Your rights and fair pay

Too many career caregivers, especially those starting out, are quietly underpaid. It happens most when work is arranged casually through social media, where a flat cash rate can hide the fact that you are missing pay, superannuation, and basic protections you are entitled to by law.

This is a plain-language guide to what fair pay actually looks like in Australia, and the rights that sit behind it. Knowing this protects you, and it lifts the whole profession.

This is a genuinely debated topic in the nanny industry, and to our knowledge the ATO and Fair Work do not classify caregivers as strictly one or the other. It helps to start with what each word means. An employee works regular hours, follows the family's direction, and relies on that household for their income. A contractor runs their own small operation, chooses when and how they work, and invoices for the work they do.

Where you sit depends on the shape of the work. If you care for the same family on a regular, long-term basis, it is worth discussing your technical status with an accountant, because a settled ongoing arrangement can look a lot like employment. A professional babysitter, on the other hand, is generally a contractor, because they do not work regular hours at a regular location. If they did, they would be a nanny rather than a babysitter. Think of it the way many families engage a regular house cleaner: the cleaner does regular work and is still a contractor.

Fair Work puts it this way: "Nannies are most often engaged as employees. This doesn't mean nannies can't be genuine independent contractors." The label matters because it shapes your entitlements, so the best advice is to talk to your accountant about your own circumstances.

Nannies and babysitters generally fall under the Miscellaneous Award 2020 (MA000104). As a guide, its casual minimum wage is around $32.31 per hour, which already includes the casual loading that stands in place of paid leave. Rates are reviewed each year and usually change on 1 July, so always confirm the current figure with Fair Work.

Whichever way you are engaged, casual work should pay more per hour than the equivalent permanent role, not less, because that loading is there to make up for the lack of paid leave.

Superannuation is paid on top of your wage, into your nominated fund, not taken out of it. Eligible employees are entitled to the Superannuation Guarantee, which reached 12 percent of ordinary earnings from 1 July 2025. Cash in hand with no super is one of the clearest signs a job is underpaying you.

One thing to know for household work: to our knowledge, superannuation for household staff is generally not legally required to be paid by the employer unless the worker works more than 30 hours per week. Below that threshold the rules differ, so check with your accountant about your own hours.

You should receive a payslip for every pay, and the family, as your employer, must keep proper records. If you are employed on an ongoing (permanent) basis rather than casually, you also build up paid annual leave and sick leave under the National Employment Standards. Keep your own simple record of the hours you work, it makes any future question easy to answer.

If you work as a contractor, such as a babysitter, send an invoice for every hour you work and are paid, and keep those invoices for your records. They prove you have been paid and give you a clear way to track your income across the year.

Picking up jobs through community groups and social media can feel quick and friendly, and sometimes it is genuinely fine. The risk is that a flat cash rate often sits below the legal minimum once you account for the missing casual loading and super, with no payslip, no record, and no clear cover if something goes wrong on the job.

Working through a proper arrangement, including a recruitment agency, means your status, pay, and protections are set up correctly from the start, so you can focus on the care rather than chasing what you are owed.

The Fair Work Ombudsman is the official, free source of truth. Use its Pay Calculator to find the current minimum for your role, read its guidance for nannies and au pairs, and keep your own record of hours. If something does not add up, you can ask the family, or contact Fair Work directly. Asking is your right, and a good employer will welcome it.