An au-pair is a young, single person from overseas who wants to come to Australia to further their English and to live as part of a family to experience the Australian way of life.
A live in au-pair provides affordable and flexible childcare whilst providing the family and particularly children a positive and rewarding cultural experience. Au Pairs help families with a combination of child care and light housework duties in exchange for board and a weekly allowance/pocket money.
Au Pairs MUST have work rights for Australia and need to have a valid Working Holiday Visa or Student Visa. If they are not eligible for either of these Visa’s they CANNOT enter Australia. Its is important to verify their eligibility for a Visa before considering hosting an Au pair.
To help you with this, here is a list of Visa’s with eligible countries
Working Holiday Visa ( Subclass 417)
At the time of application, you must be within the eligible age limit for your passport country:
- Belgium – 18 to 30 years
- Canada – 18 to 35 years
- Republic of Cyprus – 18 to 30 years
- Denmark – 18 to 35 years
- Estonia – 18 to 30 years
- Finland – 18 to 30 years
- France – 18 to 35 years
- Germany – 18 to 30 years
- Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (including British National Overseas passport holders) – 18 to 30 years
- Republic of Ireland – 18 to 35 years
- Italy – 18 to 35 years
- Japan – 18 to 30 years
- Republic of Korea – 18 to 30 years
- Malta – 18 to 30 years
- Netherlands – 18 to 30 years
- Norway – 18 to 30 years
- Sweden – 18 to 30 years
- Taiwan (other than an official or diplomatic passport) – 18 to 30 years
- The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – 18 to 35 years
You must have enough money to:
- support yourself while you are in Australia
- leave Australia at the end of your stay
This is usually about AUD5,000 for your initial stay, plus the fare to where you are going after leaving Australia.
Changes to the Working Holiday Visa for UK & Northern Ireland Passport Holders
Travellers from the UK can now apply for a working holiday visa from when they are 18 to 35 years-old.
This allows travellers five more years to apply for the working holiday (subclass 417) visa.
The change, which came into effect on July 1, 2023 only applies to people who use a UK or Northern Ireland passport to lodge their visa application.
From July 1, 2024 UK passport holders can be granted up to three working holiday visas without having to complete a specific amount of time working on a farm or in a regional area.
Currently, to be eligible for a second working holiday visa applicants must show that they have done at least three or 88 days of what the government calls “specified work” and six months to secure a third visa.
This covers various types of work in regional areas from mining, fruit picking and construction to fishing.
It also includes tourism and hospitality work in northern Australia or remote places.
UK travellers will continue to be eligible for a maximum of three working holiday visas for 12 months each.
Work and Holiday Visa (Subclass 462)
Ideally au pairs will have already applied for this Visa before they interview with Families as Visa Processing times take longer and have more conditions attached.
You must be a citizen of and hold a valid passport from one of these countries:
- Argentina
- Austria
- Brazil
- Chile
- China, People’s Republic of
- Czech Republic
- Ecuador
- Greece
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Mongolia
- Papua New Guinea (PNG)
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- San Marino
- Singapore
- Slovak Republic
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Türkiye
- Uruguay
- United States of America
- Vietnam
Be aged between 18-30
You must meet the Education Requirement for each country
Generally speaking, you need 2 years of Further Education after completing high school
You must have enough money to:
- support yourself while you are in Australia
- leave Australia at the end of your stay
This is usually about AUD5,000 for your initial stay, plus the fare to where you are going after leaving Australia.
You must have at least Functional English and have one of the following
- You are a citizen of and hold a valid passport issued by the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland
- you are a citizen of and hold a valid passport issued by Israel and have successfully completed an English Bagrut exam in the level of 3 study units
- you have completed a relevant approved English language test or assessment
- you have undertaken relevant education
If you need help recruiting your Au Pair please get in touch – we’d love to help!