If you are a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, an accountant or an engineer, you have probably been told your job gets you out of Lenders Mortgage Insurance. The true part is worth tens of thousands. What almost nobody tells you is which lender, at what LVR, and on what conditions.
So we read the source documents. Every lender policy on this page was read on that lender's own published pages on 15 August 2026, not on a broker blog or a comparison site. Lender policy changes without notice and several lenders do not publish theirs at all, so treat this as a starting map, not a quote. A mortgage broker can confirm the current position for your profession.
The short answer
Nine lenders publish something usable. Seven publish a maximum LVR. Two confirm a waiver exists and stop there.
- Doctors, dentists and medical specialists have the strongest position: up to 95 per cent of the property value with no LMI, and no minimum income at the best lenders.
- Lawyers and accountants sit a tier down at 90 per cent, usually with no minimum income either, if the certificate or membership is current.
- Nurses, midwives, pharmacists, psychologists and most allied health are the great divide. One major bank lends them 90 per cent with no LMI on a $90,000 per annum income threshold. Another names them on an ineligible list.
- Engineers and IT professionals get nothing at the major banks. One non-bank lender covers them.
- Teachers, police and paramedics are served by a few smaller lenders, and one of those is not available through brokers.
And the sentence most first home buyers need: if you qualify for the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, it will usually beat a profession waiver, because it gets you in at 5 per cent rather than 10.
What LMI is, in one paragraph
Lenders Mortgage Insurance is a one-off premium you pay so that the lender is protected if you default and the sale of your home does not cover the debt. It protects them, not you, and applies whenever you borrow more than 80 per cent of the property's value. On a $750,000 purchase it runs to about $15,200 with a 10 per cent deposit and about $30,600 with a 5 per cent deposit. Our guide to what LMI is and what it costs covers the calculation, and the LMI calculator takes your own numbers. This page covers one thing: how to not pay it.
The three routes around LMI
A profession-based waiver, where a lender decides your occupation defaults less often and drops the insurance requirement above 80 per cent LVR, with no price cap and no first home buyer test. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, where the government guarantees the gap between your deposit and 20 per cent so the lender does not need insurance. Or a family guarantee, where a parent pledges equity to the same effect, covered in our guarantor home loan guide. A few lenders also charge a differently named fee in place of LMI, covered below.
The cross-lender matrix
Here is what each lender publishes on its own pages. Where a lender publishes no figure, we have said so rather than filling the gap with a plausible number.
Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA
The Westpac group publishes the most detailed profession policy of any major bank, and all four brands run the same one, marked current as at 23 February 2026. Its Medico Policy allows up to 95 per cent LVR with no LMI, to a maximum loan of $5 million, or $7.5 million of total lending where the waiver applies.
At 95 per cent, with no minimum income: dentists, general practitioners, medical specialists, and hospital-employed doctors including interns, residents, registrars and staff specialists. That last inclusion matters: a first-year hospital doctor reaches the same position as a consultant.
At 90 per cent, with a minimum income threshold of $90,000 per annum, and which cannot be combined with the bank's Fast Track income verification: audiologists, chiropractors, midwives, occupational therapists, osteopaths, physiotherapists, podiatrists, psychologists, radiographers, registered nurses, sonographers, speech pathologists, optometrists, pharmacists and veterinary practitioners.
A separate Industry Specialisation Policy allows up to 90 per cent LVR with no LMI for accounting and legal, subject to approved accreditation, eligibility and income requirements. An income requirement exists, but the figure is not published.
One correction, because it is repeated everywhere: the group's Emergency Services Policy assesses overtime and allowances at 100 per cent. It is not an LMI waiver.
ANZ
ANZ publishes a separate document per profession group, which makes it the easiest bank to be sure about. The catch is that those documents carry item-number stamps from 2024. They were live on anz.com.au on 15 August 2026, but ANZ has not re-dated them.
- Medical practitioners, specialists and dental practitioners: up to 95 per cent LVR, no minimum income stated. AHPRA registration must be Generalist or Specialist. Provisional, Limited and Non-practising are not eligible, although temporary non-practising, such as parental leave, may be accepted.
- Lawyers, solicitors, barristers, judges and magistrates: up to 90 per cent LVR, explicitly no minimum income, on a current practising certificate or, for judicial officers, a letter of appointment.
