Medical professional mortgages in Australia

What lenders mean by a medical professional

There is no single definition. Each lender keeps its own list of eligible professions, and professional registration is usually the starting point. In Australia, Ahpra and 15 National Boards register practitioners in 16 health professions, including medicine, dentistry, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, physiotherapy, optometry and psychology. Lenders check that register themselves. Vets are the exception: they aren't part of the national scheme. Each state and territory has its own veterinary board, so a lender will need your registration with that board instead.

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From there, lenders sort professions into groups. Doctors and dentists get the widest choice of lenders and the most generous terms. Nurses, midwives, vets and selected allied health professions, such as physiotherapists, optometrists and pharmacists, get a shorter list of lenders and usually stricter terms. Most lenders treat vets the same way as allied health. Which allied health professions count varies from one lender to the next.

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Sources: Ahpra, What we do and National Boards; Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, National Recognition of Veterinary Registration. Read 12 October 2026.

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What a medical professional mortgage can include

An LMI waiver

This is the best-known part. Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) normally applies when you borrow more than 80% of a property's value, and on a large loan it can cost tens of thousands of dollars. A medico LMI waiver means the lender doesn't charge it to an eligible professional. For doctors and dentists, many waivers go to 95% of the value. For nurses, midwives and allied health, they usually stop at 90%, fewer lenders offer them, and some set a minimum income. Vets are treated the same way by most lenders: one lender currently takes vets to 95%, and the rest stop at 90%. Our guide to LMI waivers for medical professionals covers who qualifies, which lenders offer one and how far each goes.

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Pricing

A loan above 80% of the property's value usually attracts a higher interest rate. With a medico waiver, the loan generally gets the pricing lenders give loans below 80%.

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Income rules

This is the part that most often decides how much you can borrow. Lenders with their own policies for medical professionals (medico lenders) can read a health professional's pay more flexibly than their standard policy: for example, assessing a new private practice from a few months of billing statements instead of waiting for a tax return. The following sections explain how lenders assess different types of income.

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What it doesn't change

A waiver doesn't change how much you can borrow. That still comes from your income, your debts and the lender's own calculation. And you still need cash for stamp duty and the other costs of buying.

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Salaried in a hospital or health service

Most doctors in training, nurses and midwives, and many allied health professionals and pharmacists, are employed by a public or private hospital or health service. Lenders work mainly from your payslip, and base salary is the easy part: it's set by an award or agreement, it doesn't move from one pay to the next, and almost every lender counts all of it. The extras on the payslip are where lenders may look at things differently.

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Overtime, penalty rates and allowances

Health professionals on rosters often earn a large share of their pay from overtime, penalty rates for evenings, nights and weekends, on-call and other allowances. Because health workers are essential workers, most lenders count all of their overtime, but some shade it to 80%, and not every lender counts allowances in full. Most want to see at least three months of it on your payslips before they count it. The result is that two lenders can reach quite different borrowing figures from the same payslip.

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Regular penalty rates, such as for evening and weekend shifts, are a different matter. In most cases lenders count them as part of your base pay, as long as they are regular and your year-to-date pay is consistent with them. Overtime is the extra hours on top of your rostered shifts, and that is what lenders count at 100% or 80%.

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Part-time, casual and agency work

Many nurses, midwives and allied health professionals work part-time, pick up casual shifts, or work through an agency. Permanent part-time pay is read much like full-time pay, on the hours in your contract. For casual and agency income, most lenders want to see about three months of it before they count it, though some will accept a shorter history if you have experience in the industry. Medico lenders read casual income the same way as other lenders.

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Contracts and rotations

Fixed-term contracts are common in health, especially during training. A fixed-term contract counts as full-time employment, unless it is close to ending and the next contract hasn't been issued yet. If a move to a new hospital changes your pay, the lender will want the change confirmed with an updated payslip and a new contract or employment letter.

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Salary packaging

Public hospitals, not-for-profit hospitals and public ambulance services can package part of their staff's pay without fringe benefits tax, up to a cap of $17,000 a year in grossed-up value, plus up to $5,000 for meal entertainment. Staff of public benevolent institutions and health promotion charities have a $30,000 cap. Packaging lowers the taxable figure on your payslip, so the way a lender reads it matters.

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For a novated lease, some lenders treat the lease as a repayment and use your gross pay, while others use only your net pay. Voluntary packaging is simpler, and most lenders include it in your assessed income. If you're close to your borrowing limit, the lender you choose can make the difference. Expect to be asked for your salary packaging statement, and sometimes a letter confirming the packaging is voluntary and can be cancelled at any time.

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Source: Australian Taxation Office, Fringe benefits tax: rates and thresholds, Table 5 (FBT years ending 31 March 2023 to 2027). Read 12 October 2026.

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Working in someone else's practice

Many GPs, specialists, dentists, physiotherapists and psychologists work in a practice they don't own. There are two common arrangements, and lenders treat them very differently.

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Employed by the practice

If the practice employs you, on a salary or on a share of your billings paid through its payroll, lenders read your payslip much like any other salaried income. Some will ask for supporting documents, such as the practice's billing statements, if your pay moves from month to month. A pharmacist employed in a community pharmacy, or a vet employed in a clinic, is in the same position.

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Paying a service fee under your own ABN

Most fellowed GPs, many specialists in rooms, and many dentists and allied health professionals working as associates bill patients under their own ABN and pay the practice a service fee. Lenders treat this as self-employed income and assess it from your tax returns and notices of assessment. What counts is your taxable income after the service fee and your own costs, not what you bill. Lenders can add some items back, such as depreciation and one-off expenses. When your income is rising, most use the latest year by itself rather than averaging it with the year before.

