How long do you need to be employed for a home loan? Probation, new jobs and gaps

Lenders ask how long you've been in your job because they want to know your income will keep coming. For a permanent full-time or part-time employee, most lenders look for three to six months with your current employer, and your payslips show how long you've been paid there.

Some lenders set no minimum for a permanent employee once you've started. Others want longer, especially when your deposit is small (more on that below). So the same work history can suit one lender and not another.

Many lenders that ask for six months with your employer will accept about 12 months in the same industry or the same type of work instead, and a few ask for longer. So a carpenter who moves to a new building company, or a retail manager who joins another chain, may not have to wait out the usual three to six months, because their experience carries over.

A career change is different. If you move into a new industry and a new type of work, the industry route doesn't help, and lenders generally look at your time in the new job on its own. If you keep the same type of work in a new industry, lenders generally still count your experience, as long as your role is the same or similar.

Yes, with some lenders. Your employer usually sets the length of your probation, which often ranges from three to six months.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Probation, read 16 October 2026.

Lenders take different approaches to probation:

• Some accept probation in a permanent role, as long as your employment has been continuous.
• Some accept it if you have about 12 months in the same industry.
• Some want probation finished before they'll count your income.
• Some apply a stricter rule when your deposit is smaller.

A probation period of three to six months lines up with many lenders' minimum time in the job, so finishing one often means you've met the other. If you don't want to wait, a letter from your employer confirming the job is permanent, with your start date and salary, helps a broker make your case.

Most lenders limit the break between jobs when they count your earlier work (some to about four weeks), and others look at each case. If you've had a longer gap, such as time off to travel, study or look for work, a broker can check how each lender treats it.

Some lenders also look at how often you've moved. More than two jobs in the past year can be a problem with some lenders, even when each move made sense, so be ready to explain them.

If you're thinking about changing jobs while you're buying, talk to your broker before you resign. A pre-approval (a lender's in-principle indication of how much it may lend, given before you find a home, which isn't a guarantee) is based on the job you had when you applied, so a new job can mean the lender looks at your application again. Lenders ask for up-to-date payslips before a pre-approval becomes a full approval, and your job and income shouldn't change while your application is in progress. So if you can, wait until after settlement to change jobs.

Being on parental leave doesn't rule you out. Many lenders will look at the pay you'll earn when you go back to work, if your employer confirms your return date, your hours and your pay in writing. They'll usually want savings to cover any shortfall until you're back, and some count childcare costs in your living expenses.

Some lenders count your parental leave pay instead of your pay on return, and some set a limit on how long the leave, or the wait until you return, can be. If you're going back part time, your part-time pay is the income lenders will use. Parental leave rules vary a lot between lenders, so it's worth a broker checking which ones fit.

If you're casual, lenders usually want more history: often six months with your employer, and sometimes 12 months, or six months plus time in the industry. Part-time work is generally treated like full-time work.

A second job usually has to pass the same test as a main job before lenders count its pay, and some want it held for 12 months.

If you work on a fly-in fly-out roster, our guide to home loans for FIFO workers covers moving between sites and casual roster work. If you're self-employed, lenders look at how long your business has been trading instead, which is a different question with its own rules: our guide to home loans for the self-employed covers it.

Some lenders apply stricter time-in-job rules when your loan needs lenders mortgage insurance (LMI, which protects the lender, not you, if a loan with a small deposit goes wrong). LMI usually applies when your loan is more than 80% of the home's value. That percentage is your loan-to-value ratio, or LVR. For example, a lender might ask for a minimum time in the job, or proof that probation is finished, only on a loan with LMI.

So if you're new in your job, a deposit of 20% or more of the home's value can open up more lenders.

The form in our home loan comparison tool asks employees whether they're on probation and how long they've been in their current role. The chat on our home page assumes you're full time, past probation and more than six months in; choose “Use a form instead” to give different details. Lenders whose policy doesn't fit your answers stay in your list with a “Needs more info” badge, rather than disappearing, so you can see every lender we compare and what to ask about.

The tool doesn't ask about your time in the industry, gaps between jobs or parental leave, so a lender showing “Needs more info” may still suit you once a Xandii broker checks those details. Being new in your job doesn't change the indicative amounts the tool shows; it changes which lenders a broker needs to check with.

• Your two most recent payslips, showing your year-to-date pay (your pay so far this financial year).
• Your employment contract or letter of offer, showing whether the job is permanent, your start date and your salary.
• If you're on probation, the date it ends.
• If you've changed jobs in the past two years, your previous employers and the dates you worked there, with your latest income statement or tax return.
• If you're on parental leave, a letter from your employer with your return date, hours and pay, and statements showing your savings.