- Accountants: up to 90 per cent LVR, no minimum income, on current membership of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, CPA including recognised partnering bodies, the CFA Institute, or fellowship of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.
- Optometrists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and veterinarians: up to 90 per cent LVR, no minimum income, on AHPRA General registration or the relevant state veterinary regulator.
Three conditions run across all four documents. You must hold at least an equal or majority ownership share, so a 30 per cent share of a three-way purchase will not do. Total ANZ home lending must be $8 million or less. And the waiver is not automatic.
ANZ is also the only lender publishing an ineligible list, and it is blunt: nurses, midwives, pharmacists, psychologists, osteopaths, podiatrists, occupational therapists, radiographers, medical radiation practitioners, dental therapists, dental hygienists, dental prosthetists, oral health therapists and herbal medicine practitioners. Read that next to the Westpac group's 90 per cent tier and you have the clearest illustration of why this question has no general answer.
NAB
NAB publishes an 18-occupation medical list and, deliberately, no numbers: its own page, read on 15 August 2026 and carrying no date of its own, says eligibility depends on profession, loan type and loan-to-valuation ratio thresholds, and leaves it there.
The eligible medical list, all requiring current AHPRA registration: anaesthetist, chiropractor, dental practitioner, dermatologist, general practitioner, obstetrician and gynaecologist, ophthalmologist, optometrist, paediatrician, pathologist, pharmacist, physician, physiotherapist, psychiatrist, radiation oncologist, radiologist, surgeon and veterinary practitioner. On the finance side it names accountants who are members of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, CPA Australia or the Institute of Public Accountants, plus actuaries and CFA charterholders. NAB is the only major naming the IPA, which plenty of qualified accountants hold instead of CA or CPA.
CommBank and Bankwest
CommBank is the largest home lender in the country and publishes the least. Its low-deposit page, read on 15 August 2026, asks whether you are a doctor, lawyer or accountant, and says to speak to a specialist about a waiver with a deposit of as little as 10 per cent. That is the whole public policy, and its LMI page does not mention waivers.
Plenty of sites confidently report a CommBank medico policy at 95 per cent with a $2.375 million loan cap and a $100,000 pharmacist income threshold. None of it appears on a CommBank page, so it is not in our table. It may be accurate. We cannot stand behind it.
The same page does publish one alternative: a Low Deposit Premium, a one-off, non-refundable premium added to a low deposit home loan that serves as an alternative to LMI. Not a waiver, not profession-based, but a second named route above 80 per cent.
Bankwest, a division of Commonwealth Bank, goes one step further. Its own broker checklist, read on 15 August 2026, confirms an Industry Professional LMI waiver exists and must be requested through the broker portal with supporting evidence. It names no professions, no LVR and no income. The waiver is real. The criteria are not published anywhere you can read them.
BOQ Specialist
BOQ Specialist is built around medical, dental and veterinary professionals, and now accountants too. It is also the one lender whose own website contradicts itself, so we report both figures rather than pick one. Its product page says you may borrow up to 90 per cent and avoid LMI. Its LMI explainer and doctors guide say up to 100 per cent for medical professionals. Both were live on 15 August 2026 and neither carries a date. Get it in writing.
Bank First
Bank First serves the education and healthcare sectors, and publishes something no other lender here does: the trade-off. Its page, read on 15 August 2026 and undated, says that for first home buyers in those sectors it lifts the LMI threshold from 80 to 90 per cent when approval conditions are met, then says the quiet part out loud: loans over 80 per cent carry a higher interest rate. The home must be owner-occupied, with no equity release on refinanced loans, and it does not waive premiums on off-the-plan or construction loans.
P&N Bank, for essential services workers in WA
P&N Bank grew out of Police & Nurses Credit Society and still runs an Essential Services Offer with a genuine LMI waiver, set out in its own terms and read on 15 August 2026. It applies where LVR sits between 80 and 90 per cent. Eligible roles are state or federal police, police staff, clinical, registered and travel nurses, doctors, salaried firefighters, paramedics, ambulance emergency medical dispatchers, prison officers, teachers and university lecturers.
