Home loans for interns and junior doctors

What makes the first years different

Medico lenders (lenders with their own policies for medical professionals) treat doctors more generously than most borrowers. Many waive LMI for doctors, usually with no minimum income, because the lender is relying partly on the level of demand for the profession rather than solely on current pay. Junior doctors get much of that treatment. Three things still set the first years apart:

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• Registration. Interns hold provisional registration, which some lenders exclude from their LMI waiver.

• Pay history. A new intern has one or two payslips, and the overtime in a junior doctor's pay takes some time to show up in a form lenders will count.

• Contract. Junior doctors' hospital contracts are fixed-term, and some end after a single year.

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After the intern year, junior doctors go by different titles depending on the state: resident medical officer (RMO), hospital medical officer (HMO) in Victoria, or junior and senior house officer in Queensland. Lenders read them all the same way. Your pay, contract and registration matter more than the title.

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Provisional registration and the LMI waiver

Provisional, then general

Australian and New Zealand medical graduates hold provisional registration through the intern year. Once the internship is complete and the hospital confirms it to Ahpra, you move to general registration. The Medical Board asks interns to apply at least four months before the internship ends, so most move across around the start of their second year.

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What it means for an LMI waiver

General registration is accepted by every lender that offers a medico LMI waiver. Provisional registration is where lenders split: just under half of medico lenders accept it for a waiver, and those that do set no minimum time in the role. So an intern can get a waiver, but from a shorter list of lenders than the same doctor has a few months later with general registration.

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Lenders search the Ahpra register themselves, so you don't need to supply your registration details. If you are an international medical graduate on limited registration, a similar split applies. Our guide to LMI waivers for medical professionals covers registration types, visas and how far each waiver goes.

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Timing a purchase around registration

If your purchase can wait until the start of your second year, general registration widens the choice of waiver lenders. If it can't, start with the lenders that accept provisional registration, and choose among them with the rest of your application in mind.

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The Government's 5% Deposit Scheme is the other way to buy with a 5% deposit and no LMI. It has no income test and no registration requirement, but it is open only to first home buyers, has a price cap that depends on where you buy, and requires you to move in. For a doctor it is rarely the better choice. Lenders generally price a 5% Deposit Scheme loan as a 95% loan, while a waived medico loan usually gets the pricing lenders give loans below 80% of the property's value. Xaviera turns to the scheme only on the rare occasion a waiver can't be arranged, and then the price cap decides whether it works.

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Source: firsthomebuyers.gov.au (Housing Australia), 5% Deposit Scheme fact sheet and FAQs, read 6 October 2026.

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How lenders read a junior doctor's pay

Base salary: the part every lender counts

Base salary is set by your state's award or enterprise agreement. It differs from state to state, steps up with each year of experience, and rises when a new agreement takes effect. For a lender it is the easiest part of your pay: fixed, published, and counted in full by almost every lender. Early in your career, though, base salary on its own rarely supports a large loan, which is why the way a lender reads the rest of your payslip matters so much.

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Overtime, penalties and allowances

On top of base pay, a junior doctor's payslip carries overtime, shift penalties and allowances, which can add thousands of dollars a year. Because doctors are essential workers, most lenders count all of the overtime, but some shade it to 80%, and allowances are not always counted in full.

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The catch for a new intern is history. Most lenders want to see at least three months of overtime on your payslips before they count it, and some want a full year on an income statement. If your payslips already show regular, consistent overtime, some lenders will consider it sooner, case by case, and some will accept a letter from your employer. In your first weeks, expect to be assessed on base salary alone.

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Two lenders reading the same payslip can reach quite different borrowing figures. Our guide to home loans for doctors explains why.

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Your first income statement covers half a year

The intern year starts in January, halfway through the financial year. So the first income statement you get as a doctor, in July, covers about five months of hospital pay, and the year before it shows a student's income. Lenders don't rely on it. They take the start date of your role and annualise your pay from your payslips. Once your payslips show three months of year-to-date pay, that may be all a lender needs, though some also ask for your employment contract.

