Which Banks Waive LMI for Nurses in Australia?

Which Banks Waive LMI for Nurses in Australia?

Four lenders currently waive lenders mortgage insurance for registered nurses and midwives: Westpac, St George Bank, Bank of Melbourne, and BankSA. All four operate under the same Westpac Group policy and require a minimum 10% deposit, 90% LVR, and $90,000 gross annual income.

The table below compares the policy settings across these lenders:

Most major bank medico programs do not extend to nursing professionals. The Westpac Group is the only mainstream banking group that includes nurses in its LMI waiver framework, and the tier available sits below the 95% LVR option reserved for doctors, dentists, and medical specialists.

This means which banks waive LMI for nurses is a short list. If you're applying outside this group, you'll either need a 20% deposit to avoid LMI altogether or pay the premium upfront or capitalised into your loan.

Westpac LMI Waiver for Nurses

The Westpac nurses LMI waiver allows registered nurses and registered midwives to borrow up to 90% of a property's value without paying lenders mortgage insurance, provided they earn at least $90,000 gross per year and hold current AHPRA registration.

The maximum loan amount under this policy is $5 million, with total Westpac Group lending capped at $7.5 million where the LMI waiver applies. Both owner-occupied and investment lending are covered, which means you can use the waiver to purchase your own home or an investment property.

Consider a registered nurse working at a metropolitan hospital on a base salary of $95,000 who wants to purchase an investment property. Under the Westpac policy, they can borrow at 90% LVR without LMI, saving several thousand dollars in upfront costs compared to a standard loan at the same deposit level. The nurse must provide evidence of current AHPRA registration and recent payslips showing the income threshold is met.

Westpac verifies both your qualifications and registration status as part of the application. If you work in a hospital setting, you may also fall under the Emergency Services Policy, which allows overtime and allowances to be assessed at 100% rather than discounted. This can increase your borrowing capacity if shift penalties and overtime form a regular part of your income.

The 90% LVR tier for nurses sits below the 95% LVR tier reserved for doctors, GPs, dentists, and medical specialists. That higher tier carries no income threshold, while the nurse tier does.

St George Bank LMI Waiver for Nurses

The St George Bank LMI waiver for nurses operates under the same framework as Westpac. Registered nurses and midwives can borrow at 90% LVR with a minimum gross annual income of $90,000, and the maximum loan amount is $5 million with total lending capped at $7.5 million where the waiver applies.

Bank of Melbourne and BankSA apply identical settings as fellow members of the Westpac Group. All four lenders assess applications using the same credit policy, so your eligibility and loan structure will be consistent regardless of which brand you apply through.

One restriction to note is that the 90% LVR LMI waiver cannot be used with the Fast Track income verification method. This means full income documentation is required, including payslips, employment contract, and evidence of current AHPRA registration.

If you're employed as a midwife in a private hospital and your income includes regular shift allowances and penalty rates, those components can be assessed at full value under the Emergency Services Policy. In practice, this often makes the difference between meeting the $90,000 threshold and falling short, particularly for nurses or midwives in their first few years of registration.

Which Banks Do NOT Waive LMI for Nurses?

NAB does not waive LMI for nurses. The NAB medico program covers a range of medical and allied health practitioners, but nurses are not listed among the eligible professions. If you're considering an NAB LMI waiver for nurses, it's not available under current policy.

Commonwealth Bank explicitly excludes nurses from its professionals offer. The LMI waiver for nurses Commonwealth Bank policy also excludes physiotherapists and psychologists, and this exclusion is stated in published policy documents. Bankwest, as a division of CBA, mirrors this position.

ANZ policy has not been confirmed through current lender documents. If you're considering ANZ, check eligibility directly with the lender or through a mortgage broker for nurses at the time of application.

The absence of nurses from most major bank LMI waiver programs reflects how these products were originally designed for high-income medical specialists rather than the broader health workforce. Westpac Group remains the only mainstream banking group to extend the benefit to registered nurses and midwives, albeit with tighter settings than those applied to doctors.

LMI Waiver vs 5% Deposit Scheme

The Westpac Group LMI waiver requires a minimum 10% deposit and $90,000 gross income. The Australian Government's Home Guarantee Scheme allows eligible borrowers to purchase with a 5% deposit without paying LMI, with the government acting as guarantor.

Income threshold changes to the scheme took effect from October 2025. The scheme may suit nurses whose deposit is below 10% or whose income does not yet reach the $90,000 threshold set by Westpac Group lenders.

Consider a registered nurse earning $82,000 per year who has saved an 8% deposit. This nurse does not meet the income threshold for the Westpac LMI waiver and does not have the 10% deposit required. The 5% deposit scheme for nurses may provide a pathway to purchase without paying LMI, provided the nurse meets the scheme's eligibility criteria including income caps and property price limits.

The two pathways are not mutually exclusive in all circumstances. A nurse who qualifies for the Westpac LMI waiver today may have used the Home Guarantee Scheme to purchase their first property years earlier. The right option depends on your current deposit, income, and whether you meet the government scheme's eligibility criteria at the time you're ready to buy.

Current scheme criteria should be verified with Housing Australia or a licensed credit adviser, as policy settings and income caps are adjusted periodically.

How to Access an LMI Waiver as a Nurse

Confirm your current AHPRA registration status before you apply. Registration must be active and current, and you'll need to provide evidence as part of your application.

Gather recent payslips showing your base salary and any shift-related components including allowances and penalty rates. Your employment contract may also be required, particularly if your income includes regular overtime or you've recently changed roles or moved to a higher classification.

Evidence of your profession and registration type must be submitted with the application. For hospital-employed nurses, overtime and allowances may be assessed at 100% under the Emergency Services Policy at Westpac Group lenders, which can make a material difference to how much you can borrow.

If your income sits just below the $90,000 threshold when only base salary is counted, but crosses it when shift penalties and overtime are included, make sure your broker understands how to structure the application so those components are assessed in full. LMI waivers for nurses are one of the few policy settings in mainstream lending that recognise the irregular income patterns common in healthcare roles.

Call one of our team or book an appointment at a time that works for you. We'll confirm your eligibility, calculate your borrowing capacity with shift income assessed in full, and structure your application to access the waiver where available.

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