First some good news: in an effort to offset the impact of the Goods and Services Tax that was introduced on the 1st of July 2000 the Federal Government made a grant of $7,000 available to all Australian citizens and permanent residents who buy a first home in Australia. This was increased to $14,000 for first home owners who enter into contracts between 9 March 2001 and 31 December 2001 inclusive to build or purchase new but previously unoccupied homes. The $14,000 grant is also available for owner-builders who commence building their home between these dates.

Full details of the grant are available by clicking here. Note that the grant IS available to migrants settling in Australia - more details and application forms (which are dealt with at State/Territory level) are available from the Government's FHOG website.

Who Can Buy?

A few words about who is allowed to buy property in Australia, as it is not open to all. The broad rule is that if you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident you can buy property for any purpose, including for your own home, or investment purposes.

However, if you are a temporary resident, the situation is not so clear-cut. Any temporary resident of Australia must apply for approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board before they enter into a contract to buy real estate. So long as the visa has at least 12 months to expiry from the date of the application to the FIRB you can expect approval to buy, but subject to a requirement to sell the property if your visa expires, or if you no longer occupy the property, or when you cease to reside in Australia.

The above is subject to the proviso that the property being bought is a second hand property. If the property is newly built in, say, a new block of apartments, at least 50% of the properties built at the same time must be available to Australian citizens or permanent residents. In practice, a purchaser of a new property should insist on FIRB approval being a condition of the contract of purchase.

Note also that new properties with FIRB approval may be acquired by a "foreign interest" (including temporary residents), and may be let and thereby owned as an investment property.

Where to Buy?

Clearly we cannot tell you where you should buy, which may be a factor of where you are going to work, where family in Australia is already living, schooling, etc. However, it can be sensible to rent a house for a period of time while you find out more about the area.

We have links to the main real estate agents in Australia here, and contact us if you need an introduction to a lender for a mortgage.

Schools

Just a few words about schooling in Australia. If you plan for your child to go to a public (State) school you will find your choice will be limited by where you choose to live, particularly at primary school age. The Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs website has links to the State and Territory Government Education Departments' sites, which in turn will enable you to access websites of individual schools in the area where you intend to live.

If you are planning on sending your child to a private school a good place to start researching is the website of the Association of Independent Schools in the State or Territory in which you will be living. The AIS site will contain links to the websites of individual schools - click here for a list of Associations and links to their sites.

In all cases we suggest that you obtain a prospectus (where available) and talk to the Admissions Tutor of at least three schools so that you (hopefully) have a choice when you arrive in Australia.

For term dates across Australia click here.

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia