Home loans for nurses and midwives in Adelaide
We compare the nurse LMI waiver with the 5% Deposit Scheme, read your SA Health payslip the way a lender will, and show you the deposit and total cost of each route before you apply.Four numbers to know before you buy in Adelaide
Two decide which deposit route you can use. One is the income test in the nurse waiver policies we checked. One is our fee.
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Thousand: the 5% Deposit Scheme price cap in Adelaide and SA regional centres
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Per cent deposit some lenders accept from registered nurses and midwives, with LMI waived
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Thousand a year: the minimum income in the nurse waiver policies we checked
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Our fee for arranging your home loan
We are paid a commission by the lender when a loan settles, and that is disclosed to you in writing before you commit. Lender and government fees can still apply. The price cap is from the Australian Government price cap table, and the deposit and income figures are from the published BankSA and Westpac nurse and midwife policies, read October 2026. Lender policies change.
Why a broker rather than going straight to a bank’s nurse offer?
Banks advertise their own nurse offer. Here is what is different about coming to us.
We compare more than one waiver
LMI waiver or 5% scheme
A bank page shows you its own waiver. For a first home buyer the 5% Deposit Scheme may need half the deposit, and for someone who has owned before it is not available at all. We put each route side by side on your numbers, including the rate and the total cost, not just the deposit.
We read your payslip the way a lender does
Penalties, overtime, packaging
A nurse payslip is not a simple salary. Night and weekend penalties, overtime, casual shifts and salary packaging are each treated differently, and the same payslip can support a different loan amount at two lenders. We match the payslip to the lender, not the other way round.
We speak your language
English and Persian
Kourosh works with a large part of Adelaide’s Persian-speaking community, including nurses who trained overseas. You can talk through your figures in Persian and read the loan documents in English with someone explaining each part.
How a lender reads an SA Health payslip
Six lines on a nurse or midwife payslip, and how lenders usually treat each one.
Base pay
Your ordinary hours at your classification and increment. Lenders usually count it in full, based on your contracted hours. If you are part-time, they use the hours in your contract rather than the hours you happen to work, so ask for extra hours to be written into the contract if they are regular.
Penalties and shift allowances
Night, weekend and public holiday penalties can be a large share of a nurse’s pay. Many lenders count only part of them or average them over a longer period. Some have a specific policy for hospital-employed nurses and midwives: BankSA and Westpac both publish that eligible applicants may have overtime and allowances assessed at 100 per cent, conditions apply.
Overtime
Lenders usually want to see that overtime is regular, not a one-off month, so they look at your year-to-date figure and often last year’s payment summary as well. A ward that relies on overtime helps you here only if the history shows it.
Salary packaging
SA Health Local Health Network employees can package up to $9,010 of benefits each FBT year without fringe benefits tax (Maxxia SA Health FAQ). That money is real income, but it does not always appear on the payslip the way a lender expects. Some lenders add it back, some gross it up, and some ignore it. Bring your packaging statement so it is counted.
Casual and agency shifts
Casual income is usually accepted once there is enough history, often six to twelve months. Westpac publishes that for nurse LMI waiver applicants it averages casual income over 52 weeks. Agency work paid to your own ABN is usually assessed as self-employed income, which needs a longer track record.
Graduate year
A graduate transition program is often a fixed-term contract. That does not rule you out, but it narrows the list of lenders, and your income in the first year may sit below the income test for a waiver. Tell us when the program ends and whether you have been offered ongoing work.
The nurse waiver policies we checked name registered nurses and registered midwives. Enrolled nurses, assistants in nursing and students are not on those lists, but the 5% Deposit Scheme has no occupation test, so it can still be open to you as a first home buyer. If you work in another allied health role rather than nursing, our allied health home loans in Adelaide page covers the rest of the eligible list.
