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Employment Contracts for Nannys
Everything You Need to Put Into Your New Nanny's Contract and More
A recommendation, a shortlist, endless checks, not to mention a spoonful of luck, are the key ingredients to finding your bright and shiny, new nanny. The hard work does not end there, however.
As one of Australia's newest employers, you'll have a part to play as a stakeholder in an employment culture that is one of the most employee-friendly in the world.
There's plenty to consider, from payslips to taxes along with overtime to manage. First up though is the contract. Read on to find out what should go into this highly important document.
Why You Need to Have a Contract
There are good reasons for having a written contract between you and your nanny. Australia takes employment law extremely seriously.
It even demands that all employers adhere to its National Employment Standards (NES). These are the minimum employment entitlements that you must provide your nanny with. You'll find more detail about each of these below.
Although it is technically possible that your nanny might be a contractor, it's not the norm. In almost all cases the relationship you will have with your nanny will be that of an employer and an employee.
In Australia, the Fair Work Ombudsman has set out various awards that apply to different types of jobs. These awards help to determine rates of pay. Nannies come under the Miscellaneous Award.
Before getting to the contract stage, you must make sure that the number of nanny hours you need meets your budget. We've compiled a helpful guide to nanny hourly rates in Australia. You can read it here.
The Legalities of Contracts Explained
As an employer, you must give your new nanny a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement (the FWIS) when they start working for you. This is one of the 11 minimum entitlements of the NES. The keyword here is "minimum." The other 10 relate to:
1. Maximum Number of Weekly Hours
The maximum number is 38 plus any reasonable additional hours. There are rules around the interpretation of "reasonable." These include taking into account a nanny's personal circumstances and the notice you give your nanny to work any extra hours.
2. Requests for Flexible Working Arrangements
Your nanny may ask to change their working arrangement. This might happen if they are the parent of a child who's of school age or under, are pregnant, have a disability, are aged 55 or over, or are experiencing family or domestic violence.
Since recent reforms, you can only refuse such a request on 'reasonable business grounds,' and you must genuinely try to reach an agreement, discuss the request within 21 days, and explore alternative arrangements before refusing. Your nanny also now has the right to appeal any refusal to the Fair Work Commission, which can make binding orders.
3. Parental Leave and Related Entitlements
Any nanny is eligible for unpaid parental leave once they've completed at least 12 months of continuous service with you. They can ask for up to 12 months of unpaid leave and have the right to ask for an additional 12 months.
It's also worth knowing that the Australian Government's Paid Parental Leave scheme is expanding to 26 weeks from 1 July 2026, up from 24 weeks. This is government-funded leave paid at the national minimum wage rate, separate from any unpaid parental leave under the NES. From July 2025, superannuation is also paid on government Parental Leave Pay.
The rules are a little complex so it's worth drilling down into them for a thorough understanding. You can read more about what's involved here.
4. Annual Leave
Your nanny will accumulate 4 weeks of paid annual leave for every year of service with you. Their entitlement to annual leave accumulates continuously even during periods of leave itself. You'll need to base it on the number of ordinary hours your nanny works.
5. Personal/Carer's, Compassionate, Family & Domestic Violence Leave
The term 'personal/carer's leave' covers both your nanny's sick and carer's leave. Your nanny's entitlement is 10 days every year when they're full-time and 10 days pro rata if they are part-time.
Your nanny has an entitlement to 2 days' compassionate leave to have time with a member of their household or immediate family who has a life-threatening illness or injury.
As well as this, they have an entitlement to 2 days of unpaid carer's leave for any occasion when someone in their immediate household or family needs care or support due to personal illness, injury or an unexpected emergency.
Your nanny is entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. This entitlement is available in full from the day they start work and renews on their work anniversary. It applies to all employees, including part-time and casual staff. The leave does not accumulate from year to year.
Your nanny must give you notice as soon as practicable about any kind of leave. Bear in mind that, in some circumstances, this could be at a point after the leave has actually started.
6. Community Service Leave
Like other employees, your nanny can be absent from work to engage in certain kinds of community service. These include a voluntary emergency management activity and jury duty, including attendance for jury selection.
7. Long Service Leave
If your nanny has worked with you for a long period of time, they will earn an entitlement to extra leave due to their long service.
8. Public Holidays
Your nanny has an entitlement to at least a paid day off if they work a public holiday. You will have to pay them at a higher rate for the public holiday they work.
