Australia’s 5% Deposit Scheme: eligibility in practice
Last updated 23 July 2026. Educational only — not credit advice and not a Revenue Office assessment.
What the scheme is trying to do
The 5% Deposit Scheme (Home Guarantee family of pathways) helps eligible buyers purchase with a smaller deposit by using a government guarantee instead of traditional LMI, through participating lenders. It does not make the property cheaper and it does not remove stamp duty.
Hard gates buyers miss
In practice, DutyStack only treats the scheme path as available when the inputs look like an eligible owner-occupier first-home purchase inside the modelled price cap for the area. Investment purpose turns it off. Non-first-home status turns it off. Price over the cap turns it off.
Income caps, citizenship/residency, prior guarantee use, and lender credit policy still sit outside a public calculator. Passing the on-screen gates is necessary but not sufficient.
Duty and deposit are still separate problems
A 5% deposit reduces the cash you need for the purchase gap. You may still need substantial cash for duty and fees unless you have another source. Buyers who only compare “5% vs 20%” without duty often underfund settlement.
How to use DutyStack for this path
Set Live in it, First home buyer Yes, and a deposit around 5%, then check whether the scheme line shows eligible or over cap for your price. Compare that cash stack to a 10% or 20% deposit on the same price so you can see duty and LMI trade-offs clearly.