Australian banks are supporting rural Australia.
28 September 2022
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) today welcomed a government initiative to help 10,000 first home buyers purchase a home in regional Australia.
From Saturday, thousands more Australians will be able to apply for financial support under the Regional First Home Buyers Guarantee (RFHBG) scheme to assist them in purchasing a home with a deposit as small as five per cent.
““We know affordable housing is critical to the financial and social wellbeing of the community.”
ABA COO Vanessa Beggs
The Australian Banking Association Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Beggs said the initiative was an important step to help address the housing challenge in Australia.
“We know affordable housing is critical to the financial and social wellbeing of the community. Home ownership remains an important financial and lifestyle goal for many Australians and policies which facilitate affordable and sustainable home ownership should remain at the centre of Australia’s housing policy agenda,” Ms Beggs said.
“We welcome the expansion of the First Home Buyers Guarantee scheme, noting that it has been particularly successful to date in supporting women and front-line workers enter the housing market. Aspiring home buyers should contact a participating lender to discuss their circumstances.”
The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee Scheme is an expansion to the federal government’s Home Guarantee Scheme focused on homebuyers looking to buy in regional areas and will remain open until 2025.
To be eligible, home buyers must have lived in the regional area or near the regional area in which they are purchasing for the preceding 12-month period.
Latest news
Transcript
ABA CEO Simon Birmingham interview on ABC Melbourne
Read more
23 January 2026
E&OE Ali Moore: Yes, if you use a dating app, have you ever thought about how secure it is? And if you ever wondered about the sort of anti-scam regulations that they have to comply with, the big banks say that the rules are not tough enough for dating apps, as well as things like… Read more »
Media Releases
Former ASIC Commissioner Sean Hughes appointed Chair of the Banking Code Compliance Committee
Read more
16 January 2026
In conjunction with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), the ABA is pleased to announce the appointment of former ASIC Commissioner Mr Sean Hughes as the next Chair of the Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC). Mr Hughes served as a Commissioner at ASIC from 2018 to 2023 and brings deep expertise in financial services… Read more »
Op-Ed
Op-Ed: Your super is footing the bill for someone else’s gamble
Read more
15 January 2026
The CSLR was intended to give basic protection to mum and dad-type investors. It should not be a collectively funded vehicle for removing investment risk from society.