Same $700,000 Adelaide home, three ways to buy it
A registered nurse buying in metropolitan Adelaide. The only thing that changes is the deposit route.
| Standard 20 per cent deposit | Nurse LMI waiver | 5% Deposit Scheme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash deposit | $140,000 | $70,000 | $35,000 |
| Loan amount | $560,000 | $630,000 | $665,000 |
| Lenders mortgage insurance | Not usually charged at this deposit | Waived by the lender for eligible nurses and midwives | Not charged, the government guarantees part of the loan |
| Who can use it | Anyone the lender approves | Registered nurses and midwives who meet the lender’s income test | First home buyers who will live in the home |
| Price limit | None | None set by the waiver | $900,000 in Adelaide and SA regional centres, $500,000 elsewhere in SA |
| Check before you choose | How long saving the extra deposit takes | The rate and fees on the waiver loan, compared with other loans | The rate and fees at the participating lender, and the price cap for your suburb |
Illustrative figures, not an offer. Stamp duty, conveyancing and loan costs are extra. On an established home stamp duty applies; eligible first home buyers buying a new home in SA can pay none (see home loans in Adelaide). Every route is subject to the lender’s approval, valuation and credit criteria.
LMI waiver or the 5% Deposit Scheme?
The question to settle before you look at a single lender.
The nurse LMI waiver suits you if you have owned a home before, if you are buying above the price cap, or if you are buying an investment property where the lender allows it. You need a 10 per cent deposit and you need to meet the income test, which in the policies we checked is $90,000 a year.
The 5% Deposit Scheme suits a first home buyer who will live in the home. Since 1 October 2025 it has no income cap and no limit on places, so a graduate or part-time nurse below the waiver income test can still use it. The home must be at or under the price cap, and you can only use it with a participating lender.
You use one route per loan, not both. Either can sit alongside the South Australian first home help, such as the First Home Owner Grant on a new home, if you qualify. If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, that is exactly what the first appointment is for.
What to bring to the first appointment
With these we can run your numbers against real lender policies in the first conversation.
Your registration
Your AHPRA registration number and type, for example registered nurse, midwife or nurse practitioner. Lenders check it on the public register, so make sure your registration is current.
Payslips and contract
Your two most recent payslips, your contract or a letter showing your hours and whether you are permanent, fixed term or casual. Casual and agency nurses: your last payment summary or tax return as well.
Salary packaging statement
A recent statement from your packaging provider showing what you package each year. Without it the packaged amount is easy to miss.
Savings, debts and ID
Bank statements showing your deposit, details of any car loan, credit card or HECS-HELP debt, and photo ID. If you have found a property, bring the listing or the contract.
Do not have all of it? Come anyway. The first meeting is often where the list gets written, and there is no cost either way.
How it works
Three steps, and no fee from us for arranging your home loan.
1
Your payslip and your plans, 30 minutes
In person on Prospect Road, or by phone or video at a time that fits your roster. We go through your payslip line by line, your deposit and what you want to buy.
2
Compare routes and lenders
We show you the LMI waiver, the 5% Deposit Scheme and a standard loan side by side where they apply to you: deposit, loan amount, rate, fees and total cost.
3
Application, approval and settlement
We prepare and lodge the application and answer the lender’s questions about your income. Approval and timing are decided by the lender, and we keep you updated through to settlement.
Nurse home loans near every Adelaide hospital
Many nurses buy within a short drive of the hospital they work at. These are the suburbs we see most.
Royal Adelaide, city
Adelaide CBD, North Adelaide, Thebarton, Bowden, Mile End, Kent Town, Prospect, Walkerville
Queen Elizabeth, Woodville
Woodville, Findon, Seaton, Kidman Park, Henley Beach, Grange, West Lakes, Cheltenham
Flinders, Bedford Park
Bedford Park, Marion, Mitchell Park, Clovelly Park, Seacombe Gardens, Aberfoyle Park, Hallett Cove, Glenelg
Lyell McEwin, Elizabeth Vale
Elizabeth, Salisbury, Munno Para, Andrews Farm, Blakeview, Gawler, Mawson Lakes, Parafield Gardens
Modbury and the north east
Modbury, Tea Tree Gully, Golden Grove, Redwood Park, Ridgehaven, Greenwith, Para Hills, Highbury
Noarlunga and the south
Noarlunga Centre, Morphett Vale, Christies Beach, Seaford, Hackham, Reynella, Woodcroft, Aldinga
Your suburb does not change the waiver, but it can change the 5% Deposit Scheme: metropolitan Adelaide and SA regional centres share the $900,000 cap, while other areas of the state have a $500,000 cap. Check the cap for your postcode before you make an offer. Plenty of clients still do the whole thing by phone and email between shifts.
Come and see us in Prospect
We work with nurses and midwives across Adelaide, including Prospect, North Adelaide, Woodville, Bedford Park, Elizabeth, Modbury and Noarlunga, and with clients in regional South Australia.
