ACT Disability Duty Concession Scheme (DDCS) — full stamp duty exemption

What Is This Payment?

The ACT Disability Duty Concession Scheme is a conveyance-duty (stamp duty) concession for National Disability Insurance Scheme participants buying a home in the Australian Capital Territory. Inside the rule database it is tagged as a monetary primary ACT benefit in the ACT Disability Home Buyer cluster, but it carries eligibility_only result role because the saving is read off the duty scale rather than paid as cash. The entitlement scope is per household and one-off, so the concession applies once to the qualifying purchase.

The administering body is the ACT Revenue Office. The scheme is processed through the office directly rather than through myGov or a bank, because conveyance duty is an ACT territory tax. The buyer or their conveyancer lodges the concession claim against the settlement contract, and the office assesses the NDIS funding-package evidence before adjusting the duty payable at settlement.

The design intent is to lower the entry cost of home ownership for NDIS participants whose disability creates a lifelong need for attendant care, recognising that an accessible home is often more expensive and that duty is a large upfront barrier. From 2026-27 the scheme is a full conveyance duty exemption at any property value — the previous $1,020,000 cap and $35,238 limit are removed. The DDCS sits alongside the companion Severe Disability Duty Exemption in the same cluster: both now remove all duty at any value, and the difference is the evidence gate — this scheme is tied to an NDIS funding package, while the exemption is tied to a qualifying pension. A buyer chooses the path that matches their evidence — NDIS package versus pension.

How Much Can You Get?

The amount type is eligibility_only, so there is no single flat dollar headline. The value is the conveyance duty you avoid. From 2026-27 there is a single band: a qualifying property attracts a full waiver at any value — the duty drops to zero. The previous $1,020,000 threshold and the $35,238 concession limit are removed, so there is no longer a partial-waiver band above any cap.

To audit the saving yourself, work through two steps. First, look up the standard ACT conveyance duty for your contract price on the ACT Revenue Office duty scale. Second, the entire duty is waived and your saving equals that scale figure, regardless of the contract price.

Two worked points show the change. On an $850,000 ACT home with a standard duty near $25,000, a DDCS buyer pays nothing, so the saving is the full $25,000. On a $1,200,000 home where standard duty might be around $45,000, the buyer also pays nothing — the full $45,000 is now waived, whereas under the pre-2026-27 rule the concession would have frozen at $35,238 and left roughly $9,762 payable.

No multiplier, no reduces_if, and no date_windows are attached to this rule, so nothing tapers the figure. From 2026-27 the contract price no longer changes the outcome — the full duty is waived at any price, and the concession is applied once per qualifying purchase.

Eligibility Conditions

The eligibility block is an all set, so every item must pass.

1. ACT jurisdiction: state = ACT. The property must be in the Australian Capital Territory and the buyer must be an ACT resident. Conveyance duty is a territory tax, so an interstate purchase is outside this scheme.
2. Principal place of residence: purchasing_principal_residence = true. The buyer must intend to live in the home, not hold it as an investment. Occupancy must start within a year of settlement and continue for at least one year.
3. Disability confirmed: disability_or_illness_confirmed = true. The buyer has a confirmed disability or illness, evidenced through the NDIS pathway.
4. Lifelong attendant-care need: lifelong_need_for_attendant_care = true. The disability creates a lifelong need for attendant care, the marker the scheme uses to confirm an individual NDIS funding package applies.

Required fields for assessment are state, principal-residence intent, confirmed disability, and the lifelong attendant-care need. Together the last two are satisfied by producing the individual NDIS funding package, which is the documentary anchor the ACT Revenue Office checks.

The excludes.any and conflicts lists are empty in the YAML. The real gates that fail most applicants live in the application notes rather than the coded block: the buyer must hold at least a 51 per cent interest in the property, must not have owned any other property in the two years before the transaction, and must satisfy the residency and occupancy rules.

One practical consideration: the 51 per cent ownership rule lets a person with disability buy with a co-owner, such as a family carer, and still claim the concession, provided the participant holds the controlling majority share. A 50-50 split would not meet the 51 per cent floor.

How To Apply

Application metadata defines a single channel: act_revenue_office. The concession is claimed against the settlement contract through the ACT Revenue Office, usually lodged by the buyer's conveyancer or solicitor as part of the settlement paperwork rather than as a separate online form.

