First home buyer support in Australia is a patchwork. Each state and territory runs its own grant and stamp duty concession structure, on top of federal-level schemes that have evolved through 2024 and 2025. By 2026, the landscape is more navigable than it was, but still requires careful reading because the eligibility thresholds and benefit amounts vary widely.

The federal-level First Home Guarantee continues to operate, with thresholds adjusted for the 2026 financial year. The deposit support remains valuable but the price caps are tight in higher-cost capital cities. A meaningful number of first home buyers in Sydney and Melbourne find that suitable properties simply exceed the price caps.

The Help to Buy scheme has become more prominent through 2025-2026 as the rollout matured. The shared equity model works for buyers who can sustain a mortgage on the smaller portion but couldn’t have closed the gap to deposit alone. Take-up has been mixed across states, with some markets seeing significant uptake and others where the scheme hasn’t matched local price levels.

State by state in 2026:

NSW continues to offer the First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme stamp duty concessions and the smaller First Home Owner Grant for new builds. The thresholds are tighter than they should be given Sydney prices, but the savings on a qualifying purchase are real.

Victoria has continued its concessions for new and existing dwellings up to the relevant thresholds. The 2025 reform of the regional component remains in place. The thresholds have crept up modestly with the 2026 budget changes.

Queensland has been one of the more generous states, with the First Home Owner Grant for new builds at $30,000 for qualifying properties. Stamp duty concessions remain. The state-level support meaningfully changes the maths in regional Queensland in particular.

Western Australia continues its FHOG and stamp duty concessions, with the regional component offering additional support outside metropolitan Perth.

South Australia has retained its First Home Owner Grant and stamp duty arrangements. The thresholds work well for typical Adelaide entry-level prices.

Tasmania has continued to offer one of the more generous packages relative to local prices, with the FHOG and meaningful stamp duty support. The catch is that property prices in Hobart in particular have absorbed some of the benefit through price growth.

NT and ACT each have their own arrangements that are generally more generous than the bigger states, reflecting the smaller markets and policy priorities of the jurisdictions.

The practical advice for first home buyers in 2026: start with the federal schemes (First Home Guarantee, Help to Buy if appropriate, super contribution scheme), then layer in your specific state-level support. Don’t assume what worked for a friend in another state applies to you. The combinations that maximise total benefit usually require specific advice from a broker or accountant who works with first home buyers regularly.

The other consistently underused lever is the First Home Super Saver Scheme. The mechanics are slightly fiddly but for buyers with reasonable income, the tax savings on deposit accumulation are meaningful. Several years of disciplined contributions can make a noticeable difference to deposit timing.