5% Deposit Scheme Lenders in Australia: The Full Panel and Which One Suits You
The 5% Deposit Scheme lets eligible first home buyers get into the market with a fraction of the usual deposit and skip Lenders Mortgage Insurance altogether, but the government guarantee only works through a lender that's actually on the panel, and the price cap for your area still has to stack up.
Which lender on that panel is the right one for you, and what price cap applies where you're buying?
How the Scheme Works Right Now
Officially it's the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, formerly the Home Guarantee Scheme. Housing Australia guarantees part of the loan so eligible buyers can purchase with a 5% deposit and skip Lenders Mortgage Insurance entirely.
No income caps, removed for all three streams from 1 October 2025
No place limits, uncapped from 1 October 2025
Deposit as low as 5 percent, with the guarantee covering the gap up to 15 percent of the property value so no LMI is payable
Three streams: First Home Guarantee for any eligible first home buyer, Family Home Guarantee for eligible single parents and guardians, and the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee for regional locations
Property price caps apply, and both the purchase price and the lender's valuation have to sit at or under the cap for that postcode
Property Price Caps by State
Both the purchase price and the home's value as assessed by your lender need to stay at or below these caps. Regional centres in NSW, VIC and QLD are treated the same as the capital city figure.
New South Wales: $1,500,000 in Sydney and major regional centres, $800,000 elsewhere
Victoria: $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong, $650,000 elsewhere
Queensland: $1,000,000 in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, $700,000 elsewhere
Western Australia: $850,000 in Perth, $600,000 elsewhere
South Australia: $900,000 in Adelaide, $500,000 elsewhere
Tasmania: $700,000 in Hobart, $550,000 elsewhere
Australian Capital Territory: $1,000,000
Northern Territory: $750,000 in Darwin, $600,000 for the rest of the Territory
NSW regional centres on the capital city cap are the Central Coast, Coffs Harbour to Grafton, Illawarra, Mid North Coast, Richmond-Tweed, and Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
Which Lenders Are Actually On the Panel
Housing Australia has authorised around 53 banks, building societies, credit unions and non-bank lenders to offer the Scheme. That list includes three of the big four, most of Australia's customer owned banks, a run of regional and profession based mutuals, and one specialist non-bank lender. It does not include ING, Macquarie, HSBC, Suncorp or AMP Bank, none of which currently participate.
For a full breakdown of how the Scheme itself works, our guide on First Home Buyer Grants and Schemes in Australia covers that in detail.
The Big Banks and Their Group Brands
All three share the same credit engine and servicing calculator as Westpac, so if one brand's assessment comes back tight, one of its sister brands might still get you there without changing a single fact about your application.
Commonwealth Bank: Largest home loan book in the country, deep experience processing Scheme applications at volume, and a strong app and servicing platform for straightforward PAYG files
Westpac: Same credit engine sits behind Westpac, St George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne, so if one brand says no, a sister brand might still say yes
St George Bank: Westpac Group brand, sometimes sharper pricing than Westpac proper, a useful second option within the same group
BankSA: Westpac Group brand with a strong local presence in South Australia, same policy flexibility as St George and Bank of Melbourne
Bank of Melbourne: Westpac Group brand with a strong Victorian presence, same underlying servicing as St George and BankSA
National Australia Bank: Competitive fixed rate offers and generally workable with self employed income and more complex documentation
ANZ: Runs both a traditional bank and the digital only ANZ Plus, a solid choice for simple, well documented applications
Customer Owned and Regional Banks
This is by far the largest group on the panel. The common thread is ownership structure: these banks don't answer to shareholders, so profits tend to flow back into rates and service rather than dividends, and many are more willing to manually assess a file rather than run it purely through an automated credit score. If you're buying regionally, it's worth checking whether one of these has deep roots in that specific area.
