Hiring remote staff in Australia.

Before you advertise

Remote roles most often go wrong because nobody decided how the work would actually happen. Settle these first:

• Is the role fully remote, or remote with some travel? If people need to come to an office or a client site, say how often.
• Which hours matter? Decide whether the person can work any time, or must be available at set times for calls, clients or the team.
• How will you know the work is going well? Agree the outcomes you’ll look at, rather than counting time online.
• What equipment and software will the person need, and who provides it?

Be precise about where “remote” stretches to, too. Remote within Australia is a different role from remote anywhere. If you need someone based in Australia with the right to work here, say so plainly in the listing and confirm it early in the application, so nobody gets halfway through a process they can’t finish.

Mind the time zones

Australia spans several time zones, and not every state observes daylight saving. Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia stay on standard time all year, so the gap between Brisbane and Sydney, or Perth and Melbourne, changes partway through the year.

If a role needs someone available at set times, write those hours with a named time zone in the listing, such as “9 am to 5 pm AEST”. It saves a lot of confusion for applicants in other states. Public holidays also differ between states and territories, so check which ones apply to someone working from another state.

Get the employment basics right

Remote employees have the same rights as anyone else. Working out the details can feel more complicated when someone works from another state, so check the official sources rather than guessing:

• The Fair Work Ombudsman, for awards, minimum pay and conditions, the National Employment Standards, record-keeping and the information statements new employees must receive.
• The Australian Taxation Office, for tax withholding, superannuation, Single Touch Payroll and whether someone is an employee or a contractor.
• Your state or territory revenue office, for payroll tax, which depends on where your employees work.
• Safe Work Australia and your state or territory regulator, for work health and safety, which still applies when the workplace is someone’s home.
• The Department of Home Affairs, for checking a visa holder’s right to work through its Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) service.

This list is a starting point, not legal advice. If anything is unclear for your situation, talk to an employment lawyer or an accountant before you make an offer.

Settle equipment and costs in writing

Agree up front what you’ll provide: a laptop, a headset, software licences, and whether you’ll contribute to internet or phone costs. Put it in writing with the offer, and keep a simple record of any equipment that needs to come back if the person leaves. It avoids awkward conversations later, on both sides.

Write a listing that travels

A remote listing competes with every other remote listing in the country. Make it easy to say yes to:

• Say “remote” and mean it. If the role is hybrid, call it hybrid.
• Put the pay in the listing, along with super and any bonus.
• List the hours that matter, and the time zone they’re in.
• Explain how the team communicates: video calls, chat, email or phone.
• Say what equipment you provide.

Screen for remote habits

Remote work rewards people who write clearly, manage their own time and raise problems early. Those habits are hard to see in a resume, so build them into the application. Short written scenarios show how someone writes when it counts. A short video introduction shows how they come across on a call, which is how your team and your clients will meet them every day.

Check practical availability early, too. Confirm the hours someone can genuinely commit to, and that they have a quiet place to work and a connection they can rely on.

Onboard on purpose

In an office, new starters absorb a lot just by being near people. Remotely, nothing happens by accident. Plan the first fortnight properly:

• Equipment and logins ready before day one.
• A named person they can ask anything, with time set aside every day in the first week.
• Introductions to the people they’ll work with, on video rather than by email.
• Written notes on how the team works: where things live, how decisions get made and when to call rather than message.
• Clear goals for the first thirty, sixty and ninety days.

Keep it working

After the first few months, the risks change. Remote employees can drift out of sight, or slip into working far longer hours than anyone intended. A regular one-on-one, clear expectations about when people are and aren’t expected to reply, and honest feedback in both directions go a long way. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s guidance also covers contact outside working hours.

Make the effort to meet in person when you can, even if it’s only once or twice a year. It doesn’t replace good habits day to day, but it makes the next hundred video calls easier.