Employing people in Australia

Businesses and organisations seeking to employ people in Australia should understand the legal requirements. These obligations cover conditions of employment, and where relevant, visa status.

Government support for staff, visas and immigration

• Asssistance finding and developing staff in Australia: See Understanding government support programs in Australia.
• Employment visas and immigration.

Employment conditions

Australia has a well-developed employment system. This is subject to Australian, state and territory government requirements. The system follows a set of national standards of employment for all Australian employees. It also includes occupational health and safety regulations, and superannuation (pension) payments.

Fair Work Ombudsman

The Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Commission are the 2 key organisations in Australia’s workplace relations system. See the Fair Work System.

The Fair Work Ombudsman provides information on:

• employment and types of employees
• standard entitlements. For example, weekly working hours, flexible working arrangements, leave, entitlements, termination and redundancy payments.
• workplace (or enterprise) agreements outline reciprocal rights and responsibilities agreed between an employer and a group of employees. There are also minimum employment conditions outlined in the National Employment Standards (Agreements).
• award conditions that apply to certain industries and occupations. This is in addition to the minimum conditions outlined in the National Employments standards (Awards)
• rights of Independent Contractors. These are people who are self-employed and contract their services to other businesses. They have different rights to employees.

Occupational health and safety

Employers in Australia are required to maintain a safe workplace. They must meet Australian occupational health and safety requirements. This ensures employers are appropriately represented in the case of a workplace incident. Australian Government legislation, state and territory laws, govern occupational health and safety. A workplace authority in each state or territory gives advice on business’ obligations and the relevant policy.

See business.gov.au for occupational health and safety.

For state or territory information, see work, health and safety requirements in your state or territory.

Workers’ compensation system

Employers in Australia must also maintain workers’ compensation insurance in the event of a workplace incident. Australian Government legislation, state and territory laws govern workers’ compensation. A workplace authority in each state or territory provides advice on business’ obligations and the relevant policy.

See Safe Work Australia, workers’ compensation requirements.

Superannuation

Superannuation is money set aside over the employee’s lifetime to provide for their retirement. Under Australian law, most employees are entitled to have superannuation payments made on their behalf by their employer. These payments are in addition to wages.

See the Australian Tax Office's employee superannuation page.