The conditions are tight. You must be employed in that group within WA and have completed any probation attached to it. The loan must be at least $250,000, principal and interest and owner-occupied, and the property must be in Perth metro, Bunbury, Busselton, Albany or Geraldton. And the part we are obliged to tell you even though it cuts against us: broker-referred loans do not qualify. This one runs through P&N Bank's own channels.
Granite Home Loans, the only place engineers and IT show up
We searched every major and second-tier lender for a published engineers or IT waiver. The majors have none. The only one publishing it on its own site, read on 15 August 2026 and undated, is Granite Home Loans, a non-bank lender holding Australian Credit Licence 516104.
Its Professional product goes to a maximum LVR of 95 per cent with no minimum income and no genuine savings required, for university-qualified professionals in medical and allied health, legal, accounting, engineering, IT where certifications replace a degree, and senior managers. It needs three years in the same industry and a clear credit history, owner-occupied, metro and inner-city only. An Essential Worker product runs to 90 per cent for police, firefighters, paramedics, teachers and nurses with $5,000 in genuine savings.
One distinction, and it is not pedantic. Granite's products are lender-paid LMI, not a waiver. The premium still exists, the lender pays it rather than you, and prices it into the product.
The matrix at a glance
| Lender | Professions | Max LVR, no LMI | Minimum income | Key condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA | Dentists, GPs, medical specialists, hospital-employed doctors | 95% | None | Max loan $5m, qualifications verified |
| Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA | Nurses, midwives, pharmacists, psychologists, physios, optometrists, vets and 8 other allied health | 90% | $90,000 per annum | Cannot be combined with Fast Track |
| Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA | Accounting, legal | 90% | Not published | Approved industry accreditation required |
| ANZ | Medical and dental practitioners, specialists | 95% | None stated | AHPRA Generalist or Specialist only, borrowing to $4.75m |
| ANZ | Lawyers, barristers, judges, magistrates | 90% | None | Current practising certificate, borrowing to $4.5m |
| ANZ | Accountants (CA, CPA, CFA, FIAA) | 90% | None | Current membership evidence required |
| ANZ | Optometrists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, vets | 90% | None | AHPRA General registration |
| NAB | 18 medical occupations, accountants (CA, CPA, IPA), actuaries, CFA, legal | Not published | Not published | Profession list public, thresholds are not |
| CommBank | Doctor, lawyer, accountant | 90% | Not published | No profession list published |
| Bankwest | Not published | Not published | Not published | Waiver confirmed, requested via the broker portal |
| BOQ Specialist | Doctors, dentists, vets, accountants | 90% on the product page, 100% on its FAQ pages | None stated | Its own pages disagree, get it in writing |
| Bank First | Education and healthcare sectors | 90% | None stated | First home buyers only, higher rate above 80% |
| P&N Bank | Police, nurses, doctors, firefighters, paramedics, prison officers, teachers, lecturers | 90% | None stated | WA only, $250,000 minimum, not available through brokers |
| Granite Home Loans | Medical, allied health, legal, accounting, engineers, IT, senior managers | 95% (lender-paid LMI, not a waiver) | None | 3 years in industry, metro and inner-city only |
Only three carry a currency date of their own: the Westpac group documents are stamped 23 February 2026, Macquarie's credit guidelines are version 14.0 dated 8 July 2026, and ANZ's carry 2024 item numbers. The rest publish no date at all. If a figure above is load-bearing, have a broker re-check it before you commit.
The lenders that publish nothing
This matters as much as the matrix, because it tells you where the map ends. We found no published profession-based waiver on the own domains of Macquarie, HSBC, ING, Suncorp, Bendigo, Adelaide Bank, AMP, Firstmac, Virgin Money, ME Bank, BankVic, Newcastle Permanent, Bank Australia, People First Bank, Defence Bank, RAMS, Pepper Money, Liberty or La Trobe Financial.
Two are worth calling out. Macquarie does not run a profession waiver at all, and its current credit guidelines confirm it. Instead it charges a low deposit fee rather than LMI, reaching 95 per cent LVR on owner-occupied purchases with principal and interest repayments, inclusive of low deposit fee capitalisation. Above 85 per cent LVR, excluding that capitalisation, it wants 5 per cent of the purchase price evidenced as genuine savings. Different name, similar effect, no profession test. And the Teachers Mutual Bank group, which includes Health Professionals Bank, Firefighters Mutual Bank and UniBank, publishes no profession-based waiver despite brand names pointing straight at it.
