Home Loans for Midwives in Australia (2026): 10% Deposit, No LMI
Midwives get lumped in with nurses. Your pay, your shifts and your borrowing power deserve their own conversation.
- Registered midwives qualify for the health-professional LMI waiver. With the right lender you can borrow up to 90%, and sometimes 95%, of a property’s value with no lenders mortgage insurance, which can save you tens of thousands of dollars.
- Salary packaging is the borrowing-power lever most midwives miss. If you package through a public hospital or not-for-profit, the right lender grosses that benefit up and counts it, which can lift what you can borrow by a meaningful margin.
- Your shift penalties, overtime and on-call count, with the right lender. Night, weekend and public holiday loadings, plus callback for caseload and continuity-of-care work, can be included when the history supports it.
- Casual, bank and agency midwives have options too. Usually six to twelve months of consistent income is enough, and a steady pattern matters more than the word “casual” on your contract.
- Privately practising midwives are assessed as self-employed, which is its own path. It is very doable with the right lender and the right structure.
If you are a midwife, you have almost certainly been treated as a footnote to nursing your whole career, and home lending is no different. Most guides bundle you in under “nurses and midwives” and move on. But your roster, your pay structure and your career path are genuinely your own, and the difference between a lender who understands that and one who does not can be the difference between the home you wanted and a knockback.
The good news is that midwives are well regarded by lenders. As a registered health professional you sit in the category that unlocks the no-LMI waiver, and your income, properly read, is often stronger than the base figure on your payslip suggests. At Everstone Finance we arrange these loans regularly, and this is the plain-English guide for midwives specifically: the waiver, how your income is really assessed, the salary-packaging trick that lifts your borrowing power, and the paths for casual, agency, graduate and privately practising midwives.
Yes, midwives get the no-LMI waiver too
Registered midwives are treated as health professionals by many lenders, which means you can access the LMI waiver: borrow up to 90% of a property’s value, and in some cases 95%, without paying lenders mortgage insurance. On a typical purchase that is a saving of tens of thousands of dollars, money that would otherwise be added to your loan.
Normally, borrowing more than 80% of a property’s value means paying LMI, an insurance premium that protects the lender, not you, and that can run well into five figures. The waiver removes it. Lenders offer it to professions they consider low risk, and registered midwives qualify alongside nurses, doctors and other health workers. Not every lender extends the waiver to midwives, and the maximum LVR and any income threshold vary, which is exactly the kind of thing we match for you before you apply rather than after a decline.
How lenders actually read a midwife’s income
Your payslip rarely tells the whole story, and a good lender knows it. Midwifery pay is built from more than base salary, and the parts that get added back depend entirely on the lender.
- Shift penalties and loadings. Night, weekend and public holiday rates are a real and regular part of your income. With a consistent history, lenders will count them, often at 80% to 100%.
- Overtime. If you regularly pick up extra shifts, that income can be included where it is steady, usually evidenced by your last few payslips and a year-to-date figure.
- On-call and callback. For caseload and continuity-of-care midwives, on-call allowances and callback payments are part of the model. The right lender treats them as income rather than ignoring them.
- Public EBA pay. If you are on a public health enterprise agreement, your pay is predictable and well documented, which lenders like. Your award level and increments are easy to verify.
The point is that two lenders can look at the same midwife and arrive at very different incomes, purely on how much of your penalties, overtime and allowances they are willing to count. That gap is where your borrowing power is won or lost.
Salary packaging: the lever most midwives never use
If you salary package through a public hospital or a not-for-profit health service, the right lender will gross up that benefit and count it as income. Because packaged dollars are effectively pre-tax, grossing them up can add a meaningful amount to your assessable income, and therefore to how much you can borrow, often without you earning a cent more.
This is the single most overlooked advantage midwives have. Public and not-for-profit health workers can salary package a chunk of their income for living expenses and meal and entertainment costs, free of fringe benefits tax up to set caps. Most midwives use it to save tax and never think about it again. But a lender that understands health-sector packaging will gross those benefits back up to their pre-tax value when assessing you, which can lift your borrowing power by a worthwhile margin. Not every lender does this, and the ones that do treat it differently, so it pays to be matched to a lender that reads it generously.
Casual, bank and agency midwives
A casual or agency contract is not the barrier people assume. Lenders care about the reliability of your income, not the label on it. If your hours and earnings have been steady, a casual or bank midwife is very financeable.