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When your pay steps up

Your pay rises at the start of each clinical year, and again when a new award or agreement rate starts. Lenders assess the rate your payslip shows, and generally want at least one payslip at a new rate before they use it. A signed contract at a higher rate helps the application, but it counts as income once you have been paid at it. If your pay changes partway through an application, expect the lender to ask for the new payslip and the new contract or an employment letter.

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From Xaviera's files

We helped a junior doctor buy their first home while they were still on provisional registration. They had just received a new contract at a higher rate of pay, so we advised them to wait for one full pay cycle and a payslip showing the increase. That payslip supported a higher purchase price.

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Salary sacrifice

Public hospital doctors can salary sacrifice part of their pay, which lowers the taxable figure on the payslip. Most lenders allow voluntary packaging to be counted in your income. A novated car lease is different: some lenders use your gross pay and count the lease as a repayment, while others use only your net pay. Expect to be asked for your salary packaging statement.

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Extra shifts and locum work

Many interns, RMOs and registrars pick up extra shifts outside their rostered hours. Extra shifts at your own hospital are read as overtime, not locum work. Locum work elsewhere is a second income: medico lenders will consider it, often once it has run for about three months, while lenders without a medico policy may treat it as self-employed income and want financials and tax returns. Our guide to home loans for locum doctors covers how each type of locum income is assessed.

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Contracts and the time of year

How long your contract runs

Lenders want to see your employment contract, to confirm the job is ongoing. A fixed-term contract in health counts as full-time employment, as long as it has at least two months left to run or the next one has been issued. How long an intern contract runs depends on the state:

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• Queensland: One year. The 2027 intern year runs for 53 weeks, from 18 January 2027 to 23 January 2028. Second-year jobs are offered through a separate campaign.

• NSW: Two years, covering the intern year and the second (PGY2) year.

• Victoria: Two years at many health services, covering PGY1 and PGY2. Interns who move for PGY2 go through a separate match.

• Western Australia: Three years with WA Health services; two years at St John of God Midland.

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Sources: Queensland Health, Medical internships key dates; HETI, Applying for an intern position in NSW; Grampians Health and Monash Health intern and PGY2 information for 2027; MedCareersWA, 2027 WA Intern. Read 6 October 2026. Other states set their own terms.

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A two- or three-year contract carries you past the end of the intern year without a gap. A one-year contract doesn't.

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The last two months of a contract

Lenders want at least two months left on your employment contract. Most hospitals issue the next contract about two months before the current one ends, so the window is short, but it matters: if you apply in the last two months of a contract, the lender will want the new one in hand.

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In Queensland, interns apply for their second-year jobs through Queensland Health's RMO and registrar campaign. For 2027 positions, applications ran through June 2026 and offers go out between July and October. The same two-month rule applies to any junior doctor on a one-year contract, and to anyone moving hospitals or states for their next year.

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Probation

Many new hospital employees start on a probation period, and some lenders won't lend until it ends. Medico lenders don't mind whether you are still on probation.

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Buying before your first day

Intern offers for 2027 went out from mid-July 2026, and the intern year starts in mid-January 2027. That leaves final-year students with a signed offer and about six months to wait. Lenders need at least your first payslip, so a signed contract on its own isn't enough to apply. Before then you can build your deposit, get your documents together, and find out which lenders will take your contract and registration once you're paid.

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Rotations and moving hospitals

Junior doctors rotate through terms, sometimes to a rural hospital. A rotation with the same employer doesn't trouble lenders. A move to a new employer for your next year is fine as long as there's no long gap between jobs, though the lender will want the new contract or an employment letter and, if your pay changes, a payslip at the new rate.

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If a rotation takes you out of town after you've bought, the home can still be your principal place of residence. You can rent out a room while you are away, but not the whole home, if you want to keep owner-occupied terms. First home concessions have their own move-in and residence rules in each state, so check with your conveyancer before you sign if you expect to be away in your first year.

