EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by authority of the Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Cities
Help to Buy Act 2024
Help to Buy Regulations 2026
Section 47 of the Help to Buy Act 2024 (Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Section 43 of the Act enables identified decisions of Housing Australia made in the performance of its functions under sections 10 and 15 of the Act to be prescribed as qualifying for review by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART).
The purpose of the Help to Buy Regulations 2026 (Regulations) is to identify the decisions of Housing Australia that are subject to review by the ART upon application by an applicant. The Regulations specify 15 decisions made by Housing Australia under the Help to Buy Program Directions 2025 (Program Directions) that are subject to merits review by the ART.
The Housing Australia Act 2018 established Housing Australia to improve housing outcomes for Australians. Housing Australia is a corporate Commonwealth entity in the Treasury portfolio and is governed by an independent board. Housing Australia (previously, the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation) commenced operation on 30 June 2018.
The Act established Help to Buy as a Commonwealth shared equity scheme administered by Housing Australia. Help to Buy assists low and middle income earners to purchase new or existing homes by accessing an equity contribution from the Commonwealth. The Act enables Housing Australia, on behalf of the Commonwealth, to, among other things, administer Help to Buy in States that have referred legislative power for the program, as well as in the Territories.
An exposure draft of the Regulations was released from 15 to 26 September 2025. Treasury received 5 submissions, including from peak bodies, advocacy groups and individuals. Stakeholders provided feedback on valuation and termination decisions and recommended that participants be able to seek review of a decision by Housing Australia to refuse a request to reduce or buy back equity. To address feedback received during consultation, the Regulations were amended so that any Housing Australia decision to terminate a Help to Buy arrangement is reviewable, and a decision made under subsection 58(2) of the Program Directions as to the value of that most closely represents the market value of a property is reviewable.
Subsection 46(1) of the Act requires the Minister be satisfied that the Commonwealth has consulted with participating and cooperating states as well as the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory on the Regulations before the Governor-General can make the Regulations. The consultation process is set out in subsections 46(3) to (6) of the Act. Consistent with these requirements, states and territories were consulted from 28 October 2025 to 27 November 2025. No jurisdiction registered objections to the Regulations.
The Regulations are subject to disallowance.
The Regulations are not subject to sunsetting. The Regulations facilitate the operation of an intergovernmental scheme, namely Help to Buy which is supported by a referral of power from participating States as well as an Intergovernmental Agreement, thereby triggering the exemption provided in subsection 54(1) of the Legislation Act 2003. This is to ensure the repeal or amendment of the Regulations would go through the appropriate processes set out by the Act, relevant state referral legislation and the Intergovernmental Agreement. The Regulations have been made to support the implementation of Help to Buy, which involves a long-term commitment from Housing Australia, participating lenders, and participants (as defined in section 5 of the Program Directions) in the program. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the Regulations are not subject to sunsetting to support these parties having regulatory certainty in relation to these commitments.
Section 45 of the Act requires that the operation of the Help to Buy program be reviewed within 3 years of commencement. ‘Help to Buy program’ is defined in section 5 of the Act to mean the Act, the regulations, the Program Directions, and any other legislative instrument made under the Act.
The Help to Buy Intergovernmental Agreement can be accessed on the Treasury Department website for supporting people into home ownership.
The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
The Regulations commenced on the day after the instrument is registered.
Details of the Regulations are set out in Attachment A.
A statement of Compatibility with Human Rights is at Attachment B.
ATTACHMENT A
Details of the Help to Buy Regulations 2026
Section 1 – Name
This section provides that the name of the regulations is the Help to Buy Regulations 2026 (Regulations).
Section 2 – Commencement
The Regulations commence on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Section 3 – Authority
The Regulations are made under the Help to Buy Act 2024 (Act).
Section 4 – Definitions
This section provides that the Act means the Help to Buy Act 2024. The other defined terms have the same meaning as they have in the Help to Buy Program Directions 2025 (Program Directions). These terms are ‘Commonwealth share’, ‘Commonwealth share percentage’, ‘participant’, ‘purchase price’, and ‘sale of existing property requirement’.
