Doctor home loans in Melbourne and Victoria

Start with how you are paid

A lender's first question is how your income reaches you, because each answer comes with its own rules. For a Melbourne doctor, that is usually one of four ways:

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• Salaried in a hospital. Interns, hospital medical officers, registrars and specialists employed by a public health service such as Monash Health or Alfred Health, or by a private hospital. Lenders work mainly from your payslip.

• GP registrar in a training practice. Usually an employee of the practice, paid the greater of a minimum base rate or a share of your billings.

• Sole trader in a practice or rooms. Most fellowed GPs bill under their own ABN and pay the practice a service fee out of their billings. Many specialists do private work from rooms on the same basis, paying a service fee or a fixed rent.

• Practice owner. You own the practice, often through a company or trust, and the doctors and staff who work there are employed or contracted by it.

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Many doctors mix two of these, such as a specialist with a public appointment and private rooms, or a registrar picking up locum shifts. Lenders assess each income stream separately, and this guide covers each one.

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Salaried doctors: how lenders read a Victorian public hospital payslip

Victoria's public hospital doctors in training are employed by the health service they work for, not by the state. Pay and conditions are the same across Victoria, set by the Doctors in Training (Victorian Public Health Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022-2026, which covers 36 health services. What the employer decides is who issues your payslip, and that matters when you move, as the section on rotations explains.

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Base salary is the part lenders find easiest. It is fixed by a public 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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Base salary by stage

The agreement publishes weekly rates. The annual figures below are those weekly rates times 52.18, from the first full pay period on or after 1 March 2025, the agreement's last scheduled increase:

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Source: Doctors in Training (Victorian Public Health Sector) (AMA Victoria/ASMOF) (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2022-2026, Appendix 2, Table 1.1. Specialists are paid under a separate agreement and are not in this table.

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These are still the rates on a payslip today. The agreement reached its nominal expiry on 28 February 2026 and stays in force until a new one replaces it, and in October 2026 doctors voted 89% against the government's 12-month pay offer, which included a 10% rise for doctors in training. Lenders generally want to see at least one payslip at a new rate before they use it, so until a new agreement is being paid, they assess you on the rate your payslip shows.

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Overtime, on-call and allowances

On top of base pay, a registrar's payslip can carry overtime, on-call allowances, shift penalties and other allowances. Lenders read public hospital overtime and on-call as ordinary overtime. Because doctors are essential workers, most lenders count all of it, 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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Rotations and contracts

Doctors in training in Victoria are employed on fixed-term contracts, which usually start with the clinical year in February, and many change health service during their training. A rotation within your training program keeps you employed by your home health service. A move to a different health service is a change of employer, with a new contract and a new payslip.

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Lenders accept a rotation that keeps you with the same employer. A move to a different health service depends on the lender: some accept it during an application and others don't.

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If a move changes your pay, the lender will want the change confirmed with an updated payslip and a new contract or employment letter. A change of income partway through an application can make things harder, but with enough supporting evidence it can usually be worked through, and some lenders handle it better than others.

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Lenders will also want to see your employment contract, to confirm the role is ongoing. A fixed-term contract in health counts as full-time employment, unless it is close to ending and the next contract hasn't been issued yet. That matters most late in the year, when many contracts run out in February.

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Salary packaging

Public health service staff can salary package part of their pay, which lowers the taxable figure on the payslip. How a lender treats it depends on the lender and on what you package.

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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 will let it be included in your income. If your borrowing is tight, 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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GPs, specialists and doctors in private practice

When your income comes through your own ABN, lenders stop working from payslips and start working from tax returns. 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, interest, one-off expenses and super above the guarantee rate.

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GP registrars

GP registrars are the exception. Under the National Terms and Conditions for the Employment of Registrars (NTCER), you are usually an employee of your training practice, paid the greater of a minimum base rate or a share of your billings. That income comes on a payslip, and most lenders count whichever of the two you are actually paid, though some will ask for supporting documents such as the practice's billing statements, a BAS or interim figures.

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Sole traders in a practice or rooms

This is how most fellowed GPs work. You bill patients and Medicare under your own provider number, and the practice keeps a service fee, usually a percentage of what you bill. Specialists doing private work from rooms are in the same position, whether they pay a service fee or rent. Lenders treat this as self-employed income and assess it from your tax returns and notices of assessment. When your income is rising, most use the latest year by itself rather than averaging it with the year before.