Call us on
1/132 Prospect Rd
Prospect SA 5082
Mon to Fri 9:00am to 5:00pm
Sat 9:00am to 3:00pm, Sunday closed
Other things we handle
Doctors and dentists have a separate, higher tier with some lenders, covered on medico home loans in Adelaide, and our professional home loan packages page lists every profession lenders group into each tier. For SA first home buyer grants and stamp duty, see home loans in Adelaide. Already own a home? Refinancing your loan covers switching lenders.
To run your own numbers, the income gross up calculator shows what packaged or tax-free income is worth before tax, the property buying cost calculator adds up the cash you need at settlement, and the rent vs buy calculator compares staying put with buying.
Still got questions?
Nurse home loan questions, answered
Are nurses exempt from LMI on home loans?
Not automatically. Some lenders waive LMI for registered nurses and midwives who borrow up to 90 per cent of the property value and meet an income test, $90,000 a year in the BankSA and Westpac policies we checked. Other lenders do not offer a nurse waiver at all, so it depends on where you apply.
Are enrolled nurses eligible for an LMI waiver?
Not under the nurse waiver policies we checked, which name registered nurses and registered midwives. Enrolled nurses, assistants in nursing and students are not on those lists. If you are buying your first home, the 5% Deposit Scheme has no occupation or income test and may be the better route.
Do nurses get cheaper home loans?
Usually the saving is the LMI waiver rather than the rate. Some lenders also assess overtime and allowances in full for hospital-employed nurses, which can lift what you can borrow. Compare the rate on any waiver loan with other loans, because a waiver loan does not always cost the least overall.
What benefits do nurses get when buying a house?
The main ones are an LMI waiver with some lenders, more generous treatment of overtime and allowances with some lenders, and the same government help as any first home buyer: the 5% Deposit Scheme and, in South Australia, the First Home Owner Grant and stamp duty relief on eligible new homes.
What is the best home loan for nurses?
The one that fits your income pattern, deposit and plans, at the lowest total cost. A permanent full-time nurse with a 10 per cent deposit has different options from a casual or graduate nurse buying a first home. We compare both the waiver and the 5% Deposit Scheme route on your own payslip.
Which banks offer an LMI waiver in Australia for nurses?
As at October 2026, BankSA and Westpac both publish a waiver for registered nurses and midwives, up to 90 per cent of the property value with a $90,000 income test. Other lenders run their own professional or essential worker offers. Lists change often, so we check current policy before recommending one.
How to avoid LMI without a 20% deposit?
For nurses there are two common ways: a nurse LMI waiver with a 10 per cent deposit, or the 5% Deposit Scheme if you are a first home buyer buying under the price cap. Some buyers use a family guarantee instead. Each has trade-offs, which is why we compare them side by side.
How much do you need to earn for a $700,000 mortgage?
There is no single figure. Lenders look at your income, how much of it they count, your living costs and other debts, and they test the repayments at a rate about 3 percentage points above the actual rate, as APRA expects. For a nurse, how penalties and overtime are counted can change the answer a lot.
Does salary packaging reduce how much I can borrow?
It can, if the lender only sees your taxable pay. Packaged benefits are still income, and some lenders add them back or gross them up. Bring your packaging statement so the full amount is considered.
Can I talk to someone in Persian?
Yes. Kourosh works with a large part of Adelaide’s Persian-speaking community, and the whole conversation can happen in Persian. The loan documents are in English, and we will go through them with you.
Talk to an Adelaide broker who works with nurses
A free 30 minute review of your payslip, your deposit and which route fits, booked around your roster. Call 1800 237 537 or book a time that suits you.
Important information about this page
Broker services are provided at no cost to you in most cases, as we are paid a commission by the lender. Lender and government fees may apply and are set out in your loan documents. Eligibility, terms and rates vary by lender and by individual circumstances and are subject to change.
This page is general information only. It does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account, and it is not tax or legal advice. Lender policies, the 5% Deposit Scheme and salary packaging limits are summarised from BankSA, Westpac, the Australian Government and Maxxia as at October 2026 and can change. Loanity is a credit representative and can provide credit assistance once we understand your circumstances. Green Idea Pty Ltd, Credit Representative Number 576678, is an authorised representative of Red Rock Brokers Group Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 405961.