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Getting the deposit together

Most junior doctors haven't had time to save 20% of a property's price. The usual ways to buy with less:

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• Medico LMI waiver. Deposit: Often 5% or 10%. What to know as a junior doctor: Just under half of medico lenders on provisional registration; the full list from general registration. The loan usually gets the pricing for loans below 80% of the value.

• 5% Deposit Scheme. Deposit: 5%. What to know as a junior doctor: First home buyers who are citizens or permanent residents. Price cap by area: $1 million in Brisbane, $1.5 million in Sydney. You must move in within six months. Generally priced as a 95% loan, so rarely better than a waiver for a doctor.

• Family guarantee. Deposit: Can be nil. What to know as a junior doctor: A parent's property secures part of your loan. For a doctor who qualifies for a waiver it is rarely needed: the waiver does the same job without the extra cost, the longer process or the risk to your family.

• Gift from family. Deposit: Adds to your own. What to know as a junior doctor: Some lenders want part of the deposit to be your own savings, built up over time; others don't.

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You still need cash for transfer duty, legal fees and lender costs. Every state has some form of first home concession, and you can work out the duty for any state in the Xandii stamp duty calculator. Our guide to LMI waivers for medical professionals compares a waiver with the 5% Deposit Scheme row by row.

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HECS-HELP and your borrowing

Many interns carry a HECS-HELP debt, and it reduces what you can borrow, because lenders take the compulsory repayment off your income. In 2026-27 the repayment starts once your repayment income passes $69,528, at 15 cents for each dollar above that. As a Queensland example, on an intern's base salary of $97,509 that is about $4,200 a year; add $15,000 of overtime and it is about $6,400. Salary sacrifice doesn't reduce it, because repayment income includes your reportable fringe benefits.

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Two changes in 2025 help. Balances were cut by 20% from 1 June 2025. And APRA confirmed that lenders may leave the repayment out if the debt will be repaid within about 12 months, so if your balance is small, ask whether paying it out before you apply changes what you can borrow.

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Sources: ATO, Study and training support loans: rates and repayment thresholds, 2026-27; Department of Education, 20% reduction in HELP debt; APRA, Clarifying the treatment of HELP debt obligations, 19 June 2025.

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Worked example: one intern, four points in her first two years

This is an illustration, not a quote. Say Dr Morgan starts her intern year at a Brisbane hospital in January. Her base salary is $97,509, and overtime and penalties settle at about $15,000 a year. She has $45,000 saved, a HECS-HELP debt she won't repay within a year, and no other debts. She has been looking at units for around $650,000. To keep it simple, the figures use Queensland's 2026-27 pay rates throughout.

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• 1. Two weeks in (February). What the lender sees: Contract to January next year, one payslip, provisional registration. Income counted: $97,509 (base only). Where it leaves her: Too early for her overtime to count; just under half of waiver lenders will take her registration.

• 2. Four months in (May). What the lender sees: Three months of overtime on her payslips. Income counted: $109,509 to $112,509 (80% or 100% of overtime). Where it leaves her: About $500,000 to $510,000 of borrowing power.

• 3. December. What the lender sees: Less than two months left on her intern contract; PGY2 contract issued at $105,119. Income counted: The same as point 2: still the intern rate. Where it leaves her: Can go ahead, because her next contract has been issued.

• 4. PGY2, first payslip (February). What the lender sees: General registration, a new contract, one payslip at $105,119. Income counted: $105,119 base, plus her overtime if her payslips show it continuing. Where it leaves her: More borrowing power than at point 2, and the full list of waiver lenders.

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What the table shows:

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• Point 1 is the narrowest. She is assessed on base pay alone, and on provisional registration just under half of medico lenders will waive her LMI.

• Point 2 is where her overtime starts to count. On Xaviera's figures she can now borrow about $500,000 to $510,000.

• Point 3 turns on paperwork. With less than two months left on her contract, a lender will go ahead only because her PGY2 contract has been issued. Her higher PGY2 rate doesn't count until she is paid at it.

• Point 4 is the strongest. General registration opens the full list of waiver lenders, and her PGY2 pay counts from her first payslip at the new rate. Her overtime from the intern year supports the application too, provided her current payslips show it continuing.

