The schemes side by side
Each cell is a short summary of the scheme owner’s own page, as at October 2026; the conditions in full are on the pages linked in the footer.
| Question | First Home Super Saver | 5% Deposit Scheme, first home buyers | 5% Deposit Scheme, single parents | Help to Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your own voluntary super contributions, released for a deposit. | A guarantee to your lender, up to 15% of the property value. | A guarantee to your lender, up to 18% of the property value. | A Government share of up to 30% of an existing home or 40% of a new one. |
| Smallest deposit | Not a deposit scheme; it is a way of saving one. | 5%. | 2%. | 2%. |
| Income test | Not among the ATO’s eligibility conditions. | No income caps since 1 October 2025. | No income caps. | Taxable income up to $103,000 single, or $165,000 joint or single parent, for 2026–27. |
| Past ownership | Never owned property in Australia, unless the ATO accepts financial hardship. | A first home buyer, or no property in Australia in the last 10 years, for both buyers in a joint application. | No other property interest once the new home settles. | No property in Australia or overseas, with exceptions for single parents. |
| Citizenship | You don’t need to be a citizen or a resident for tax purposes. | Australian citizen or permanent resident. | Australian citizen or permanent resident. | Every applicant an Australian citizen. |
| Buying with someone | Each buyer uses their own savings, and is assessed alone. | Alone or with one other person. | Alone only. | Alone or with one other person. |
| Run by | The ATO. | Housing Australia, through Participating Lenders. | Housing Australia, through Participating Lenders. | Housing Australia, through Participating Lenders. |
Which pairs work
The super scheme with either of the others
The Government’s first home buyers site lists “use with other government home buying schemes” among the First Home Super Saver scheme’s features. The super scheme releases your own savings; it is not a guarantee or a shared equity contribution, the kinds of help that Help to Buy rules out.
The 5% Deposit Scheme with Help to Buy
No. Both of the 5% Deposit Scheme’s information guides say it and Help to Buy cannot be used together. Help to Buy’s own guide says its participants cannot receive proceeds from other Australian Government shared equity schemes or home buyer guarantees.
Help to Buy with state schemes
Partly. Help to Buy rules out shared equity schemes, loans and guarantees from the states and territories, but allows first home owner grants, stamp duty concessions and similar help that is not a loan or shared equity.
The 5% Deposit Scheme with state schemes
The guarantee does not stop you using other housing support from the Australian Government or the states and territories, and the scheme’s guide says to make your own enquiries with each.
The super scheme with state concessions
Using a state first home concession doesn’t affect access to the super scheme. Whether the super scheme affects a state concession is for that state’s authority to confirm. The state concessions themselves are on platform 5.
Four tests of past ownership
The phrase is not one test. The super scheme asks whether you have ever owned property in Australia, counting vacant land, investment and commercial property, land leases and company title as ownership. The 5% Deposit Scheme asks about property in Australia in the last 10 years. Help to Buy asks whether you own or beneficially own any property now, in Australia or overseas. For single parents, the 5% Deposit Scheme asks only that no other property interest remains once the new home settles.
Couples feel this most. The super scheme assesses each person separately, so one partner’s past home does not stop the other. The 5% Deposit Scheme applies its 10-year test to both buyers in a joint application.
Example, people invented
Two partners are buying together. One sold an apartment in Brisbane 12 years ago; the other has never owned property. On the published rules, the partner who has never owned could use their own super scheme savings, and the 12-year gap is outside the 5% Deposit Scheme’s 10-year look-back. Help to Buy’s test is current ownership, which neither has. Whether any scheme applies to real buyers is for the ATO and a Participating Lender to confirm.