Absence of a published policy is not proof of absence of a policy. It is proof that you cannot find out by reading, which is the whole problem.
The 5% Deposit Scheme, and why it usually wins
If you are a first home buyer, do not start with the waiver. Start here. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme lets eligible first home buyers purchase with a minimum 5 per cent deposit and no LMI, because the government guarantees the gap to the lender. Single parents and legal guardians can use 2 per cent. Since 1 October 2025 there are no income caps, no waitlists and unlimited places.
To qualify you must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident aged at least 18, hold a 5 per cent deposit, be a first home buyer or not have owned property or land here in the last 10 years, buy at or below your price cap, and take an owner-occupier principal and interest loan from a participating lender. You can apply alone or with one other person, who need not be a partner.
The price caps are the real gate. Both the purchase price and the lender's valuation must sit at or below them.
| State or territory | Capital city and regional centres | Other areas |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $1,500,000 | $800,000 |
| Victoria | $950,000 | $650,000 |
| Queensland | $1,000,000 | $700,000 |
| Western Australia | $850,000 | $600,000 |
| South Australia | $900,000 | $500,000 |
| Tasmania | $700,000 | $550,000 |
| Australian Capital Territory | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Northern Territory | $750,000 (capital city) | $600,000 |
| Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island | $550,000 | $550,000 |
| Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands | $400,000 | $400,000 |
The regional centres treated as capital-city equivalent are the Central Coast, Coffs Harbour and Grafton, Illawarra, the Mid North Coast, Richmond-Tweed, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, Geelong, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Our 5% deposit map shows which suburbs the caps unlock, and the eligibility checker covers the rest.
Waiver or scheme, which is better for you
The scheme wins when your deposit is small and you are buying under the cap. It gets you in at 5 per cent, where most waivers need 10. On a $750,000 purchase that difference is $37,500 in cash you do not need to have saved.
The waiver wins when the scheme is closed to you: buying above the price cap, buying an investment property, having owned property in the last 10 years, or buying with more than one other person. It also wins on ceiling, since the scheme caps out at $1.5 million in Sydney and $700,000 in Hobart while the Westpac group's medico policy runs to a $5 million loan.
Neither increases your borrowing power. Avoiding LMI reduces your upfront cost, not the size of loan a bank will approve. Income, debts and expenses still set that ceiling, and the borrowing power calculator shows roughly where yours sits.
What a waiver is actually worth
Take a $750,000 purchase. With a 10 per cent deposit and no waiver, LMI runs to about $15,200. Most people capitalise it, so at 6 per cent over 30 years that premium costs roughly $32,800 in total repayments: you pay interest on the insurance for three decades. With a waiver, the line disappears. At a 5 per cent deposit it is about $30,600.
So a waiver is worth roughly $8,100 to $30,400 at a 10 per cent deposit, more at 95 per cent LVR, and materially more again over the life of the loan if you would have capitalised it. Run your own figure on the LMI calculator before deciding.
The honest realities nobody puts in the brochure
A waiver can cost you in the rate. Bank First is the only lender here that says it plainly: loans over 80 per cent carry a higher interest rate. Others are less explicit, but risk gets priced somewhere. A waiver saving $15,000 upfront that costs 0.15 per cent more on a $675,000 loan gives back about $1,000 a year. Ask for both rates.
Policies change without notice. The Westpac group's document moved on 23 February 2026 and Macquarie's guidelines are on version 14.0. Anything you read about lender policy, this page included, has a shelf life measured in months.
Most of the real policy is not published. That is a distribution decision, not a conspiracy: waivers are a relationship product, released to accredited brokers and the lender's own staff rather than the open web. NAB publishes who is eligible but not at what LVR, CommBank publishes three professions and a deposit figure, and Bankwest confirms the waiver exists and nothing else.
A waiver is not automatic. ANZ says so in writing: it has to be requested, with evidence, at application. People miss out on waivers they qualified for because nobody asked.
