First home buyer guide for WA police
grants, duty and what you can borrow

There's no WA grant just for police. WA Police Force officers use the same schemes as other buyers, run by RevenueWA and the Department of Finance, plus the federal 5% Deposit Scheme. What's police-specific is how lenders read a payslip full of flat-dollar shift allowances, and P&N Bank's Essential Services Offer, which advertises an LMI waiver for police.

Note one quirk of the 5% Deposit Scheme in WA: its regional cap of $600,000 is lower than the state's new duty concession ceiling. In country WA, the federal scheme may stop before the duty concession does. If you're still deciding whether to join, the WA Police salary guide shows what each rank earns.

For transactions entered into on or after 7 May 2026, an eligible first home buyer pays no duty on a new or established home with a dutiable value up to $600,000. Between $600,001 and $800,000, duty is $16.15 for every $100, or part of $100, above $600,000. Above $800,000 the general rate applies. The old split between Perth and Peel ($700,000 ceiling) and the rest of WA ($750,000) has gone.

The table shows how the concession tapers. You save $22,515 at $600,000 and $11,115 at $700,000, but only $16 at $800,000, where the concessional duty almost equals the general duty. If you're choosing between two homes either side of $700,000, the duty difference is real.

Vacant land is now duty-free to $450,000 and concessional ($20.14 per $100 above $450,000) to $550,000. The duty concession is also no longer tied to the grant's value caps, so buying established homes or land above a grant cap doesn't knock you out of the concession.

The grant is a one-off payment for a new or substantially renovated home, not an established one. Only one grant is paid per transaction, so two buyers share it. At least one applicant must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident when applying, and neither you nor your spouse or partner can have owned residential property in Australia in the ways the rules set out.

You must live in the home as your main residence for at least six continuous months, starting within 12 months of completion of the transaction. For a police officer facing a transfer, six months is easier to meet than the 12 months NSW and Victoria require.

Buying off the plan

WA also has an off-the-plan duty concession for new dwellings bought before or during construction. Circular 23 says the 2026-27 changes extend it by two years to 30 June 2028, widen it to survey-strata and community titles (land) schemes, and lift the thresholds so the maximum concession applies up to $800,000, phasing down to the base concession above $900,000. A first home buyer can compare it with the first home owner rate, as the better one depends on price and timing.

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme (the Home Guarantee Scheme until 1 October 2025) lets a participating lender lend with a 5% deposit and no LMI. There are no income caps and no limit on places. Single parents and legal guardians can buy with 2%.

You must be 18 or older, a citizen or permanent resident, a first home buyer or someone who hasn't owned Australian property in the last 10 years, and buy a home to live in with a principal-and-interest loan. You must move in within six months of settlement and live there while the guarantee is active. P&N Bank, BankVic, Police Bank and People First Bank were on the participating lender list when we checked.

Help to Buy

Help to Buy is shared equity: the government owns up to 30% of an existing home or 40% of a new one, with a 2% deposit. A first-year constable on $94,651 base is under the $103,000 single limit, but WA pays shift allowances on top. Our illustrative roster adds about $14,821, which takes you over the limit before any overtime.

WA Police Force salaries for Constable to Senior Sergeant are base salary only. Shift allowances are flat dollar amounts per shift, paid on top (cl 16.1), and overtime is separate. That makes your base salary very clean for a lender, but it means the roster part of your pay needs evidence.

Our illustrative roster of two night, two afternoon and two weekend day shifts a fortnight adds about $14,821 a year to a first-year constable's $94,651. Allowances for 9, 10 and 12-hour shifts are paid pro rata, so check your own payslips rather than relying on the 8-hour figures.

A WA payslip separates salary from shift money. That's tidy for a lender, as long as you can prove the shift money keeps coming.

These use 2026-27 tax rates, an illustrative 6% loan rate plus APRA's 3 percentage point buffer, $3,200 a month of living costs for one applicant and a $5,000 card limit. They show how the rules move the number, not what any lender will offer.

A senior constable at the top step on $124,558 could borrow about $554,000 on salary alone. A first-year constable with a partner on an illustrative $70,000 and $4,500 a month of household costs could borrow about $773,000.

APRA held the 3 percentage point buffer on 28 May 2026. Without it the salary-only example would reach about $461,000 instead of $343,000. The repayment at 6% on $343,000 is about $2,056 a month, against take-home pay of about $2,840 a fortnight.

After the 28-week Academy course you serve 18 months as a probationary constable. Transitional officers from interstate or overseas serve 6 months. The first-year and second-year constable rates are the same, $94,651, and you move to the third-year rate of $0 on completing probation.

If you plan to use P&N Bank's waiver, your timeline is set by probation. If you plan to use the 5% Deposit Scheme with another participating lender, ask that lender whether it will lend during probation.

The waiver needs 10% saved, and the 5% Deposit Scheme needs 5% but caps the price at $850,000 in Perth. Compare both on the same home. Our LMI waivers for police guide sets out every condition.

Officers stationed in the 56 Schedule G towns get fully subsidised housing under cl 17.14 of the agreement. They include Bencubbin, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek and Laverton. Country officers in charge are provided accommodation. Where no quarters are provided, a country lodging allowance of $600 a year applies.

The recruiting site also lists district and locality allowances, extra leave, travel concessions, relocation costs and subsidised or free government housing in select locations. The regional attraction payment amount isn't published. Free housing is a fast way to save: with no rent, a large share of your pay can go to a deposit.

The catch is residence. The grant needs six months living in the home, and the 5% Deposit Scheme needs you there while the guarantee is active. A home in Perth you don't live in won't qualify. Regional recruits can ask to be placed in their home district for their first 4 to 6 years, which can make buying where you work realistic. Note P&N Bank's waiver covers only Perth metro, Bunbury, Busselton, Albany and Geraldton. Our remote and rural incentives guide compares the forces.

Recruits-in-Training earn $74,309 a year from 1 July 2026 during the 28-week Academy course at Joondalup. After tax that's about $1,154 a week. Regional recruits get free on-site accommodation. Saving 30% of net pay for 28 weeks puts away about $9,694.

1. 1

   Academy

   $74,309 a year

   About $9,694 saved at 30% of net recruit pay over 28 weeks.

2. 2

   Probationary constable

   $94,651 a year

   Take-home pay of about $2,840 a fortnight on salary, plus shift allowances. Saving 20% of salary reaches a $18,100 deposit in about 15 months.

3. 3

   Probation ends

   18 months after graduation

   Pay rises to $0, and P&N Bank's waiver becomes available if you meet its other terms.

4. 4

   Buy

   When ready

   Use the 5% Deposit Scheme or a 10% deposit with a waiver, plus nil duty to $600,000.

That $18,100 target is 5% of about $362,000, the price our salary-only first-year example reaches. With a partner on $70,000, the same method reaches about $814,000, needing about $40,700. The final-stage recruitment costs, such as medicals and checks, are reimbursed, so they shouldn't eat into your savings.

For the single officer, duty disappears entirely. For the couple, the price is just over $800,000, so the first home owner rate doesn't apply and duty at the general rate is about $33,037. Keeping the price at or under $800,000 brings it to about $32,300, and dropping towards $700,000 saves far more. In both cases the 5% Deposit Scheme removes LMI if the home is in Perth or under the regional cap, and a new build under the grant cap adds $10,000.