Become a Host Family in Australia

Are you looking for flexible and affordable help with your children? Is your family interested in foreign cultures and another way of living, but there is just so much to do that travelling far is not possible? Then hosting an Au Pair might be right for you.

You would invite a young woman or man to live with you for up to a year and receive reliable and flexible childcare. Here you will find all the necessary information about how to become a Host Family in Australia.

Can you become a Host Family in Australia?

Let your kids discover a new culture at a young age. They will be more open-minded and tolerant in the future if they have lived with someone from another country. In order to invite an Au Pair, the Host Family needs to meet certain requirements:

You should have at least one child under the age of 13
There is a private bedroom at your house for the participant
Your family can provide the Au Pair with food and salary
English is the spoken language in your family
Your nationality is different than the Au Pair’s nationality

Do you have all it takes to become a Host Family? Then get your family ready for a cultural exchange with the Au Pair program. If you register at Aupair.com, you might find a new family member faster than you’ve expected.

Free Registration as Family

How does it work?

1. Create a profile

The first step is to create a profile on our website. You should write a nice welcome letter, describe your family and upload some pictures. Profiles with photos are far more successful and popular than profiles without.

A profile at AuPair.com is free with a Basic Membership. With this membership you will be able to send standardized messages and add applicants to your list of favorites. A Premium Membership will give you the opportunity to write personal messages to exchange contact details, so you can get to know the candidate. This membership will also include a template of the Au Pair contract and a handbook for the Host Family. Both will be sent to you in the email with the payment confirmation.

2. Communicate with the Au Pairs

When you communicate with the Au Pairs, you should check with them if they are eligible for a visa to go to Australia as an Au Pair. You will find the general visa regulations on our website, but the candidate should always check specific regulations to get the visa with the Australian embassy in their home country. You can also find more information about working hours, the schedule, pocket money and the insurance.

3. Arrange a video-call

You can arrange skype interviews with your candidates and talk to them a couple of times. Then it is time to make a decision about who you would like to invite to stay with your family. You should talk about the contract, which should include all the details about the stay. Both parties need to sign it.

How to hire an Au Pair in Australia?

Au Pairs in Australia will need either the Working Holiday or the Work and Holiday visa. They will be allowed to work and live in Australia for a certain amount of time. Each applicant has to meet certain requirements in order to be eligible for the visa:

between 18 and 30 years old
English skills at a good level
at least 5.000 AUD in the bank account and able to pay for the flight to Australia and back
apply for the visa for the first time
unmarried and no children
experience in childcare
in good health

Additional requirements for Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417):

never been to Australia with a Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 462)

Additional requirements for Work and Holiday Visa (Subclass 462):

meets the educational requirements of the application form.
the government has to provide the candidate with a confirmation that they approve his/her stay in Australia.

For more information about the visa requirements, please check our information about the visa to Australia. We also recommend to get more information about the requirements at the Australian embassy of the Au Pair’s home country.

Tax on the pocket money

From January 1, 2017 the first AUD 37,000 of a working holiday maker's income are taxed at 15%. There are two different kinds of tax though, depending on if your family is registered at the ATO as an employer of a working holiday maker or not, so please check the information on the website of the Australian Taxation Office.

Last steps

If your chosen new family member is eligible to apply for a visa, there are only a few more steps to go:

1. Sign the Contract

The Au Pair agreement is the most important document the Au Pair and you need, because if both of you sign it, you can avoid problems and misunderstandings in the future. So everything that matters has to be in it.

2. Be safe - take care of the insurance!

For the Au Pair and the Host Family, it is really important that the participant can have a safe stay in the host country. For that reason it is really important to get a health, accident and liability insurance. The Au Pair should get this insurance before the visa application, since the embassy might ask for a proof of insurance during the application process. The applicant should pay for the insurance by himself/herself but we always encourage the Host Family to assist the Au Pair during the purchase of an insurance.