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Buying a Melbourne apartment for a child studying in Australia

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Many Indonesian families buy an apartment in Melbourne while a son or daughter studies here. It can work well, but the rules for foreign buyers are strict, the extra taxes are significant, and the decision about whose name goes on the title has consequences years later.

Are you a “foreign person”?

Under Australia’s foreign investment rules, a buyer who is not an Australian citizen, permanent resident or New Zealand citizen is generally a foreign person. That usually includes Indonesian parents living in Indonesia, and a child in Australia on a student visa.

• Foreign persons generally need Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval before buying residential property in Australia, and must pay an application fee.
• Foreign persons, including temporary residents, are currently banned from buying established (second-hand) homes. The ban began on 1 April 2025 and, according to the ATO, now runs until 30 June 2029, with only limited exceptions.
• New and off-the-plan apartments are generally still available to foreign buyers, with FIRB approval.

The extra Victorian taxes

• Foreign purchaser additional duty: 8% of the price, on top of ordinary stamp duty.
• Absentee owner land tax surcharge: 4% a year of the land value, on top of ordinary land tax, for owners who live overseas.
• Vacant residential land tax: can apply if the apartment is left empty for more than six months in a year, for example after your child finishes studying.

Some exemptions exist, but they must be checked before you sign, not after.

Whose name should be on the title?

This is the question families ask most, and the one most often regretted later.

• In the parents’ names: the parents keep control, but the surcharges usually apply, and the property will pass under the parents’ wills or estates.
• In the child’s name: it may look simpler, but the apartment becomes the child’s asset. If the child later marries and separates in Australia, it may be treated as part of the property pool. If the child dies without a will, it passes under Victorian law.
• In a company or trust: can help with control and succession, but foreign-controlled companies and trusts can also attract surcharges and need their own advice.

Where parents pay but the title is in the child’s name, a short written agreement made at the time can protect the family’s money and avoid disputes later.

Before you sign

1. Confirm the apartment is one foreign buyers can purchase, and apply for FIRB approval or make the contract subject to it.
2. Have the contract and the vendor’s statement reviewed, especially for off-the-plan purchases with long settlement dates.
3. Work out the full cost: price, stamp duty, foreign purchaser duty, legal fees, land tax and owners corporation fees.
4. Decide whose name to use, and put Australian wills and powers of attorney in place for whoever owns it.
5. Plan how funds will come from Indonesia, and what happens when your child finishes studying.

How Chua Tan Associates helps

We have acted for overseas buyers on Victorian property since 1990. Our principal is a licensed real estate agent as well as a lawyer, and we advise families on the structure, the contract and the settlement, by video from Indonesia or in person in Melbourne.

More guides for families in Indonesia

• Inheriting Melbourne Property When a Parent Dies in Indonesia
• Using Indonesian Documents in Australia: Apostille and Translation
• An Australian Will Alongside Your Indonesian Will
• All our services for families and businesses in Indonesia

This guide is general information about Australian law as at October 2026 and is not legal advice. Rules change, and every situation is different.