Profession loans · teachers & educators
Teacher home loans — 90% LVR with no LMI.
Primary teachers, secondary teachers, university lecturers, special education and most allied education roles qualify for the 90% LVR LMI waiver at almost every major Australian lender that writes profession packages. On a $750,000 purchase the waiver is worth roughly $15,000. The two file shapes worth knowing before lodging: fixed-term contracts and casual / relief teaching arrangements.
Run the LMI break-even → Check borrowing capacity →Teaching has more fixed-term contracts than most professions — annual 12-month contracts at state schools, 1-3 year contracts at independent schools, multi-year contracts in early career. The panel-typical rule is that a teacher on a current fixed- term contract plus a documented contract-renewal history of 2+ years is treated as functionally permanent for the LMI waiver. That's the rule at most major lenders.
But some lenders refuse fixed-term outright — they want a permanent contract or no waiver. The lender that writes the cleanest 90% LMI waiver for permanent teachers isn't always the one that takes the fixed-term file. That's the broker-side panel-routing decision that costs nothing to get right and $15,000 to get wrong. A teacher applying through the lender with the loudest "teacher loans" marketing campaign sometimes gets pushed to 80% LVR with full LMI on the underlying file — while a different lender on the same panel writes the same file at 90% waived.
Who qualifies for the teacher package
State teaching-registration body credentials establish eligibility (QCT in Queensland, NESA in NSW, VIT in Victoria, TRBSA in SA, TRBWA in WA, TRBT in Tasmania, ACT TQI, NTTRB in NT). Below are the role types and employment shapes most lenders accept.
- Primary and secondary teachers (permanent). Universal acceptance across the panel. State school, independent school, Catholic school — same 90% LVR tier.
- Fixed-term contract teachers. Accepted at most lenders if the current contract plus rolling history of contract renewal (typically 2+ years) demonstrates continuity. Some lenders refuse fixed-term — file routing matters.
- University lecturers, tutors, academic staff. Universal acceptance at lenders running an "educator" rather than "teacher" tier; same 90% LVR.
- TAFE and vocational teachers. Accepted at most lenders; a small number limit the waiver to school-sector teachers only.
- Special education teachers, learning support specialists. Same 90% LVR tier as classroom teachers — no policy difference.
- School principals, deputy principals, head teachers. Same 90% LVR tier; some lenders extend a small rate concession for senior leadership roles.
- Casual / relief teachers. Eligible, but the file shape needs work — typically 6-12 months of demonstrable regular casual income before the waiver is extended. Broker-side work is choosing the lender with the most favourable casual-income shading methodology.
What the waiver is worth — worked example
A typical Gold Coast or Brisbane purchase by a working teacher. The LMI saving sits in the loan permanently — it's not refunded later or recovered through any package-fee mechanism.
Example — secondary teacher, $750,000 purchase, 10% deposit
- Purchase price
- $750,000
- Deposit (10%)
- $75,000
- Stamp duty (QLD owner-occ)
- ~$22,800
- Conveyancing & other
- ~$2,200
- Total upfront cash
- $100,000
- Loan amount
- $675,000
- LVR
- 90%
- LMI if no waiver
- ~$15,000 (capitalised or paid)
- LMI under teacher package
- $0
Panel-typical teacher package — comparative table
Selected lenders that write the teacher-package waiver at 90% LVR. Specific eligibility, rate and fixed-term treatment vary by file. We model the full panel before recommending one.
| Lender | Max LVR no LMI | Panel note (incl. fixed-term treatment) |
|---|---|---|
| CBA | 90% | Universal teacher acceptance; fixed-term + 2yr renewal history treated as permanent. |
| Westpac | 90% | Standard 90% waiver including university lecturers and TAFE staff. |
| NAB | 90% | Strong on fixed-term contract files with documented renewal history. |
| ANZ | 90% | 90% waiver; conservative casual / relief teaching income shading. |
| Macquarie | 90% | Clean digital process; competitive on permanent PAYG-employed teachers. |
| ING | 90% | Lean fee structure; accepts fixed-term with 2yr+ continuity. |
| Bankwest | 90% | Strong for WA + QLD state-system teachers. |
| Suncorp | 90% | QLD-aligned; familiar with QLD Department of Education employment shape. |
| Bendigo Bank | 90% | Includes Catholic schools and independent schools without additional verification step. |
| AMP Bank | 90% | Master Limit option suits teachers planning to add second property later. |
Size the waiver against the rate gap on your file
The LMI break-even calculator models the dollar trade-off between a teacher-package rate and a vanilla 90% loan with LMI capitalised. Your actual hold period drives the answer — shorter holds always favour the package; 20-year holds depend on the rate gap.
Run the LMI break-even → Check capacity →File-shape pitfalls — where the teacher package gets messy
- Fixed-term contract refusal by some lenders. The lender that markets loudest to teachers isn't always the lender that takes a fixed-term file at 90% LVR waived. Some require permanent contract; pushing the file to those lenders means losing the waiver. Check the lender's fixed-term treatment before lodging.
- Casual / relief teacher income shading. Most lenders shade casual income at 60-80% for serviceability. Teachers working multiple schools sometimes have erratic monthly income that fails the shading test even where the actual annualised income would service the loan. Routing to a lender with year-on-year averaging rather than 12-week-shaded methodology matters.
- Higher-degree-by-research staff and contract academics. University post-doc and contract academic roles can fall outside both the permanent-teacher tier and the casual-teacher tier. The file routes via the "educator" or "research staff" sub-tier at lenders that have one — not every lender does.
- State teaching registration in transition. Teachers moving between states need new state-body registration. Some lenders require registration in the state where the borrower is currently employed; others accept any current Australian teaching registration. Worth confirming before lodging.
Quick FAQs
What LVR can a teacher borrow to without LMI?
90% LVR with most lenders. Primary, secondary, university, TAFE, special education and most allied education roles qualify — state teaching-registration body credentials are what establish eligibility.
Do fixed-term contract teachers qualify?
Yes at most lenders if the current contract plus 2+ years of contract-renewal history establishes continuity. Some lenders require a permanent contract — file routing matters.
Are casual / relief teachers excluded?
Not excluded, but the file is harder. Most lenders want 6-12 months of stable casual income before the waiver kicks in. The broker-side work is choosing the lender whose casual-income methodology is most favourable.
Do private school teachers qualify?
Yes — at every lender that runs a teacher package. Waiver eligibility is based on the role and the teaching registration, not the employer type.
How much is the waiver worth?
Roughly $13,000-$17,000 on a $675,000 loan at 90% LVR. Stays in the borrower's equity rather than being paid to the LMI insurer or capitalised into the loan.