9. Notice of Termination and Redundancy Pay
Nannies have the right to up to 5 weeks' notice of termination and up to 16 weeks' redundancy pay, both dependent on their length of service.
10. Switching From Casual to Permanent Employment
Although unlikely to apply in your nanny's circumstances, this addresses the right for casual employees to become permanent employees. If a casual employee has been employed for at least 12 months (or 6 months for non-small business employers) and no longer meets the definition of a casual employee, they may be eligible to transition to permanent employment.
Getting Your Contract Right
You may by now be feeling a little overwhelmed! Fear not. Pay The Nanny has a range of contract templates designed specifically for nanny employment in Australia. They're up to date with the latest NES requirements, the Miscellaneous Award and current employment law, so you can be confident you're starting on the right foot.
Our templates cover everything you need, including optional clauses related to:
- The length of the probation period
- Flexible hours
- Averaging hours over more than a week
- Being on-call or on standby
- Hourly or weekly pay rates
- Frequency of pay (weekly, fortnightly or monthly)
- How you will pay your nanny (eg: electronically into their bank account)
- Penalty rates and overtime
- Allowances
- Annual bonus
- Annual pay review
- Additional parental leave
- Employee obligations clause
- Conflict of interest
- Confidentiality
- Intellectual Property
- Disputes
- Resignation Notice periods
- Misconduct
We'll guide you through the contract-making process and support you in choosing the right optional clauses for your situation. Get in touch with us and we'll help you get your nanny's contract sorted.
We calculate, file and pay. You don't.
Pay The Nanny runs your payroll, files with the ATO and pays your nanny on time, so you never have to.
Enquire NowThe Importance of the Job Description
This lies at the heart of the contract. It's the bit that needs to be crystal clear so that your nanny knows what you expect and understands what they'll have to do.
Here are some suggestions that you could include:
- Preparing bottles for babies and taking care of feeding equipment
- Changing nappies and bathing babies
- Supervising the bathtimes of older children
- Dressing children in appropriate clothes for different activities
- Washing and ironing children's clothes
- Planning, preparing and supervising children's meals and snacks
- Cleaning and washing up after meals
- Driving to the supermarket and shopping for food
- Coordinating and scheduling children's activities
- Driving the kids to school or taking them to play sports and other activities
- Supervising creative, outdoor or educational activities with the children
- Playing with the children
- Supervising rest and bedtimes
- Reading to and with the children
- Helping with school homework
- Tidying the kids' bedrooms and play areas
- Disciplining the children as per parental instructions
- Carrying out light housework and running errands
- Ensuring adherence to taking medicine with parents' consent
- Maintaining a log of significant events for parents to consult
As an employer, you might want to make minor changes to the job description further down the line. You must have a discussion with your nanny first and both parties must sign off any additions or alterations.
An Emergency or Disruption Clause
It's sensible to include a clause in your nanny's contract that outlines what would happen in the event of an emergency, natural disaster or other significant disruption to normal life.
Rather than trying to address every specific scenario, a well-drafted general clause can cover situations such as public health emergencies, extreme weather events or government-imposed restrictions that affect your nanny's ability to work. This kind of clause should set out how you would handle things like changes to working hours, alternative duties, working from a different location, and how leave arrangements would apply.
The key is to approach this reasonably and in good faith. Any clause you include must still comply with the NES and the Miscellaneous Award. If in doubt, Pay The Nanny can help you draft a clause that protects both you and your nanny while remaining fair and legally sound.
Superannuation: What You Need to Know in 2026
As an employer, you are required to pay superannuation on your nanny's ordinary time earnings at the current rate of 12%.
A major change coming into effect from 1 July 2026 is "Payday Super." This means you will need to pay your nanny's superannuation contributions at the same time as their wages, rather than on the current quarterly schedule. Super must reach your nanny's fund within 7 business days of payday.
This is a significant shift for household employers to prepare for. If you use Pay The Nanny, we take care of all superannuation obligations for you, so you won't need to worry about the transition.
Checking and Sorting Your Contract
It's always good practice to keep a signed copy of the contract and give a signed copy to your nanny.
Pay The Nanny is able to check the range of contracts our customers draw up. We are the nanny payroll experts. Nanny employment contract templates are part of what we provide and help on every day.
If you're employing a nanny, talk to us. We have a team of qualified accountants and tax experts to help take care of all the admin related to taking on a new nanny.
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