How lenders assess overtime and allowances for doctors

What is base pay and what is overtime

A hospital payslip can carry several kinds of pay, and lenders don't treat them all the same way.

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• Base salary. Set by your award or agreement and the same from one pay to the next. Almost every lender counts all of it.

• Regular penalty rates. Higher rates for rostered evening and weekend shifts. 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. The extra hours on top of your rostered shifts, including unrostered overtime and recalls. This is the part lenders count at 100% or 80%.

• Allowances. On-call and other allowances paid through your payslip. Lenders differ on which allowances they accept. Those they accept are generally counted in full, though some lenders count them at 80%, and most want to see the allowance in your employment contract and consistently across your payslips. Reimbursements, such as for professional development expenses, are not income and aren't counted.

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How lenders count overtime

Because doctors 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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Lenders with their own policies for medical professionals (medico lenders) are usually the ones that count all of it. In practice, when a lender accepts a doctor's overtime in full, your broker includes it with your base pay in the lender's assessment, so the lender's calculator doesn't reduce it the way it does standard overtime. A lender reading a doctor's pay under its standard policy is more likely to count 80%.

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Why some lenders count only 80%

Overtime depends on the roster, and a lender has to assume your income could change. Counting only part of it is how a lender allows for overtime dropping later, after a rotation, a move to a different role or a change in your hours. Base salary doesn't carry that risk, which is why it is counted in full almost everywhere. Lenders that count all of a doctor's overtime are relying on the demand for doctors' work rather than on any one roster.

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When your overtime varies

Overtime rarely comes in evenly. Lenders look at your year-to-date figure on your latest payslip and your last full year, and want to see that the overtime is ongoing rather than a one-off. A year with unusually high overtime, or a recent drop, is something to talk through before you apply.

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Locum shifts on top of a salaried job

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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Interns and residents

In your first years, the question is usually not how much overtime you work but how much of it your payslips show. Lenders with medico policies lend to doctors from the intern year on, but overtime they can't yet see on three months of payslips won't count, so your borrowing figure early in a new rotation can be lower than your real pay suggests. Our guide to home loans for interns and junior doctors covers the first years in more detail.

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Overtime and an LMI waiver

A medico LMI waiver and the way a lender reads your overtime are two separate things. The waiver decides whether you pay lenders mortgage insurance on a loan above 80% of the property's value, and for doctors it generally comes with no minimum income. Your overtime decides how much you can borrow. The lender that offers you the best waiver isn't always the one that counts the most of your overtime, so it is worth looking at both together.

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What evidence lenders want

• Your two most recent payslips, showing your year-to-date pay.

• At least three months of overtime on your payslips before most lenders will count it.

• Your last income statement or tax return, and notice of assessment, so the lender can see last year's overtime.

• Your employment contract, which also shows the allowances you are paid, and a new contract or employment letter if you are about to move or your current contract is ending.

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If your overtime history is short

Rotations and new contracts mean many doctors in training have a short run of overtime at their current hospital. 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. Where you have less than three months of overtime in the new role, the lender may ask for the income summary or the final payslip from your previous role, to see the overtime you earned there.

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Whether that overtime counts is then the lender's decision, case by case. It can be done, but it isn't automatic, and some lenders are more open to it than others. This is where a broker who works with doctors helps: they can show the lender that regular overtime is part of the role.

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Worked example: a registrar

This is an illustration, not a quote. Say Dr Nguyen is a single registrar in a public hospital on a base salary of $120,000. Last financial year, overtime added $35,000, and her payslips show it has carried on at the same level this year. She has no HECS balance, no credit cards and no other debts, and spends about $2,500 a month. She wants to buy a house for $850,000 with a 20% deposit, so she needs a loan of $680,000.

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We ran her details through the Xandii home loan comparison tool three times: with all of her overtime counted (as it is when a lender treats it as base pay), with 80% of it counted, and with none of it counted. This is the range of her indicative borrowing across the lenders each time:

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With all of her overtime counted, every lender could lend her the $680,000. With none of it counted, none could. Depending on the lender, her overtime is worth between about $179,000 and $230,000 of borrowing, and the step from 80% to all of it is worth about $40,000 to $47,000 on its own. For a registrar, which way a lender reads the overtime can decide whether the purchase works at all.

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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. It reads overtime the way each lender's standard calculator does, so a medico lender may count more of yours. Talk the result through with Xaviera.

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Figures from the Xandii home loan comparison tool, 15 October 2026: single applicant, base salary $120,000 plus $35,000 of overtime counted at the share shown, 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 80% of the value. Indicative only: they move with interest rates and lender policy, and are not an offer of credit.

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What you can do before you apply

• Keep three months of overtime on record. If you can, apply once your payslips show at least three months of overtime at your current hospital.

• Know your year-to-date figure. Check that your latest payslip shows your year-to-date overtime clearly, and keep last year's income statement handy.

• Time a move carefully. Starting a new rotation or hospital just before you apply can make your overtime harder to count. If a move is coming, talk to Xaviera about timing.

• Choose a lender that counts all of it. If your borrowing is tight, a medico lender that counts all of your overtime can matter more than the rate.

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Frequently asked questions

Do lenders count a doctor's overtime?

Most do. Because doctors are essential workers, most lenders count all of it, some shade it to 80%, and not every lender counts allowances in full. Most want at least three months of it on your payslips.

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Are penalty rates treated as overtime?

Usually not. Regular penalty rates for rostered evening and weekend shifts are counted as part of your base pay in most cases, as long as they are regular and your year-to-date pay is consistent with them. Overtime is the extra hours on top.

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How much overtime history do I need?

Most lenders want at least three months of overtime on your payslips, and will also look at last year's income statement or tax return.

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Do on-call allowances count?

Often. Lenders differ on which allowances they accept, and those they accept are generally counted in full, though some lenders count them at 80%. It helps if the allowance is in your employment contract and shows consistently on your payslips. Reimbursements, such as for professional development, aren't counted as income.

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I've just started at a new hospital. Will my overtime count?

It can. The lender will want an updated payslip and your new contract or employment letter, and may ask for the income summary or final payslip from your previous role. With less than three months of overtime at the new hospital, whether it counts is the lender's decision, case by case.

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Talk it through with Xaviera

Xaviera has spent the last seven years broking with medical professionals, and knows which lenders count all of a doctor's overtime and what each one wants to see. A short call is the quickest way to find the lenders that read your payslip in full.