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For doctors and dentists, moving from a salary to a service fee arrangement doesn't always mean waiting a year for a tax return. Some medico lenders can assess your income after about three months using the practice's monthly billing statements backed up by your bank statements, and may look at your BAS and your service agreement. Other lenders wait for a full year's tax return.

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Allied health professionals generally need a longer history: as a rule, at least 12 months under your ABN, with financials prepared by your accountant. A shorter history can be considered case by case.

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Owning a practice

If you own or part-own a practice or a pharmacy, often through a company or trust, lenders generally work from the income it pays or distributes to you, as shown on your personal tax return, and may look at the company or trust financials as well. For a home loan, the income that counts is what reaches you. Where financials are needed, lenders usually want the most recent year's, and some will also consider interim figures and your BAS. Expect a check of your ATO account too: any tax debt generally has to be paid before you apply.

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Worked example: a hospital nurse

This is an illustration, not a quote. Say Ella is a single registered nurse in a public hospital on a base salary of $95,000. Last financial year, regular penalty rates for her evening and weekend shifts added about $14,000 and overtime about $4,000, so her taxable income was about $113,000. She has no other debts. She wants to buy a unit for $550,000 with a 10% deposit, so she needs a loan of about $495,000.

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• How much she can borrow: we ran Ella's details through the Xandii home loan comparison tool. With her regular penalty rates counted as base pay, as most lenders would, and her $4,000 of overtime on top, her indicative borrowing ranged from about $480,000 to about $563,000 depending on the lender, so most of the lenders could lend her the $495,000. On her $95,000 base salary alone, the range fell to about $377,000 to $444,000: none of them could.

• Keeping her penalty rates regular: lenders count them as base pay when they are regular and her year-to-date pay backs them up. If her shifts, and her pay, moved around a lot, a lender might not, and her figure would fall towards the lower range.

• LMI: at 90% of the value, she would pay LMI with most lenders. A small number of lenders offer nurses a waiver up to 90%, and some of them set a minimum income of about $90,000 to $100,000 a year. Those lenders count all her taxable income, penalty rates and overtime included, so her $113,000 clears either figure.

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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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Figures from the Xandii home loan comparison tool, 13 October 2026: single applicant, no dependants, no other debts, declared living expenses of $2,500 a month (each lender applies its own minimum), a 30-year loan on a home to live in at 90% of the value. Indicative only: they move with interest rates and lender policy, and are not an offer of credit.

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Worked example: a dentist who has recently started working in private practice

Again, this is an illustration, not a quote. Say Dr Wong is a dentist who spent three years as an employee of a group practice, then eight months ago became an associate in another practice. She now bills patients under her own ABN and pays the practice a service fee. Her billing statements show her earning more than she did as an employee. She wants to buy a house for $1,000,000 with a 10% deposit.

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• Her income: her salary has ended, so a lender needs to assess her new self-employed income. A lender that needs a full year's tax return will make her wait until her first year as an associate is lodged. A medico lender that can work from a few months of billing statements, backed up by her bank statements, may assess her now, on her earnings after the service fee and her own costs.

• LMI: dentists sit alongside doctors for medico waivers, so with current registration she may be able to borrow up to 95% of the value without LMI. A 10% deposit is well within that.

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For Dr Wong, the choice of lender decides when she can buy, not only how much she can borrow.

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What to have ready

If you are salaried:

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• Your two most recent payslips.

• Your employment contract, and a new contract or employment letter if you are about to move or your current contract is ending.

• Your last two income statements or tax returns, and notices of assessment, if your overtime, penalty rates and allowances matter to the application.

• Your salary packaging statement, if you package.

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If you bill under your own ABN or own a practice:

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• Your last two years of personal tax returns and notices of assessment.

• Company or trust tax returns and the practice's financial statements, if you trade through one.

• Your service agreement and recent billing statements, if you work in someone else's practice, plus your bank statements and BAS.

• An ATO account statement showing no outstanding tax debt.

• If you are new to it: interim figures from your accountant, if the lender asks for them.

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Frequently asked questions

Is a medical professional mortgage a different kind of loan?

No. It's an ordinary home loan from a lender with its own policies for health professionals, such as an LMI waiver, better pricing above 80% of the value, and its own rules for reading your pay.

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Do nurses and midwives get the same terms as doctors?

Usually not. Fewer lenders include nurses and midwives, waivers usually stop at 90% of the value rather than 95%, and some lenders set a minimum income. How a lender reads your penalty rates and overtime matters as much as the waiver.

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Are vets treated as medical professionals?

By a growing number of lenders, yes. Vets aren't registered by Ahpra, so a lender will need your registration with your state or territory veterinary board instead. Most lenders treat vets like allied health, with waivers to 90% of the value; one lender currently goes to 95%.

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Does salary packaging reduce what I can borrow?

It can, depending on what you package and the lender. Most lenders will include voluntary packaging in your income. A novated lease is treated differently from one lender to the next.

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Can I get one as an associate or contractor?

Yes. Lenders assess service fee income under your own ABN as self-employed income. Some medico lenders can assess doctors and dentists from a few months of billing statements; others wait for a full year's tax return. Allied health professionals generally need at least a year under their ABN.

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Talk it through with Xaviera

Xaviera has spent the last seven years broking with medical professionals, and knows how lenders read a hospital payslip, a roster full of penalty rates and overtime, and income from a practice. A short call is the quickest way to see which lenders suit the way you are paid.