Most lenders want to see six to twelve months in your current role, and they will typically average your income over that period. Agency midwives are assessed similarly, with the focus on a consistent pattern of work across recent payslips and your year-to-date earnings. If you have moved between hospitals but stayed in midwifery, that continuity in the profession counts in your favour, even if the employer has changed.
Graduate and new midwives
If you have just finished your transition or graduate year, you can usually still buy. Many lenders accept you once you are permanent and past any probation, and some will consider you while still on probation if the role is ongoing and your employment is secure. A confirmed position in a profession this much in demand is a strong signal, and the no-LMI waiver is available to graduate midwives just as it is to experienced ones. We will tell you plainly whether to apply now or wait a month or two for a cleaner approval.
Privately practising and self-employed midwives
If you are a privately practising midwife, an endorsed midwife running your own caseload, or you contract through your own ABN, lenders assess you as self-employed rather than as a PAYG health worker. That changes the documentation, not your prospects. The same add-back thinking that applies to any business owner applies to you, layered over your midwifery income. Our guide to self-employed home loans covers how that assessment works, and we structure these regularly.
Deposit and first home options for midwives
Between the no-LMI waiver and the first home buyer schemes, midwives often need far less deposit than they expect. With the waiver you can buy at 90% with no LMI, so a 10% deposit plus costs gets you there. If you are buying your first home, the federal First Home Guarantee can let you in with as little as 5% and no LMI, and a family guarantee can reduce the deposit further again. We cover the full picture in our guides to the first home buyer schemes by state and LMI waivers for professionals.
How Everstone helps midwives
We were bankers before we were brokers, so we know which lenders extend the waiver to midwives, which count your penalties, overtime and on-call in full, and which gross up your salary packaging rather than ignoring it. We line those up against your situation, whether you are permanent, casual, agency, a new graduate or privately practising, and tell you plainly what you can borrow and with whom before a single application goes in.
It costs you nothing to find out. We are paid by the lender when your loan settles, so the advice, the borrowing-power calculation and the lender match are all free, with no obligation to proceed.
The takeaway for midwives: you qualify for the no-LMI waiver, your real income is usually higher than your base, and salary packaging can lift your borrowing power further. The lender you choose decides how much of that works in your favour.
A midwife ready to buy or refinance?
Tell us where you work, how you are paid and whether you salary package. We will calculate your real borrowing power, apply the no-LMI waiver, match you to the right lender and handle the rest. No cost, no obligation.
Talk to an ex-bankerHome loans for midwives FAQ
Do midwives get the no-LMI home loan waiver?
Yes. Registered midwives are treated as health professionals by many lenders, which means you can borrow up to 90%, and sometimes 95%, of a property value with no lenders mortgage insurance. The maximum LVR and any conditions vary by lender, so the right match matters.
How much can a midwife borrow?
It depends on your base pay, your shift penalties and overtime, any salary packaging, your deposit and your existing debts. Because lenders count those extras so differently, two can land well apart on the same midwife. Counting your full income and packaging is where the borrowing power is found.
Does salary packaging help my home loan?
With the right lender, yes. If you package through a public hospital or not-for-profit, a lender that grosses the benefit up to its pre-tax value will count it as income, which can lift how much you can borrow without you earning any more.
Can a casual or agency midwife get a home loan?
Yes. Lenders care about consistent income, not the casual label. Usually six to twelve months of steady earnings in your role is enough, and your income is averaged over that period. Agency midwives are assessed the same way.
Can I get a home loan as a new graduate midwife?
Usually yes, once you are permanent and past probation, and sometimes during probation if your role is ongoing. The no-LMI waiver is available to graduate midwives, and a secure position in a high-demand profession is a strong signal to lenders.
I am a privately practising midwife. Can I still borrow?
Yes. You are assessed as self-employed rather than PAYG, which changes the paperwork, not your prospects. The same add-back approach used for any business owner applies, and we structure these regularly.
How much deposit does a midwife need?
With the no-LMI waiver you can buy at 90%, so a 10% deposit plus costs. First home buyers may use the First Home Guarantee with as little as 5%, and a family guarantee can reduce it further.
Does it cost anything to talk to Everstone?
No. We are paid by the lender when your loan settles, so working out your borrowing power, applying the waiver and matching you to the right lender costs you nothing and carries no obligation.
Related guides
Sources and useful references
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, midwife registration, ahpra.gov.au
- Australian Taxation Office, fringe benefits tax and salary packaging, ato.gov.au
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission, MoneySmart home loan guidance, moneysmart.gov.au