South Australia first home buyers: the A$15,000 grant and duty relief

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South Australia runs two separate forms of help for people buying a first home, and both are administered by RevenueSA, the state's revenue office. One is the First Home Owner Grant, a single payment of up to A$15,000. The other is stamp duty relief for eligible first home buyers, which removes the duty on a qualifying purchase. They share most of their conditions, yet they sit under different laws, with different lists of properties and separate application forms.

The point that decides most cases comes first: neither scheme covers an established home. RevenueSA's pages limit both to new homes, off-the-plan apartments and homes that are yet to be built. This guide sets out what RevenueSA's published guidance and the First Home and Housing Construction Grants Act 2000 say about the amount, the homes that count, the people who can apply, the value caps that still reach older contracts, the residence requirement, the paperwork and the deadlines. Where the pages disagree, both versions are given. Nothing here is advice on a particular purchase.

RevenueSA, First Home Owner Grant guide, page last modified 16 September 2026; First Home and Housing Construction Grants Act 2000, version of 4 December 2025.

Two schemes run by one office

The First Home Owner Grant is described on RevenueSA's grant page, last modified on 16 September 2026, as a one-off payment of up to A$15,000 to eligible first home owners who buy or build a new residential property to use as their principal place of residence in South Australia. The page names its legal basis: the First Home and Housing Construction Grants Act 2000 and the First Home and Housing Construction Grants Regulations 2015. In the consolidated Act, in the version dated 4 December 2025, the entitlement sits in section 7(1) and the amount in section 18(1). The Act ties the A$15,000 figure to new home transactions with a commencement date on or after 15 October 2012; before that date the figure in the same section was A$7,000.

The stamp duty relief is a separate measure. RevenueSA's first home buyer page, updated on 6 October 2026, says it applies where the contract to purchase a new home or vacant land was entered into on or after 15 June 2023, and that for contracts entered into on or after 6 June 2024 no stamp duty is payable on an eligible new home or on eligible vacant land.

RevenueSA's grant page says the eligibility criteria of the two schemes are similar, but that each must be applied for separately. It adds that a buyer may qualify for the relief without qualifying for the grant; vacant land, covered below, is the clearest case.

One grant is payable per eligible transaction. RevenueSA's eligibility guidance says the single grant is paid whatever the number of applicants and is not split between them. The same guidance says there is no minimum amount and that the grant cannot exceed the consideration paid: its own illustration is a payment of A$10,000, which produces a grant of A$10,000. Personal income and wealth, it says, are not eligibility criteria.

Which homes count as new

RevenueSA's eligible properties page for the stamp duty relief, modified on 24 August 2026, defines a new home as one that has been built but has never been occupied or sold as a place of residence. It lists houses, flats, duplexes, townhouses and apartments, and adds substantially renovated homes.

A substantially renovated home is the one case in which a building that has been lived in before can be treated as new, and the page hedges it closely. The home must be bought from a developer who carried out substantial renovations, not merely cosmetic ones. The developer must have been registered for goods and services tax for the development, must have claimed GST offsets on the renovations, and must supply evidence of it. The page refers readers to the Australian Taxation Office's ruling GSTR 2003/3 for the meaning of the term. A buyer's own renovation of an existing building is a different matter: RevenueSA's grant eligibility guidance says renovations to existing buildings do not qualify.

An off-the-plan apartment, in the words of the same eligible properties page, is an apartment that has not yet been built and exists as a plan that is yet to be constructed.

The page then lists what falls outside the relief: established homes, meaning homes already built and previously occupied or sold as a residence; investment properties and holiday homes intended solely for that use; movable dwellings such as tents and caravans; and structures that cannot be lived in, such as sheds, garages and barns. On the grant side, the eligibility guidance says business premises do not qualify unless they can also lawfully be used as a residence.

Vacant land, building contracts and owner builders

Land is where the two schemes part. RevenueSA's grant page says plainly that the purchase of vacant land is not eligible for the grant, and that the grant can apply once the buyer enters a comprehensive building contract or a contract to build. The stamp duty relief, by contrast, lists vacant land as one of its three eligible property types, alongside the new home and the off-the-plan apartment. The eligible properties page defines it as land bought with the intention of building a residential property, and says a permanent dwelling with complete living facilities must be built.

A buyer who purchases a block and then signs a building contract may therefore meet the relief on the land transfer and the grant on the building contract, depending on the dates and conditions of each. The pages read for this guide set no period within which construction on relieved land must begin or end.

The grant also reaches owner builders, people who build the home themselves instead of under a comprehensive contract. RevenueSA's eligibility guidance says an owner builder may apply after the foundations are laid, provided the foundations were not laid before 1 July 2000, and that there is no set deadline for finishing construction.

Knock-down and rebuild projects are treated differently by each scheme. The grant page lists them as eligible only where the contract was entered into before 13 February 2025. The relief page excludes them altogether, and separately excludes subdivision projects on land with an existing home.

