housing dwellings and 9,366 affordable housing dwellings. Round 3 opened in January 2026 to fund the remaining 21,350. The HAFF includes a $600 million ring-fence for Indigenous-led housing, with 10% of all social housing funding reserved for First Nations households.

Public housing stock has fallen while the public housing waitlist has grown

Public housing stock fell from 323,803 dwellings in 2014 to 297,684 in 2024, a reduction of 26,119 dwellings. The national public housing waitlist grew from around 155,000 households in 2014 to 189,536 households at 30 June 2025. Community housing expanded from around 30,000 to 119,000 dwellings between 2006 and 2024. Social housing as a whole represented about 4.1% of all households in 2024, down from around 4.6% in 2014.

Section 06 · How schemes have changed

How Australian government housing schemes changed from 2023 to 2026

The federal deposit guarantee scheme grew from 11,742 places taken up in 2019-20 to 46,022 in 2024-25. Income caps were removed in October 2025, making the scheme available to eligible buyers at any income level. During the same period, several housing schemes were established, expanded, renamed or closed.

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