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Moving from a hospital salary into a practice doesn't always mean waiting a year for a tax return. Some medico lenders (lenders with their own policies for medical professionals) can assess you from about three months in. They will want the practice's monthly billing statements, backed up by your bank statements, and may look at your BAS and your service agreement. Depending on the lender and how much your income moves around, some also want interim financials from your accountant. Other lenders will wait for a full year's tax return.

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Practice owners

Most practices have several owners. In that case lenders generally work from your personal tax return: the income the practice pays or distributes to you. If you own a practice outright, through a company or trust, the lender may look at the company or trust financials as well. For a home loan, though, the income that counts is what reaches you. The practice's own profit matters mainly when the loan is for a commercial purpose, such as buying a practice or its goodwill.

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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. Some medico lenders offer short-term low doc loans for doctors, but not all do.

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Private practice on top of a hospital salary

Many Melbourne specialists earn both: a public appointment, often a few sessions a week, paid through the health service's payroll, and private work from rooms. Lenders treat that as two income streams. Your salary is read from your payslip like any other salary. Your private rooms income is assessed as self-employed income, in the same way as a sole trader's.

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Locum shifts on top of a salaried job work the same way. Medico lenders will usually consider that income, often after about three months. Other lenders may want financial statements and tax returns, as for any self-employed income.

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Victorian schemes: what a doctor can and cannot use

Victoria's first home settings are aimed at the lower end of the market, and in Melbourne that now takes in the typical unit. None of the schemes below has an income test, which matters for doctors because medical pay rises quickly. The limits are on the price.

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Land transfer duty and the first home buyer exemption

A first home buyer pays no land transfer duty on a home up to $600,000, new or established. Between $600,000 and $750,000 the duty is reduced on a sliding scale, and from $750,000 you pay the full amount. The main conditions are that it is your first home, at least one buyer lives in it for 12 continuous months starting within 12 months of settlement, at least one buyer is an Australian citizen, New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and nobody buying has owned a home in Australia before. Victoria charges the same duty scale whether you live in the property or rent it out once the price passes $550,000; below that, an owner-occupier pays a little less.

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You can run your own figures, including the land registry fees, in the Xandii stamp duty calculator, and the stamp duty guide explains each state's rules.

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Source: State Revenue Office Victoria rates and first home buyer pages, as verified in the Xandii calculator on 16 September 2026. The concession is the full duty reduced in proportion to how far the price sits above $600,000, the SRO's published method. Figures are indicative; your conveyancer confirms the duty payable.

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First Home Owner Grant: $10,000

Victoria pays $10,000 towards a new first home valued up to $750,000: a newly built home, one bought off the plan, or one substantially renovated, that hasn't been lived in before. Established homes don't qualify.

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Buying off the plan

Until 20 April 2027, a contract to buy an apartment, unit or townhouse off the plan in a strata development attracts duty on the price less the construction costs incurred after the contract date, whatever the price and whoever the buyer is. It doesn't cover house-and-land packages outside a strata subdivision. For a first home buyer, the $600,000 and $750,000 thresholds are tested against that reduced value, so an apartment priced above $750,000 can still come in under the concession, and a new apartment also qualifies for the $10,000 grant.

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Source: State Revenue Office Victoria, temporary off-the-plan concession, contracts entered into on or after 21 October 2024 and before 21 April 2027 (extended by the Building Legislation and Treasury Legislation (Tax Relief) Amendment Act 2026).

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The 5% Deposit Scheme or a lender's LMI waiver

Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) is a one-off premium most lenders charge when you borrow more than 80% of a property's value. It protects the lender, not you, and on a Melbourne house it can be a large amount.

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A Melbourne doctor with a small deposit has two common ways around it. One is the Australian Government's 5% Deposit Scheme. Since 1 October 2025 it has had no income limit and no cap on places, and in Melbourne and Geelong it covers first homes up to $950,000 ($650,000 in the rest of Victoria), with a deposit from 5% and no LMI. The other is the LMI waiver many lenders offer eligible medical professionals, which sometimes goes to larger loans than the Government cap allows and is open to buyers who have owned a home before. To qualify, lenders generally want you to hold current AHPRA registration and be working in your profession.

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For a doctor who qualifies, Xaviera uses the waiver rather than the 5% Deposit Scheme, and the reason is pricing. A 5% Deposit Scheme loan is generally priced as a 95% loan, while a medical LMI waiver usually gets the interest rate the lender gives loans under 80% of the property's value. If you already hold a loan and want to move it, see refinancing without LMI.

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Victoria's own shared equity scheme, the Victorian Homebuyer Fund, closed to new participants in 2025, so there is no state shared equity option for a new buyer.

