Why Australia's first-home-buyer schemes exclude many Muslims (AU)

An academic analysis published by The Conversation examines how Australia's banking regulation leaves observant Muslims structurally locked out of government low-deposit home-ownership support. The author explains that no Australian Islamic finance provider currently holds an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) licence: Islamic Bank Australia was granted a restricted ADI licence in 2022, but it was revoked at the bank's own request in 2024 after the bank struggled to raise capital, and it has since changed its name to Islamic Money Australia. Because the federal 5%-deposit scheme requires applicants to borrow through one of its participating lenders — all of which are licensed ADIs — and no Islamic finance provider appears on that list, Muslims who avoid interest-based mortgages cannot access the scheme on the same footing as other first-home buyers. The piece frames this as a regulatory-access gap rather than reviewing any single provider's product, and proposes policy fixes.