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What she can buy

A $650,000 unit with a 5% deposit of $32,500 needs a loan of $617,500, more than $100,000 above what she can borrow at point 2. She has three ways to close the gap:

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• A lower price. A unit at about $530,000 needs a 5% deposit of $26,500 and a loan of $503,500, inside her borrowing power. As her first home it pays no transfer duty under Queensland's first home concession, which leaves her about $18,500 of her savings for legal and other costs.

• A larger deposit. To buy the $650,000 unit she would need a deposit of about $140,000 to $150,000, out of reach on an intern's savings.

• A second income. Buying with a partner whose income goes on the application could take her to the $650,000 unit.

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Or she waits: at point 4 her PGY2 pay counts, and her borrowing power rises with it. Her HECS-HELP repayment comes off her income at every point: about $4,200 a year at point 1, rising to about $7,600 at point 4.

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You can see indicative borrowing figures across a range of lenders for your own details with the Xandii home loan comparison tool, then talk the result through with Xaviera.

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Six steps before you apply

1. Check your registration and when it changes. On provisional registration, just under half of medico lenders will waive LMI; from general registration, the choice widens.

2. Know your contract end date. Lenders want at least two months left on it. Inside that, have your next contract in hand before you apply.

3. Let your overtime build a history. Three months of it on your payslips lifts the income a lender counts. If your overtime is regular from the start, ask whether a lender will consider it sooner.

4. Time your application around pay rises. A higher rate counts once you have been paid at it. After that, keep your pay steady until settlement, because lenders expect your income at settlement to match what they approved.

5. Check your HECS-HELP balance in myGov. A small balance repaid before you apply may stop it counting against you.

6. Think about where training will take you. If specialist training could move you to another city in two or three years, talk through whether to buy a home now or an investment before you choose the loan.

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What to have ready

• Your most recent payslips, showing year-to-date pay: at least one, and three months of them if you want overtime counted.

• A letter from your employer confirming regular overtime, if your payslips show less than three months of it.

• Your employment contract, and your next contract if your current one has less than two months to run.

• Your latest income statement from myGov, and your tax return and notice of assessment if you have them.

• Your HECS-HELP balance, also from myGov.

• Your salary packaging statement, if you salary sacrifice.

• Bank statements showing your savings, and a gift letter if family is helping with the deposit.

• Photo identification.

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You don't need to supply your Ahpra registration details. Lenders search the register themselves.

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Frequently asked questions

Can I get a home loan as an intern?

Yes. Lenders with medico policies lend to interns on provisional registration, and just under half of them will waive LMI. The lender assesses you on the pay your payslip shows, which in your first weeks may mean base salary alone, and wants to see your employment contract.

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Can interns get an LMI waiver?

Yes, with just under half of medico lenders. Interns hold provisional registration, which those lenders accept for a waiver with no minimum time in the role. Once you move to general registration, usually at the start of your second year, the choice of lenders widens.

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Can I get a home loan before I start my internship?

No. Lenders need at least your first payslip. Before then you can save the deposit, gather your documents and talk to a broker about which lenders will suit you.

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Do lenders count overtime for junior doctors?

Yes, once it has a history. Most lenders want at least three months of overtime on your payslips, though some will consider regular overtime sooner, case by case. Because doctors are essential workers, most count all of it, though some shade it to 80%.

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Does HECS-HELP reduce how much I can borrow?

Yes. Lenders take the compulsory repayment off your income: in 2026-27, 15 cents for every dollar of repayment income above $69,528. They may leave it out if the debt will be repaid within about 12 months.

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Is it easier to buy after your intern year?

Usually. From your second year you have general registration, a longer pay history and a higher base salary. Whether waiting is worth it depends on your savings, the property and when your contract ends, which is worth talking through before you start looking.

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Talk it through with Xaviera

Xaviera has 25 years in banking and lending, and has spent the last seven broking with medical professionals. A short call is the quickest way to find out which lenders will take your registration and contract today, and what changes if you wait a few months.