Your registration status matters more than your job title. An AHPRA-registered physiotherapist with General registration qualifies at ANZ. The same person on Provisional or Limited registration does not, and a lapsed certificate can cost you the waiver on the day.
How to actually get one
Check the 5% Deposit Scheme first. If you are a first home buyer under the price cap, it beats almost every waiver here.
Get your evidence ready before you apply: AHPRA registration confirmation, a current practising certificate, or a current-year membership certificate with proof of payment. Every lender here requires it to be current at submission.
Ask about the rate as well as the waiver, and compare it to the rate without one.
Then talk to someone who can see the unpublished policy. Half the lenders here do not publish their criteria, and the differences are enormous: the same registered nurse is a 90 per cent no-LMI customer at one major bank and ineligible at another. Speaking to a broker is the practical way to find out who is running a waiver for your occupation at the time you apply.
NestPath earns a referral fee when you connect with a partner broker through us, at no extra cost to you, paid out of the standard fee the broker already earns. It never changes who we list or the order they appear in, and our full disclosure is on the our partners page.
This guide is general information only, not financial advice. Waiver eligibility depends on your profession, income, registration status and each lender's current credit appetite, and lender policy changes without notice. Figures here were read off each lender's own published pages on 15 August 2026; always confirm the current position before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Which professions get an LMI waiver in Australia?
Doctors, dentists and medical specialists have the widest access, at up to 95 per cent of the property value with no LMI at the Westpac group and ANZ. Lawyers, barristers, judges and accountants generally reach 90 per cent. Nurses, midwives, pharmacists, psychologists, physiotherapists, optometrists and veterinarians reach 90 per cent at the Westpac group on a minimum income threshold of $90,000 per annum. ANZ reaches 90 per cent for physiotherapists, optometrists, chiropractors and veterinarians too, but names nurses, midwives, pharmacists and psychologists on its ineligible list. No major bank names engineers or IT professionals.
Do nurses qualify for an LMI waiver?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on the lender. Registered nurses and midwives qualify for a 90 per cent no-LMI position at Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA, subject to a minimum income threshold of $90,000 per annum. ANZ names nurses on its ineligible list and NAB omits them. Bank First lifts the threshold to 90 per cent for first home buyers in healthcare, and P&N Bank covers WA nurses through its own channels only.
Is the 5% Deposit Scheme better than a profession waiver?
For most first home buyers, yes. The scheme gets you in with a 5 per cent deposit and no LMI, where most profession waivers still require 10 per cent. The waiver wins when the scheme is closed to you: buying above the price cap, buying an investment property, or having owned property in the last 10 years.
Is there a minimum income for an LMI waiver?
It varies and it is often zero. ANZ states no minimum income for lawyers, accountants, optometrists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and veterinarians. The Westpac group applies no minimum at its 95 per cent medical tier, including hospital interns, but sets a minimum income threshold of $90,000 per annum at its 90 per cent allied health tier. Its accounting and legal policy has an unpublished income requirement, and NAB and CommBank publish none.
Do all banks offer LMI waivers?
No. We checked more than 30 Australian lenders on their own published pages in August 2026 and found a published profession-based waiver at nine. Macquarie, HSBC, ING, Suncorp, Bendigo, AMP, Virgin Money, Firstmac and around fifteen others publish nothing. Macquarie charges a low deposit fee instead, reaching 95 per cent LVR inclusive of low deposit fee capitalisation, with no profession test.
Can engineers get an LMI waiver?
Not at any major bank that publishes its policy. This is one of the most repeated claims in Australian mortgage content and it appears on no big-four page. The only Australian lender publishing an engineers policy is Granite Home Loans, a non-bank whose Professional product runs to 95 per cent LVR with lender-paid LMI for university-qualified engineers and IT professionals with three years in the industry. Lender-paid LMI is not a waiver: the premium still exists and the lender prices it in.
Can I negotiate a waiver if my profession is not on the list?
Rarely as a straight negotiation, but two routes are worth asking about. Some lenders charge a differently named fee in place of LMI, such as Macquarie's low deposit fee at up to 95 per cent LVR inclusive of capitalisation, or CommBank's Low Deposit Premium. Several occupations also sit on unpublished lists, so a broker with lender accreditation may find you eligible when the public page suggests otherwise.
