Employer of Record In AustraliaHiring in Australia with an Employer of Record

Australian law distinguishes between fixed-term and permanent employment contracts. Written contracts are standard practice and should outline the identity of both parties, start date, role and responsibilities, workplace and working hours, salary and benefits, leave entitlements, notice periods, probation terms, and any applicable Modern Awards or Enterprise Agreements.

Employers must provide a safe and healthy working environment for both on-site and remote employees.

Key compliance obligations include anti-discrimination protections, adherence to working-hour limits, compliance with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, overtime pay requirements, employee training, workplace incident reporting, and first aid readiness. Employers must also provide workers compensation insurance as required by Australian law to cover employees in case of work-related injuries or illnesses.

Additionally, compliance with national employment standards is essential, as these set out the minimum entitlements for employees, including leave, notice periods, and other mandatory employee benefits.

Paid time off: 4 weeks + bank holidays

Sick Leave: 10 days

Maternity Leave: 52 weeks of which 90 days are at the national minimum wage

Paternity Leave: 2 weeks paid annual leave

Parental Leave: 16 weeks

Australia’s national minimum wage in 2025 is AUD 24.95 per hour, effective 1 July 2025. This rate applies to employees not covered by specific industry awards and is reviewed annually by the Fair Work Commission. Employers must account for regional, role-based, and industry variations.

Standard full-time working hours in Australia are 38 hours per week under the Fair Work Act 2009. Additional hours may be worked if considered reasonable.

Overtime is generally paid at premium rates, often starting at time-and-a-half and increasing to double time, depending on applicable awards or agreements. Employers must also ensure adequate rest periods to avoid compliance breaches.

Shift workers may be entitled to additional paid leave or penalty rates compared to standard employees, reflecting the unique demands of their work schedules.

Public holidays are recognized both nationally and regionally in Australia, and employees may be entitled to additional pay or leave for work performed on these days.

The average full-time salary in Australia in 2025 is approximately AUD 100,000 per year, though actual earnings vary widely by industry, experience level, and location. Major cities such as Sydney and Perth typically offer higher salaries than regional areas.

Foreign nationals require appropriate visas to work in Australia. Common options include employer-sponsored visas for temporary or permanent roles, points-tested skilled visas, and short-term specialist visas.

Employers must comply with sponsorship obligations, labor market testing rules, and visa conditions throughout the employment period.

In Australia, terminations must be justified, and employers cannot engage in at-will termination outside the probation period. Acceptable grounds for termination include:

• Voluntary resignation by the employee

• Mutual agreement

• Unilateral termination by the employer (based on probation period, objective grounds, disciplinary reasons, or inadequate performance for the job)

• Contract expiration

In the absence of an award, agreement, or specific clause in your contract, the Fair Work Act sets out minimum notice periods based on an employee’s length of service:

• Less than 1 year of service: 1 week notice

• 1-3 years of service: 2 weeks notice

• 3-5 years of service: 3 weeks notice

• More than 5 years of service: 4 weeks notice

Severance pay depends on the duration of an employees service, and the payment rate corresponds to the regular hours worked:

• In between 1-2 years: 4 weeks severance pay

• In between 2-3 years: 6 weeks severance pay

• In between 3-4 years: 7 weeks severance pay

• In between 4-5 years: 8 weeks severance pay

• In between 5-6 years: 10 weeks severance pay

• In between 6-7 years: 11 weeks severance pay

• In between 7-8 years: 13 weeks severance pay

• In between 8-9 years: 14 weeks severance pay

• In between 9-10 years: 16 weeks severance pay

• At least 10 years: 12 weeks severance pay

Australia enforces strict penalties for misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Consequences can include back payment of taxes, unpaid superannuation, interest charges, significant fines, and payment of outstanding statutory benefits. Partnering with an EOR helps reduce misclassification risk by ensuring workers are correctly classified under Australian employment law.

Expanding your team across borders brings clear benefits—access to skilled talent, increased productivity, and more diverse teams—but hiring in Australia can be complex. From setting up a local entity to managing employment contracts, payroll, taxes, benefits, and ongoing compliance, international hiring requires significant time, expertise, and operational resources.

An Employer of Record simplifies this process by handling the legal and administrative side of employment on your behalf. With PamGro, you can hire and pay employees in Australia without establishing a local entity. PamGro manages onboarding, compliant payroll, benefits administration, and adherence to Australian labor and tax laws—backed by strong data security and intellectual property protections—so you can grow your remote team quickly and with confidence.

You generally have four options when hiring in Australia. Using an Employer of Record is the most efficient and compliant approach. Setting up a local entity provides full control but is expensive and complex. Hiring independent contractors can be risky for full-time roles due to misclassification rules.

Employing workers directly from your home country is usually not compliant for long-term arrangements. For most companies, an EOR offers the best balance of speed, compliance, and Fair Work Act expertise.

Employer of Record providers manage superannuation contributions on behalf of the employer, ensuring payments meet the statutory rate (currently 12%) and are paid on time to compliant super funds. The EOR calculates contributions through payroll, remits them to the appropriate funds, and ensures full compliance with Australian tax and Fair Work requirements.

Read More: What is Superannuation & how does it work in Australia?

With an Employer of Record in Australia, hiring typically takes 1–2 weeks for Australian residents. For non-residents who require work visas, timelines are usually 4–12 weeks, depending on visa type and processing times. This is significantly faster than setting up a local entity, which involves company registration and ongoing regulatory setup.