Casual, shift and part-time income
Home loans for casual workers in Melbourne
Working casual does not rule you out of a home loan. It does mean the bank you already use may not be the right lender, because every lender has its own rule about how long you need to have been in the job and how much of your income it will count. Shaheera spent twenty years inside Australian banking and knows those rules lender by lender.
Why it feels harder than it should
Same income, different answer at every lender
A casual nurse doing 32 hours a week, a warehouse worker on a roster, a hospitality worker whose shifts move around: all of them earn real money, and all of them get treated as a higher risk by lenders because the hours are not guaranteed in writing.
The rules are not the same everywhere. A few lenders will count casual income after three months if the hours are regular. Most want six. Some want twelve months with the same employer, and a couple want two years. Some count all of it, some shade it down, and some ignore overtime and penalty rates altogether.
So a knock-back from one bank rarely means you cannot borrow. It usually means you asked the wrong lender for your pattern of income. Working out which lender fits before anything is lodged is most of the job.
- We match your time in the job, hours and payslip history to lenders whose policy actually accepts it
- Second jobs, overtime, shift loading and penalty rates are counted where a lender allows it
- Nothing is lodged until we are confident, so there is no wasted enquiry on your credit file
Rated 5.0 from 27 local reviews
Twenty years inside Australian banking, including senior roles at ANZ, before starting Exceed Finance. Plain answers, no pressure.
The numbers that matter
At a glance
General information only. Lender policies change and your full situation has to be assessed before any lender will confirm what they will do. Our service is free to you on residential home loans and everything is disclosed in writing.
Where we can usually help most
The casual-income situations that come up again and again
Regular hours, casual contract
Nurses, aged care, warehouse and logistics staff on a steady roster. Several lenders treat this almost like permanent work once you have a few months of consistent payslips.
Irregular shifts
Hospitality, retail and events. Here the lender looks at a year-to-date average, so the timing of when you apply can change what you can borrow.
Two jobs
A permanent role plus casual work on the side. Some lenders will count the second job in full after twelve months, others count half, a few count none of it.
Just changed employer
Some lenders accept a strong history in the same industry even if the current job is new. Others reset the clock. We know which is which.
Where our clients are
Across Melbourne, and Australia-wide
We are based in Dandenong South and a lot of our clients are across Melbourne's south-east, but everything can be done by phone, video and secure upload, so we help clients anywhere in Australia.
Other situations we write about:
Simple from start to finish
How it works
Free chat
We work out your goals and what you can actually borrow.
We compare
We search 35+ lenders and shortlist the ones whose policy fits your situation.
We apply
We package and submit your application, and chase it for you.
Settlement
We see it through to approval, and stay in touch afterwards.
Common questions
Questions we get asked a lot
How long do I need to be in a casual job before I can get a home loan?
It depends on the lender. A small number will accept casual income after three months where the hours are regular. Most want six months in the role, and quite a few want twelve months with the same employer before they treat the income as stable. Some lenders extend that to two years for what they see as higher-risk situations. We check your actual dates and payslips against each lender's policy rather than guessing.
Will the lender count all of my casual income?
Not always. Lenders usually work from a year-to-date figure on your payslip, sometimes averaged over the last three to six months, and some shade it down to allow for weeks you might not work. Overtime, shift loading and penalty rates are treated separately again. Which lender you use can change your borrowing power by tens of thousands of dollars on exactly the same income.
Can I get a low-deposit loan on casual income?
Often, yes. Several lenders will go to 90 percent of the property value with six months in the job, and some go to 95 percent with twelve months. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme does not exclude casual workers; it looks at whether you can service the loan, not what your employment contract says. Your full situation has to be assessed before any lender will confirm what they will do.
I was declined at my bank because I am casual. Is that the end of it?
Usually not. Banks apply their own policy, and casual income is one of the areas where policies differ most. Being declined at one lender does not stop another lender approving you, though the enquiry does sit on your credit file, which is why we prefer to find the right lender before an application goes anywhere.
Do I need payslips, or will bank statements do?
Payslips showing year-to-date income are the standard evidence, usually the last two or three plus a recent PAYG summary or tax return. Bank statements showing the deposits back that up. If your employer is a labour-hire agency the paperwork is slightly different, and we will tell you exactly what to gather.
Do you charge for this?
Our service is free to you on residential home loans. Everything is disclosed in writing before you commit to anything, and as a licensed credit representative we operate under Best Interests Duty, which legally requires us to act in your interests rather than our own.
Will talking to you affect my credit score?
No. A conversation with us, and the work we do comparing lenders, involves no credit check. A credit enquiry only happens when an actual application is lodged with a lender, and we do not lodge anything until you have chosen to go ahead. The point of doing the work first is so that the application that does go in is the right one.
Find out what your casual income actually gets you
Tell us your job, your hours and how long you have been there. We will tell you which lenders would look at it and what you could borrow. Free, no obligation.