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Source: Housing Australia, price caps from 1 October 2025; State Revenue Office Victoria, Victorian Homebuyer Fund page.

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Doctors on a temporary visa

Many Melbourne hospital doctors trained overseas and are on a temporary visa. Victoria adds foreign purchaser additional duty of 8% of the price for a buyer who isn't a citizen or permanent resident, on top of the ordinary duty, and the off-the-plan concession doesn't reduce it. The first home exemption needs at least one buyer who is a citizen, New Zealand citizen or permanent resident.

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Lenders differ more on visas than on almost anything else. Some don't lend to temporary visa holders at all, and others accept only particular visas, such as an employer-sponsored 482. Of the lenders that do lend, most cap the loan at 80% or 70% of the property's value, which means a deposit of 20% or 30%. A small number of medico lenders will apply their medical LMI waiver to a temporary visa holder and lend up to 95%. If you are on a temporary visa, the choice of lender matters before anything else.

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The Melbourne market in numbers

Melbourne values are 7.2% below their November 2025 high and 7.5% below the record set in March 2022, though September's fall, at 0.7%, was milder than in most capitals. Cotality's index to 30 September 2026:

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Source: Cotality Home Value Index, October 2026 release, results at 30 September 2026.

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A few things follow. The median unit, at about $625,000, sits inside the first home duty concession: a first home buyer at that price pays about $5,400 in duty instead of about $32,600, a saving of about $27,000. The median house, at about $915,000, is under the $950,000 cap on the 5% Deposit Scheme, but well past the $750,000 point where the first home concession ends, so a first home buyer at that price pays full duty of about $50,000.

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In a falling market the bank's valuation matters too. If it comes in under the contract price, your loan-to-value ratio rises, which can change whether an LMI waiver or the Government scheme applies.

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Worked example: a Melbourne registrar's first home

This is an illustration built from the figures above, not a quote. Say Dr Walsh is a single second-year registrar at Monash Health on a base salary of $136,882. Last financial year overtime and on-call added about $25,000, so her taxable income was around $162,000. She wants an established two-bedroom unit for $700,000 and has never owned a home.

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• First Home Owner Grant: not available, because the unit is established.

• Land transfer duty: $24,713 under the first home buyer concession, instead of $37,070. A saving of $12,357.

• Deposit and LMI: the price is under the $950,000 Melbourne cap, so the 5% Deposit Scheme would allow a $35,000 deposit with no LMI. But with current AHPRA registration she may qualify for a lender's medical LMI waiver instead, which usually comes with better pricing, so that is where Xaviera would start.

• How much she can borrow: this depends heavily on how the lender treats her $25,000 of overtime, on top of the March 2025 base rate her payslip shows today. Most lenders would count all of it, but some shade it to 80%. On Xaviera's figures, the gap between those lenders is about $30,000 to $37,000 of borrowing power.

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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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Dr Walsh's cash needed would be roughly the deposit, the $24,713 of duty, land registry fees and conveyancing, before any moving costs. Move the price to $750,000 and the picture changes sharply: the duty concession falls away, duty rises to $40,070, and the deposit grows with the price. Move it down to $600,000 and the duty is nil.

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Worked example: a GP in a Melbourne practice

Again, this is an illustration, not a quote. Say Dr Okafor is a fellowed GP who has worked as a sole trader in a Melbourne practice for four years. Last financial year he billed $380,000 and paid the practice a 30% service fee of $114,000. After his own costs, such as insurance and registration fees, his taxable income was about $215,000, up from $178,000 the year before. He wants an established house for $1,100,000 and has never owned a home.

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• His income: a lender starts from the $215,000 on his latest tax return, not the $380,000 he billed, then adds back items such as depreciation. Because his income is rising, most lenders use that latest year on its own rather than an average of the two years, which would be $196,500.

• Land transfer duty: $60,500 at the full rate. Above $750,000 there is no first home concession.

• Deposit and LMI: the price is over the $950,000 Melbourne cap, so the 5% Deposit Scheme is out. A lender's medical LMI waiver is the way to buy with less than a 20% deposit and no LMI.

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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 to another health service or your current contract is ending.

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

• Your salary packaging statement, if you package.

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If you have private practice income 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 or rooms, plus your bank statements and BAS.

• An ATO account statement showing no outstanding tax debt.

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

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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 public hospital payslip at each stage of training, and how they read a GP's or specialist's private practice income. A short call is the quickest way to see which lenders suit your pay and which schemes you can use.