Pre-approval process & documents
What pre-approval actually is, how long it takes, and the exact documents an Australian lender will ask for before issuing one.
What is pre-approval?
Pre-approval (sometimes called "conditional approval" or "approval in principle") is a written indication from a lender that they will lend you up to a specific amount, based on the financial information you've supplied. It's not a guarantee — it's conditional on the property valuation, your circumstances staying the same, and the lender's policy at settlement.
Australian buyers typically use pre-approval at auctions and private treaty negotiations to demonstrate they can fund the purchase. Most pre-approvals are valid for 90 days, although a few lenders extend to 6 months.
What documents will the lender ask for?
Document requirements vary by lender and employment type, but a credit-scored pre-approval (the kind you actually want — see below) needs the same evidence the full application will require.
- Photo ID (driver's licence + Medicare card or passport)
- Last two payslips (PAYG) or two years' tax returns + NoAs (self-employed)
- Three months of bank statements for every transaction account
- Statements for any existing loans, credit cards and BNPL accounts
- Rental ledger or share of expenses if currently renting
- Rates notice + insurance for any property you already own
- ATO portal access or recent NoA if PAYG with significant deductions
Credit-scored vs system-scored — the gotcha
Many online pre-approvals are "system-scored" — the lender's policy engine ran your numbers but a credit assessor never reviewed them. These can fall over at full application stage when an assessor sees something the system missed (afterpay accounts, irregular bonus income, unverified deposit history).
Always ask whether your pre-approval is credit-assessed, and whether a hard credit enquiry has been logged. The hard enquiry hits your file either way, so you may as well get the human review.
A system-scored pre-approval gives you false confidence at auction. Get the credit-assessed version — same enquiry, real conviction.
How long does it take?
Big-4 turnaround for a credit-assessed pre-approval is currently 5-15 business days depending on lender. Some non-banks and online lenders return decisions in 24-72 hours when documentation is clean.
The single biggest cause of delay: incomplete bank statements. Lenders want full pages with the bank's logo header — screenshots from the app are usually rejected.
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