Who can apply

The personal conditions below are those of the grant, as RevenueSA's grant page sets them out. Each applicant must be a natural person and must be at least 18 years old; the grant page specifies that the age is tested at the time of applying. At least one applicant must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen who resides permanently in Australia and holds a Special Category Visa. In the Act these conditions are spread across section 8 (natural person), section 8A(1) (age) and section 9(1) (citizenship or permanent residence).

Companies and trusts are not eligible, the eligibility guidance says, with one exception for a person under a legal disability whose guardian holds the legal interest on trust.

Couples are treated as a unit even when only one partner buys. The grant page says an applicant must include the details of a spouse or domestic partner, with that person's supporting documents, even if the partner is not an applicant and will hold no interest in the home.

The guidance describes domestic partners as two adults who live together as a couple on a genuine domestic basis, and excludes relationships in which one person provides paid or in-kind domestic support or personal care. The Act defines a spouse in section 6(1) and a domestic partner in section 6(1a). Applicants who are divorced or separated, the guidance says, do not need to take a former spouse's ownership into account, and RevenueSA may ask for a divorce certificate or a statutory declaration. Every owner must meet all the criteria.

Earlier ownership and the 13 February 2025 line

The word "first" is tested against the applicant's property history and against the partner's. Here the rule changed on a fixed date, and the contract date decides which version applies.

For contracts entered into on or after 13 February 2025, RevenueSA's grant page says an applicant is ineligible if the applicant, or the applicant's spouse or domestic partner, owns or previously owned a residential property in Australia. The page gives no exception for that period.

For contracts entered into before 13 February 2025, the page describes an older and more forgiving test. An applicant may be eligible where the residential property was acquired after 1 July 2000 and was not lived in for six months or longer. An applicant is ineligible where a property was acquired before 1 July 2000, whether or not the applicant lived in it.

In the Act, the prior ownership rule is section 11. The consolidated version records that section 11 was amended by section 4 of the Statutes Amendment (Budget Measures) Act 2025, which commenced on 13 February 2025, and that section 11(4) defines a "relevant day" by reference to that amendment. "Relevant interest" is defined in section 5(2) to (4).

Two limits on the test come from the eligibility guidance. Vacant land is not treated as residential property, so having owned a block of land does not by itself disqualify an applicant. And the previous ownership rules look only at property within Australia.

The value caps and the contracts they still reach

For a contract signed today there is no ceiling on price in either scheme. RevenueSA's grant page says there is no limit to the market value of the property for contracts signed on or after 6 June 2024, and its relief page says the same of contracts entered into on or after that date. The caps matter for older contracts, because a build can take a long time and the application window runs from completion.

The Act carries the grant caps in section 7(1a)(b), with market value determined under section 18BB. One older, undated RevenueSA eligibility page still gives A$650,000 as the cap for contracts "on or after 15 June 2023" with no end date; the dated grant page and the Act close that period on 5 June 2024, and they are followed here.

There is also a small difference at the top of the partial relief band. The first home buyer page describes partial relief for a new home with a dutiable value from A$650,001 to A$700,000 and for vacant land from A$400,001 to A$450,000, with some duty still payable. The eligible properties page says a contract in that period is not eligible if the new home has a market value of A$700,000 or more, or the land A$450,000 or more. The two pages therefore differ at exactly A$700,000 and exactly A$450,000, and neither gives the formula by which partial relief shrinks across the band.

How the value is measured depends on the transaction, according to the eligibility guidance. For a contract to purchase it is the purchase consideration, or the market value if the consideration is lower than market value. For a comprehensive building contract it is the building consideration plus the market value of the land when the contract is made; where the land was bought at arm's length within the 12 months before the building contract, its purchase price may be used. For an owner builder it is the market value of the land once the home is complete and ready for occupation.

A worked example, with assumed figures: a buyer signed a comprehensive building contract on 1 March 2024 for A$410,000, on land bought at arm's length four months earlier for A$230,000. Under the guidance the value is A$410,000 plus A$230,000, which is A$640,000. The contract date falls in the 15 June 2023 to 5 June 2024 period, where the grant cap is A$650,000 or less, so the value test is met by A$10,000. With a building price of A$430,000 the total would be A$660,000 and the test would fail. The example tests the cap only.

The six-month residence requirement

Both schemes are for homes that the buyer lives in. Each applicant must occupy the home as a principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least six months, and that period must begin within 12 months of the completion of the transaction. Section 12(1) of the Act sets both numbers for the grant, and allows the Commissioner of State Taxation to approve a shorter or longer period.

"Completion" changes with the transaction. RevenueSA's guidance gives settlement for a contract to purchase, completion of building for a comprehensive building contract, and the date the home becomes ready for occupation for an owner builder. For the stamp duty relief on vacant land, the eligible properties page says occupation must begin when the home is ready for occupation, while the first home buyer page describes a start within 12 months of construction being completed; the two pages are not worded alike on that point.

