Published October 2026 by Coral Jacobs, AJ Home Loans Gladstone.
If you work a roster, a lender does not see the income you see. You see what lands in your account across a full swing. The lender sees a payslip, a contract and a start date, and decides how much of that to count. FIFO means fly-in, fly-out and DIDO means drive-in, drive-out. This page explains how that assessment tends to go for roster workers, as I see it in my own files as a Gladstone broker.
This is general information only. Every lender sets its own policy, so use this as a guide to the questions to ask, not a prediction of what any lender will do.
What a lender reads when you work a roster
A lender works out your borrowing capacity from the income it is willing to count, then takes off your commitments. For a roster worker the first half is where files differ most. Base pay is the easy part. Site allowances, overtime and roster loadings are where lenders disagree, and in my experience the gap between one bank and the next can be large. Our borrowing capacity guide shows how the rest of the calculation fits together.
New starter or long-serving: the same job reads differently
In my experience lenders use the lowest amount of income they can. If you have only been in your FIFO job for a few months, a lender will often assess your base income alone and leave out allowances and overtime. That can drop your borrowing power significantly.
Published lender policies set their own minimums. As one example, Macquarie Bank’s broker credit guidelines (version 14.1, updated 10 September 2026) ask for year-to-date income covering at least three months before they will annualise anything beyond base pay, and for at least six months in the current job or in the same field. Other lenders set different thresholds.
Just after 1 July: the new financial year
Even a long-serving worker can run into this. If you have been in the job for years but a new financial year has only just started, the bank will use your current payslip, annualised. That figure will not be as high yet as what you earned last year, and banks are really fussy about it.
The same logic shows up in written policy. Macquarie’s guidelines say that where the year-to-date income covers less than three months, the income used is the lower of the year-to-date figure annualised or the most recent financial year’s income, so a payslip from early in the financial year can pull the figure down.
Payslips and paperwork by roster
Lenders have to take reasonable steps to verify your financial situation, which is why they ask for payslips, a contract and tax records. ASIC sets out that obligation in its responsible lending guidance. What I send depends on your roster.
For FIFO and DIDO clients I always provide the work contract. I normally provide two payslips, but if you are three weeks on and one week off I have to provide five. Overtime and allowances are not assessed at 100% of income, and how much a bank accepts, or whether it accepts it at all, depends on the bank.
Those payslip counts are my own practice for the files I put together, not a rule that every lender applies. A lender can ask for more or different documents.
Allowances and overtime: same pay, different lender
Allowances and overtime rarely count at 100% in the files I see, and the share a bank accepts varies. Published policy shows how much the treatment can differ by type of income. Macquarie counts overtime for most occupations at 80% when it is regular, ongoing and evidenced, and counts shift allowances at 100% where they are a condition of employment and industry standard. Another lender can treat the same pay differently again. For the detail on each type, see how lenders treat overtime and shift allowances.
What FIFO clients get wrong: borrowing power and debt
The thing FIFO clients are most often surprised by is how much they can actually borrow, and how much their other debt reduces it. Not all banks lend the same amount to the same client, and the gap can be huge.
Debt is the part people underestimate. One published lender policy counts a percentage of a credit card’s full limit as a commitment, not just the balance you owe, so a card you rarely use can still reduce what you can borrow. Car loans and other loans are assessed too.
How I workshop your income with lenders
Before I recommend any lender to anyone, I workshop the income with them, because it can be vastly different from bank to bank. That means talking your income through with the lenders before anything is lodged, so the choice of lender rests on how each one would treat it. Moneysmart explains that a broker should present you with more than one option.
If you are weighing up a purchase, getting pre-approved first shows you where you stand before you make an offer.
For loan types, features and how other incomes are assessed, see our page on home loans in Gladstone.
FIFO and DIDO home loan questions
How does a lender assess FIFO income?
It starts with your base income, then the lender decides how much of your allowances and overtime to count, based on its own policy and how long you have been in the job. In my experience lenders use the lowest amount they can, so the same roster can produce very different borrowing amounts at different banks.
How many payslips do I need for a FIFO home loan?
It depends on the lender and your roster. In the files I prepare, I normally provide two payslips, or five if you work three weeks on and one week off, plus your work contract. I confirm the requirement for each lender before you apply.
Will a lender count my allowances and overtime?
Some will count part of them, some will count them in full and some will leave them out. Allowances and overtime are not usually assessed at 100% of income, and how much a bank accepts depends on the bank. The result is subject to each lender’s own assessment.
I have only just started a FIFO job. Can I still apply?
You can talk to a broker at any stage. With only a few months in the job, a lender will often assess your base income alone, which can reduce your borrowing power significantly. Whether it makes sense to apply now or later depends on the lender and your situation, so it is worth a conversation before you lodge anything.
Is DIDO assessed differently to FIFO?
In my files I treat them the same way on paperwork: I always provide the work contract for both. Whether a particular lender treats DIDO differently from FIFO is something I check lender by lender.
Do I pay you a fee?
In most cases you won’t pay me a fee directly. I’m generally paid a commission by the lender once your loan settles. If a situation is ever different, I’ll tell you upfront and in writing before you proceed, so there are no surprises.
Work a roster? Let’s see what actually counts.
Bring your last payslips and your contract and I will talk you through how lenders could read your income. You can read about Coral or get in touch to book a time.
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This page contains general information only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not financial or credit advice. Lending is subject to a lender’s eligibility criteria, terms, conditions, fees and charges. Policies quoted from published lender documents are examples and may change. Please speak with us for advice tailored to your circumstances.