Evidence requirements are explicitly listed in the rule and should be prepared before settlement:

• NDIS funding package proof — documentation showing the buyer holds an individual NDIS funding package, the gate that distinguishes the DDCS from the pension-based exemption.
• Settlement contract — the contract of sale showing the contract price, used to calculate the standard duty that is then fully waived.

Two practical tips help. First, from 2026-27 there is no property value cap, so the full standard duty is waived regardless of price — the saving simply equals the standard duty on your contract. Second, lodge the NDIS package proof with the conveyancer well before the settlement date, since the office must assess the evidence before adjusting the duty payable at settlement.

Read the official ACT Revenue Office DDCS guidance

Rule-Based Scenarios

Scenario 1: NDIS buyer, full waiver

Jedda is an NDIS participant with a lifelong attendant-care need who buys an $830,000 townhouse in Belconnen as her principal residence. She holds a 100 per cent interest and has not owned other property in the past two years. From 2026-27 the DDCS waives the entire conveyance duty at any price, which on her contract is about $24,000. Jedda pays zero duty at settlement and her saving equals the full $24,000.

Scenario 2: higher-priced home, still a full waiver

Kirra and her partner buy a $1,180,000 single-storey accessible home so Kirra, an NDIS participant, can manage daily attendant care. Standard duty on the contract is roughly $43,000. From 2026-27 there is no property value cap, so the whole $43,000 is waived rather than being frozen at the old $35,238 limit. Kirra pays zero duty at settlement. Under the pre-2026-27 rule the concession would have capped at $35,238 and left around $7,762 payable; the cap removal now delivers the full saving.

Scenario 3: recent prior owner, blocked

Jarrah has an NDIS package and wants to buy a $740,000 unit in Gungahlin. He sold an investment flat eight months ago. Although he meets the disability and residence tests, the application notes require no other property interest in the two years before the transaction. Because his sale was inside that window, the DDCS path is closed for this purchase. Jarrah pays the full standard duty of about $20,000 and would only become eligible once two clear years have passed since his last ownership.

Common Mistakes

• Reading the concession as a flat cash grant: the saving is duty you avoid off the duty scale, not a payment. From 2026-27 there is no cap — the saving equals the whole standard duty bill at any property value (the old $1,020,000 threshold and $35,238 limit no longer apply).
• Assuming any disability evidence works: the scheme requires lifelong_need_for_attendant_care = true backed by an individual NDIS funding package. A medical certificate alone does not open the DDCS; the NDIS package is the specific gate.
• Owning property within the two-year window: the application notes bar buyers who held any other property interest in the two years before the transaction. A recent sale or inherited share inside that window disqualifies the purchase even with a valid NDIS package.
• Holding less than a 51 per cent share: the rule requires at least a 51 per cent interest in the home. Buying on an exact 50-50 split with a co-owner falls below the floor and loses the concession.
• Confusing the DDCS with the Severe Disability exemption: from 2026-27 both remove all duty at any value — the difference is the evidence gate. The DDCS is NDIS-based; the Severe Disability Duty Exemption is pension-based. Applying for the wrong one with the wrong evidence stalls the assessment.
• Treating it as an investment-property concession: the home must be the principal place of residence with occupancy starting within a year of settlement and continuing at least one year. An investment purchase fails the purchasing_principal_residence = true gate.

Related Rules And Interactions

The conflicts and affects lists in this rule are empty, but the cluster structure and the duty-scale logic connect the DDCS to several other ACT home-buyer and disability concessions. Use these links to navigate the surrounding rules.

• ACT Severe Disability Duty Exemption — the cluster sibling. From 2026-27 both remove 100 per cent of duty at any property value; the key difference is the evidence gate — the exemption is tied to a qualifying pension (DSP, DVA invalidity, or Carer Payment), whereas the DDCS here is tied to an NDIS funding package. A buyer with a pension rather than an NDIS package routes to the exemption.
• ACT Pensioner Duty Concession — a separate duty concession for pensioners, an alternative path where the buyer holds a pension card rather than an NDIS package.
• ACT Off-the-Plan Duty Exemption — a duty concession for off-the-plan apartment purchases, relevant if the accessible home is bought before construction completes.
• ACT Land Rent Scheme — discounted 2% rate — a leasehold alternative that lowers ongoing land rent rather than upfront duty, for buyers who cannot meet the deposit on a freehold purchase.
• ACT Taxi Subsidy Scheme — a companion disability transport concession for the same household, often relevant where the disability also limits public-transport use.

Frequently Asked Questions