Bank Australia: Melbourne based customer owned bank with an explicit ethical lending charter, no fossil fuels, weapons or gambling, profits returned to members
Bendigo Bank: Community bank branch model with strong rural and regional coverage nationally, known for manual, case by case assessment
Great Southern Bank: One of Australia's largest customer owned banks, formerly CUA, national reach with competitive rates
Beyond Bank: South Australian founded, one of the larger customer owned banks nationally, carbon neutral operations
Newcastle Permanent: One of the country's largest building societies, strong in the Hunter and Newcastle region
IMB Bank: Illawarra founded mutual bank, strong NSW South Coast presence, competitive owner occupier rates
MyState Bank: Tasmania based, a useful local option where price caps are the lowest on the mainland scale
Bank First: Member owned with historical education sector roots, personalised low volume service
People First Bank: One of Australia's largest customer owned banks, formed from the Heritage Bank and People's Choice merger, broad national footprint
P&N Bank: WA based mutual with Police and Nurses heritage, strong local WA servicing
Regional Australia Bank: Northern NSW and New England based, useful for Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee purchases
Queensland Country Bank: North Queensland based, solid local knowledge for regional QLD purchases
Horizon Bank: Illawarra and Wollongong based mutual, competitive owner occupier rates
Hume Bank: Albury Wodonga border region, strong cross border NSW and VIC local knowledge
Border Bank: Also Albury Wodonga based, smaller and more personal than Hume Bank
BCU: Tweed and Northern Rivers NSW heritage, strong regional NSW footprint
Bank of Us: Tasmania based mutual, a local alternative to MyState
Credit Union SA: Adelaide based, long standing SA member base
Community First Bank: Sydney based, formerly Community First Credit Union
Gateway Bank: Sydney based, formerly Gateway Credit Union, flexible relationship based assessment
Coastline Bank: NSW South Coast, Illawarra and Shoalhaven based, useful for coastal regional purchases
Darling Downs Bank: Toowoomba and Darling Downs QLD based, strong local knowledge for that corridor
Cairns Bank: Far North Queensland based, local specialist for Cairns region purchases
Central Murray Bank: NSW Riverina based, small relationship driven mutual
Southern Cross Credit Union: Northern Rivers NSW based, member first service
Northern Inland Credit Union: North west NSW, Tamworth region based
The Mac: Whyalla and Eyre Peninsula SA based, small mutual with deep local ties
The Mutual Bank: Newcastle and Hunter region based, personal low volume service
Unity Bank: Sydney based mutual, steady member focused servicing
First Option Bank: Regional Victoria, Wangaratta based, local relationship lending
Australian Mutual Bank: Sydney based mutual, competitive rates and member owned structure
Dnister Bank: Melbourne based community mutual with Ukrainian community heritage
Bank Orange: Central West NSW, Orange based, local specialist for that region
Bank WAW: WA based mutual, a local alternative alongside P&N Bank
Lenders Built Around a Profession
Most of these now lend to the general public, not just their original membership base, so it's worth asking rather than assuming you don't qualify. Their real advantage is familiarity with income that doesn't look like a standard payslip: shift loading, overtime, penalty rates and allowances that a generalist bank might discount or ignore.
Teachers Mutual Bank: Part of the TMBL group, deep familiarity with education sector income and allowances
UniBank: TMBL group brand for university sector staff and students, same underlying policy as Teachers Mutual Bank
Firefighters Mutual Bank: TMBL group brand for emergency services, understands shift loading and overtime
Health Professionals Bank: TMBL group brand for the health sector, tailored to nursing and allied health income
Police Bank: NSW founded, historically for police and emergency services, well versed in shift and allowance income
Police Credit Union: South Australian based, similar police and emergency services heritage
QBank: Queensland police heritage mutual, comfortable with public sector and shift based income
BankVic: Victoria Police and emergency services heritage, practised with allowance heavy income files
Defence Bank: ADF community heritage, understands defence force pay structures and postings
Australian Military Bank: Defence community heritage similar to Defence Bank, niche servicing for ADF members and families
When a Specialist Non-Bank Lender Fits Better
Liberty is the one non-bank lender on the panel, and it plays a different role to everyone else on this list. Its credit policy is noticeably more flexible than a mainstream bank's, which makes it a genuine option for self employed applicants without two years of tax returns, borrowers with a slightly bruised credit file, or anyone who has already been declined by a bank for the Scheme. It's rarely the first lender to try, but it's a useful one to know about if your file doesn't fit a standard box.
Support for First Nations Home Buyers
Indigenous Business Australia, known as IBA, also sits on the panel, but it operates a bit differently. Alongside the Scheme, IBA runs its own home loan program specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander buyers, often with no deposit required at all, and provides dedicated support through the application process. If that applies to you, it's worth a conversation with IBA directly as well as a Scheme lender.
How to Actually Narrow It Down
With over 50 lenders technically available, the real decision usually isn't which one has the lowest advertised rate. It's which one will actually approve your specific file, in your specific location, at a price that stacks up. A few things worth checking before you lock in a lender:
Whether your income type, self employed, casual or allowance heavy, suits a manual assessor over an automated one
Whether a smaller regional or profession based lender actually operates in your postcode
Whether Lenders Mortgage Insurance would apply if you didn't qualify for the Scheme
Whether the lender's fixed and variable rates are actually competitive once the Scheme's LMI saving is factored in
Our guide on Lenders Mortgage Insurance in Australia explains what LMI would otherwise cost you, and why avoiding it through the Scheme is worth so much upfront.
A broker can run all of this in parallel across several lenders at once, rather than you applying one at a time and hoping.
One more thing worth knowing: whichever lender ends up right for you, a portion of every loan we settle goes to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, supporting the protection of Australian habitats and species.
Ready to Find the Right Lender on the 5% Deposit Scheme Panel?
With more than 50 lenders to choose from and price caps that vary block by block, picking the right one shouldn't be guesswork. Get in touch and we'll match your situation to the lender most likely to say yes, at a price that actually works for you.