One line for each state and territory
Each line is a summary of the revenue office’s own page, read on 8 October 2026. Thresholds and dates change, often at a budget, so the office’s page is the one to trust on the day. RevenueSA’s and the NT Government’s sites block automated reading, so the South Australia and Northern Territory lines were read from archived copies of their pages (South Australia July 2026, with one line from December 2025; Northern Territory June 2026). Moneysmart notes that stamp duty is typically paid within 30 days of settlement.
| State or territory | Relief for first home buyers, as at October 2026 | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Revenue NSW runs the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme; its thresholds and conditions are on Revenue NSW’s page. | Revenue NSW: First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme |
| Victoria | No duty on a home with a dutiable value up to $600,000, and reduced duty from $600,001 to $750,000. It can be a new or established home, or vacant land for building your first home. | State Revenue Office Victoria |
| Queensland | Three concessions. For a new home, a full concession that reduces duty to nil, with no value cap, on contracts dated 1 May 2025 or later. For other homes, a first home concession for homes valued under $800,000, which can save up to $24,525. For vacant land to build your first home on, a first home vacant land concession. | Queensland Revenue Office |
| Western Australia | WA’s transfer duty rules, including its concessions, are on the Department of Treasury and Finance’s transfer duty pages. | WA Department of Treasury and Finance: transfer duty |
| South Australia | Full stamp duty relief, whatever the value, on contracts entered into on or after 13 February 2025 for a new home, an off-the-plan apartment, or vacant land to build a new home on. There is no relief on an established home. | RevenueSA: relief available |
| Tasmania | The 100% exemption for first home buyers of established homes up to $750,000 covered settlements from 18 February 2024 to 30 June 2026; the State Revenue Office says it is not available for transactions settling after 30 June 2026. | State Revenue Office of Tasmania |
| Australian Capital Territory | From 1 July 2026, an eligible buyer is exempt from conveyance duty under the Home Buyer Concession Scheme: the income threshold and the property value limit have both been removed. It covers new homes, established homes and vacant residential land. | ACT Revenue Office: Home Buyer Concession Scheme |
| Northern Territory | No exemption limited to first home buyers. Any buyer of a house and land package from a building contractor, bought in one transaction on a contract signed from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2027, can be exempt; the conditions do not ask for a first home buyer, it is not means tested and it has no cap on the value. | NT Government: stamp duty exemption |
Where the rules part ways
New or established
The table already shows the split. South Australia’s relief applies to new homes, off-the-plan apartments and land to build on, and not to established homes. Victoria’s and the ACT’s cover both new and established homes. Queensland gives new homes its full concession and other homes a capped one, and has a first home vacant land concession for land to build on.
How long you must live there
- Victoria: at least one buyer lives there for 12 continuous months, starting within 12 months of settlement.
- Queensland: you move in and live there on a daily basis within 1 year of settlement, and that time cannot be extended.
- South Australia: every applicant lives there for at least 6 continuous months, starting within 12 months of settlement for a new home.
- ACT: you live there continuously for at least a year, starting within a year of settlement (or of the certificate of occupancy for vacant land).
- Northern Territory: at least one applicant moves in within 12 months of completion and stays at least 6 continuous months.
Who counts as a first home buyer
The offices draw the line in different places. Victoria looks at you, your spouse or your partner. Any of three things rules a buyer out there: an earlier First Home Owner Grant or first home buyer duty exemption or concession; any share in a residential home in Australia held before 1 July 2000; or, from 1 July 2000 on, owning a home in Australia and living in it for 6 continuous months. Victim-survivors of family violence may be eligible even if one of those three applies. Queensland looks further: you must never have held an interest in a residence anywhere in Australia or overseas. South Australia, for contracts from 13 February 2025, excludes buyers who, or whose spouse or partner, have held an interest in residential property in Australia. The ACT’s scheme is not limited to first homes at all: the test is that no buyer, or domestic partner, has held an interest in property anywhere in the last 5 years, with limited exemptions.
Citizenship rules differ too. In Queensland, for transactions entered into on or after 1 August 2026, a first home concession needs an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree. Victoria needs just one of the purchasers to hold Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency.
Duty and the Commonwealth schemes
The Australian Government’s schemes don’t pay the duty. Help to Buy leaves stamp duty with the buyer, but its guide says state grants and stamp duty concessions can still be claimed alongside it. The ATO says using a state or territory first home concession doesn’t affect access to the First Home Super Saver scheme, and that whether the super scheme affects a state concession is a question for that state’s authority. How the Commonwealth schemes fit with each other is on platform 6.