A hospital worker in Dulwich Hill has been casual for eighteen months, same employer, steady roster, better hourly rate than the permanent staff.
Yes, with the right lender. Most count casual income once you have six to twelve months in the role, averaged from payslips and the year-to-date figure; some accept three months with a longer history in the same field.
Steady hours and consistent payslips matter more than the word casual.
Part of the first home buyer loans guide.
Income averages about $92,000 including penalty rates and regular overtime, with an $78,000 deposit saved with family help already documented as a gift.
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Charles is an absolute star at what he does. He was straight-up, highly professional, and worked hard to secure a fantastic rate for our home loan. Communication was prompt and clear the entire way through. I would trust him with any future financial needs
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Income averages about $92,000 including penalty rates and regular overtime, with an $78,000 deposit saved with family help already documented as a gift. She wants a one-bedroom apartment around $620,000, inside scheme caps, inside her range.
Averaging method is the whole game. A lender that annualises her year-to-date figure including penalties reads $92,000; one that takes base hours only reads closer to $60,000, same person, same payslips, a difference that decides whether the apartment is affordable.
Eighteen months of tenure clears most thresholds, but a two-week unpaid gap over summer needs explaining before an assessor finds it unexplained.
The full income history: year-to-date figures, the prior year's certificate, roster consistency, and the summer gap with its ordinary explanation. The lender-by-lender averaging comparison at her actual numbers. Scheme eligibility for the 5% pathway. That answer protects her more than any approval does.
And the sensitivity test, if the roster shrank, where does the repayment sit against a realistic reduced income?
Casual lending is mainstream when tenure and consistency are provable, the myth says otherwise because short-tenure casual files are hard, and the folklore never got updated. Buying inside a sensible buffer is the real protection.
The risks worth respecting: income that depends on penalty loadings can move with roster changes, so borrowing to the absolute ceiling is unwise even when a lender allows it.
If you're casual and being told no: the question is tenure and evidence, not employment label. Keep every payslip, avoid unexplained gaps where you can, and get the averaging compared across lenders before believing any single bank's number.
The difference between assessments of the same payslips is routinely the difference between buying and waiting.
Commonly six to twelve months, though some lenders accept a shorter history where the industry and hours are steady, and how overtime and loadings are counted differs too.
Frequently, yes: some lenders shade casual earnings or average them over a period, which lowers the figure your borrowing is calculated from. A lender that reads your pattern of hours generously changes the outcome.
It can, with conditions on how long you have held it. Second jobs and multiple incomes covers how lenders treat each stream.
Thirty minutes with Charles: your income averaged the way the right lenders average it, and your real buying range on the roster you work.
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This is an illustrative example scenario, not a description of a specific client and not a testimonial. The figures are realistic but rounded, no lender is named, and no outcome is promised, every application is assessed on its own facts. General information only, not credit or financial advice.
Official sources for the figures on this page: Housing Australia, 5% Deposit Scheme · Revenue NSW, First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme. Scheme rules change; the official pages are the final word. Checked against these sources on 12 October 2026.