A note sets out that a number of expressions used in the Regulations are defined in the Act, including the Program Directions.
Section 14 – Review by the Administrative Review Tribunal
This section provides that, as per section 43 of the Act, applications may be made to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) for review of the following decisions of Housing Australia:
• revoking an approval of a Help to Buy arrangement (defined in section 5 of the Act by reference to section 6 of the Act) under subsection 15(1) of the Program Directions;
• determining the percentage the Commonwealth will contribute to the purchase price of the property under subsection 16(3) of the Program Directions;
• increasing the Commonwealth share percentage (defined in section 5 of the Program Directions) in the property under subsection 25(3) of the Program Directions;
• refusing to allow a participant (defined in section 5 of the Program Directions by reference to section 10 of the Program Directions) to delay satisfying the meeting of the sale of existing property requirement for a period under paragraph 29(2)(a) of the Program Directions;
• refusing to extend the period for which a participant was allowed to not comply with the sale of existing property requirement under paragraph 29(2)(b) of the Program Directions;
• requiring a participant to repay an amount under a Help to Buy arrangement under subsection 37(5) of the Program Directions;
• requiring a participant to repay in full a Commonwealth share under a Help to Buy arrangement under subsection 37(8) of the Program Directions;
• refusing to vary a Help to Buy arrangement by adding a participant in circumstances mentioned subsection 38(2) of the Program Directions;
• refusing to vary a Help to Buy arrangement by removing a participant in the circumstances mentioned in subsection 38(3) of the Program Directions;
• terminating a Help to Buy arrangement before the settlement date for the purchase of the property subject to the arrangement in the circumstances mentioned in subsection 40(1) of the Program Directions;
• terminating a Help to Buy arrangement in any of the circumstances mentioned in subsection 40(2) of the Program Directions;
• recovering the Commonwealth share under a Help to Buy arrangement in either of the circumstances mentioned in subsection 45(1) of the Program Directions;
• recovering the Commonwealth share under a Help to Buy arrangement in the circumstances mentioned in subsection 45(3) of the Program Directions;
• determining the period by which Housing Australia must recover a Commonwealth share under a provision of a Help to Buy arrangement under paragraph 45(5)(b) of the Program Directions; and
• terminating a Help to Buy arrangement under paragraph 53(2)(d) of the Program Directions.
The reason for identifying these as being subject to review is that these are decisions where Housing Australia exercises discretion that affects the rights of participants.
A note to section 14 provides that, generally, an application for review of a decision by the ART must be made within 28 days after the applicant is notified of the decision (pursuant to section 18 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 (ART Act) and rule 5 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Rules 2024). The note also provides that a person may, under section 19 of the ART Act, apply to the ART to allow an application to be made out of time.
Section 15 – Application
Section 15 provides that section 14 of the Regulations applies to a decision made before or after the commencement of the Regulations.
This application provision benefits applicants and means that if Housing Australia makes decisions before the Regulations commence, depending on timing, applicants would need to rely on the ART allowing an application to be made out of time, under section 19 of the ART Act.
ATTACHMENT B
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Help to Buy Regulations 2026
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
The Help to Buy Regulations 2026 (the Regulations) would be part of a legislative framework that underpins Help to Buy. The Help to Buy Act 2024 (the Act) established the Help to Buy program and received Royal Assent on 10 December 2024. The Help to Buy Program Directions 2025 (Program Directions) directs Housing Australia in relation to the performance of its functions under the Act and was registered on 13 June 2025.
Help to Buy assists low and middle income earners to purchase new or existing homes by accessing an equity contribution from the Commonwealth. The Act enables Housing Australia, on behalf of the Commonwealth, to, among other things, administer Help to Buy in States that have referred legislative power for the program, as well as in the Territories.
The Housing Australia Act 2018 established Housing Australia to improve housing outcomes for Australians. Housing Australia is a corporate Commonwealth entity in the Treasury portfolio and is governed by an independent board.
The Regulations identify 15 decisions made by Housing Australia under the Program Directs that are subject to review by the Administrative Reviews Tribunal (ART) upon application by an applicant.
Human rights implications
This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.