Home loans for midwives: LMI waivers and deposit options

A midwife LMI waiver may let you buy with about a 10% deposit plus costs, instead of waiting until you've saved 20%. I'd start with your registration and how your pay is made up, because base salary, extra shifts and private practice earnings can be treated differently. Then we can compare the repayments and how much cash you'll have left after buying. If you're changing jobs or planning parental leave, tell us early so we work with the income you'll actually have.

Our LMI waivers guide explains the wider options, and the LMI calculator can help estimate the premium you might avoid. If you also hold nursing registration, our home loans for nurses guide covers those options separately.

On a $900k home with a $90k deposit, both loans below start at $810k. A waiver could save about $17k in LMI on those figures.

Same $900k home, $90k deposit and $810k loan before LMI. The estimate is about $17k, using our LMI calculator on 11 September 2026. The premium varies by lender and property; buying costs are extra.

Start with the deposit, then add stamp duty, transfer and mortgage registration, conveyancing, inspections and any lender fees. Your state, property and first home concessions change the total.

If you've saved more than 10%, the next question is how much to put in. Say you have $200k saved for the same $900k home, and the bank values it at the price. Neither option below has LMI: one uses the waiver at 90%, the other is a standard 80% loan.

If buying costs come to about $25k, the waiver leaves you about $85k. The 80% loan would leave you about $5k short, so you'd need more savings or a cheaper home. With the waiver you keep $90k more cash but borrow $90k more. At an illustrative 6% over 30 years, that adds about $540 a month with principal and interest repayments, before fees.

Have your current midwifery registration and role details ready, including any conditions or endorsements. A support role or midwifery course does not qualify by itself. Nursing and midwifery are separate registrations; provide both if you hold both.

Westpac and St George publish a $90k annual minimum for their midwife waiver. I'd check the income the lender accepts for that test before treating your household salary as the qualifying figure.

Extra shifts may help if the lender accepts that pay. Your partner's income can help cover repayments, but the waiver minimum needs income from eligible professional work. How much you can borrow is a separate calculation that includes expenses, debts and dependants.

People First Bank's Essential Services waiver names registered nurses, not midwives, so it only helps if you also hold RN registration. Our nurses guide covers that option.

Two midwives can earn the same amount in a year and get different borrowing estimates. One may be on a fixed salary; the other may rely on extra shifts, a second employer or private practice. I'd want to understand what's likely to continue, so send your recent payslips, year to date earnings and work history.

Westpac and St George both name midwives for possible 100% treatment of eligible overtime and allowances. At St George this applies to employees, not private practice income, and it generally needs 6 months with the same employer. If you've been there less time, we can ask whether it will still consider that income. If you work casually, Westpac calculates casual income over 52 weeks for waiver applicants.

If your practice has completed 1 full financial year, Westpac or St George may be able to use that year's tax returns under its medical profession package. Send us the completed returns and when you started trading. We'll check the income left after business costs before you rely on a 10% deposit.

If you invoice through your own business, our self employed home loan guide explains the income records to prepare.

Meeting the waiver minimum doesn't tell you how large a loan you can afford. Salary packaging, HELP debt, other repayments and living costs still count.

Westpac and St George name midwives in their waiver criteria. The table also includes ubank's general option, which has no profession requirement.

Not necessarily. A package fee or a higher rate can eat into the LMI saving. I'd compare the repayments and the features you'll use over the time you expect to keep the loan, including application, valuation, settlement, account and package fees. If you're refinancing, add discharge costs and any fixed rate break cost on your current loan.

If the midwife waiver doesn't fit, a general 90% loan without LMI may still work. It needs to suit your income, property and repayment plans, as the ubank example above shows.

A family guarantee may also reduce or avoid LMI. It puts your guarantor's property at risk, so we'd work through the amount guaranteed and a plan for releasing it. We can also compare saving more or paying LMI on another suitable loan.

On the same $900k purchase price, a 5% contribution is $45k and a 10% contribution is $90k. That means an $855k loan at 5%, compared with $810k at 10%, before costs. A smaller deposit means $45k more debt in this comparison.

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme is for eligible buyers who will live in the home. You must contribute as much of your savings as the participating lender requires. If you have a 20% deposit left after buying costs, you aren't eligible. I'd check that before treating 5% as a way to keep more cash aside.

The scheme currently has no income cap. Check the official eligibility rules and the property price cap for your area. Check grants and stamp duty concessions separately, because each has its own eligibility rules.

If you're on leave or about to change jobs, include those details early. We can then check the income position before you spend time on a lender that won't fit.

A home loan pre-approval can help set a buying budget. The property and its valuation still need to be accepted, and approval conditions should be checked before you commit.

The lender pays us commission, which we disclose before you proceed. We compare the waiver with other suitable loans so you can weigh up the repayments, features and total cost.

Client examples are based on real situations. Names and identifying details have been changed.