The guidance explains what occupation means. A principal place of residence is where a person settles and usually lives, including where they cook, eat and sleep. Moving in only to prepare the home for sale or for letting does not count. Renting out a room or another part of the home during the six months is allowed. Applicants must be able to show that they met the requirement, for instance with electricity and gas accounts, bank statements, phone accounts or household contents insurance.

Where there are several applicants and one cannot move in, the guidance says the Commissioner may exempt that applicant if at least one other applicant complies and there is a good reason. Once the six months are served, the relief page says there are no further restrictions on how the property is used, as far as the relief is concerned.

A worked example of the calendar, on assumed dates: settlement of a new townhouse takes place on 2 March 2026. The buyers must begin living there no later than 2 March 2027. If they move in on 1 September 2026, six continuous months of occupation run to 1 March 2027. The grant application must also be made within 12 months of completion, which on these dates is by 2 March 2027.

Applying for the grant

RevenueSA's grant page gives two routes. An application can be lodged through an approved agent, a role that the page says most financial institutions hold, or directly with RevenueSA. The choice has a practical consequence that the page states as a rule: an applicant who needs the grant money for settlement, or for the first progress payment on a build, must lodge through an approved agent.

The page says an application can be made once the applicant has entered into the contract to buy or to build, that is, from the commencement of the eligible transaction. It must be made within 12 months of completion: settlement for a purchase, completion of the build for a construction contract. For an owner builder the guidance gives a window that opens once the foundations are laid and closes 12 months after the home is ready for occupation. The Act sets the limit in section 14(5)(b), and section 14(6) lets the Commissioner accept an application made outside it.

Supporting documents are required for the applicant and for the spouse or domestic partner. RevenueSA keeps the list on a separate supporting documentation page that could not be read for this guide, so the documents are not itemised here.

On when the money arrives, the grant page says only that payment timing depends on whether the applicant is building or buying, on whether the application went through an approved agent or directly to RevenueSA, and on when it is approved. It gives no timeframes.

A refusal can be challenged. Under section 25(3) of the Act an objection must be lodged within 60 days after the date of the notice of the decision. Section 28 provides for review by the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, to be commenced within 60 days.

Applying for the stamp duty relief

The relief has its own form. RevenueSA's first home buyer page names it as the Application for Stamp Duty Relief for Eligible First Home Buyers. The buyer completes it and gives it, with supporting documents, to the representative who is managing the settlement, such as a conveyancer or a solicitor.

The first home buyer page also carries a wider notice. It says changes affecting qualifying land and residential land for stamp duty took effect on 15 September 2026 and that RevenueSA is progressively updating its content. The page does not say whether those changes alter the first home buyer relief.

When a condition is not met

The Act treats an unmet condition first as a matter of repayment. Section 20(2) requires an applicant who does not meet the residence requirement to give written notice and repay the grant within 14 days after the relevant date. RevenueSA's guidance adds that the Commissioner may investigate and may vary the requirement for good reasons.

Penalties can be added to the repayment. Under section 39(2) and (3) of the Act, the penalty for a false or misleading statement, and the penalty for failing to repay, can each be as much as the amount to be repaid. RevenueSA's false claims and penalties page sets out a policy, adopted on 30 March 2012, on the percentage applied. It scales the percentage by the applicant's conduct, from reasonable care to intentional disregard. Voluntary, sufficient, written disclosure before RevenueSA makes any approach sits at the low end of the table, from 0% to 15%. Providing a false document, or a false or misleading statement, is set at 100% under every heading.

The grant and the relief reward a new home that is lived in, and the 14-day duty to report a change of plan is part of the bargain.

The Act also creates offences. A dishonest false or misleading statement carries a maximum fine of A$20,000 or two years' imprisonment under section 38(1); other false or misleading statements carry a maximum of A$5,000 under section 38(2), as does failing to comply with a condition under section 21(4). Failing to comply with an investigation notice carries a maximum of A$10,000 under section 35. A liability to repay is a first charge on the applicant's interest in the land under section 40(3), and can be recovered as a debt due to the Crown under section 40(4).

RevenueSA's penalties page says claims are checked by cross-checking and data matching against third-party data. What follows when a condition of the stamp duty relief is not met is not set out on the pages read for this guide.

What the pages leave open

Several points could not be settled from the sources read on 10 October 2026, and they are unanswered here, not answered in the negative.

The formula for partial relief on contracts entered into between 15 June 2023 and 5 June 2024, and the list of supporting documents for both schemes, are on RevenueSA pages that were not read. The Act and section that create the relief are not stated on the pages consulted. The amount of duty the relief saves is not computed in this guide, because the duty rates were not among the pages read and RevenueSA's notice about 15 September 2026 says its content is still being updated. The days on which a grant is paid are not published on the grant page. And the change made to section 11 of the Act on 13 February 2025 is taken here from RevenueSA's description of it, not from the amending Act.

Each gap is a reason the outcome depends on the case: the contract date, the ownership history of the applicant and partner, and the type of property decide which version of each rule applies, and RevenueSA assesses both applications.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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