Employer of Record Australia: 8 Providers Compared

The first Australian quote I ever looked at seemed almost reasonable. Salary, a service fee, and something called superannuation at 12 percent. I mentally added the three, decided it was about the same as a US hire plus a bit, and moved on.

Then the itemized version arrived. Payroll tax charged by the state, not the country. A workers compensation premium set by a different regulator in each state again. Annual leave loading that pays people extra for taking leave. And a redundancy schedule that starts at 4 weeks of pay and climbs from there. None of it was hidden. It just was not in the headline.

This comparison covers eight employer of record providers that can employ someone in Australia, with the published fee for each, and then the part that decides your budget: what Australian employment law actually obliges an employer to pay. It also answers the question that saves the most money, which is whether you need an employer at all.

What an employer of record does in Australia

An employer of record already holds an Australian legal entity and agrees to be the legal employer of your hire, which lets you put someone on the ground in Australia without registering a company there. You choose the person, set the pay, and direct the work. The provider signs the Australian contract and carries the employer obligations.

The split matters because Australian employment law attaches its duties to the employer, and after this arrangement that is not you. Pay as you go withholding, superannuation, award compliance, record keeping, and termination process all become the provider's legal problem, funded by your invoice.

What does not move is anything to do with the working relationship itself. Performance, workload, tools, deadlines, and the decision to end the arrangement stay with you, and they are also the things Australian regulators look at when deciding whether someone is really an employee.

One notation point before the numbers start. Provider fees on this page are US dollars, because that is how every one of them publishes. Australian statutory figures are Australian dollars and are written as A$ so the two never get added together by accident.

Do you actually need an EOR for Australia?

Only if the person is genuinely an employee and you have no Australian entity. Those are two separate tests, and a meaningful share of the companies pricing this out fail the first one, which means they are shopping for a product roughly ten times more expensive than the one they need.

The classification question is the expensive one, so it is worth being blunt about the downside. Australian penalties are set per contravention, and a pattern of engagements repeats the exposure rather than capping it.

If the honest answer is contractor, the right purchase is a contractor management product at $25 to $49 per person per month, not an employment arrangement at twenty times that. If the honest answer is employee, keep reading.

How we evaluated these providers

Eight employer of record providers at a glance

Seven of the eight publish a rate, and the published spread is more than three to one. Read the contractor column alongside it, because a mixed Australian team of two employees and four contractors will often be shaped more by that number than by the employer of record fee.

The eight providers compared

Deel is the reference point in this category, and the reason is transparency rather than price. The rate is on the page, the contractor product is on the page, and a US professional employer organization option sits next to both at $125 per employee per month.

The strategic use for an Australian hire is a mixed team. If you have one employee in Melbourne and four contractors scattered elsewhere, the $49 contractor rate does more for your monthly bill than shaving $100 off the employment fee would. Ask about volume terms, because the published number is a starting position at any provider in this bracket.

Remote carries the highest published employer of record rate here, and the interesting part of its pricing sits elsewhere: payroll-only service at $29 per employee per month for companies that already own the local entity. That is the product you move onto after you incorporate in Australia.

For a company that expects to reach ten or fifteen Australian staff, buying from a vendor that sells both ends of the journey removes one migration from the plan. You are still paying a premium in the meantime, so the calculation only works if the entity is a real intention rather than a someday.

Multiplier sits roughly a quarter below the $599 cluster while still presenting as a complete platform rather than a budget tier. On a single Australian hire the $459 annual-contract rate saves about $1,680 a year, which is real money for a company making its first offshore employment decision.

The pricing page leads with an explicit no hidden fees claim next to the number, which is a promise to test in writing rather than a fact to rely on. The Australian question to put to it is what a termination costs to administer, since that is where an unpriced extra would surface.

RemoFirst is the cheapest published rate on this page by a factor of three against the top of the range, and its own site frames that against competitors starting at $599. At $199 a single Australian employee costs about $2,388 a year in platform fees rather than $8,388.

The tradeoff at this end of the market is usually depth: a smaller support organization and more reliance on in-country partners rather than owned entities. That distinction matters most when something goes wrong mid-payroll, so ask directly whether Australia is an owned entity or a partner arrangement.

Papaya Global sits between the budget tier and the $599 anchor, and its pitch is payments and reporting rather than employment alone. The published stack runs from payroll at $29 for companies with entities, through contractor of record from $199, to employment from $499.

For a company with an Australian hire and a finance function that already reconciles two or three other countries, the consolidation argument is genuine. For a company with exactly one person in Sydney and nothing else offshore, it is paying for a reporting layer with a single row in it.

Atlas HXM markets itself on direct employment rather than a partner network, which is the distinction that decides who actually answers when an Australian payroll question turns into an Australian payroll problem. Its published rate matches the market anchor at $599.

The pricing page also names volume discounts above five employees, which makes it worth a conversation for a company planning a small Australian team rather than a single hire. Ask the entity question about Australia specifically, because a direct model claimed globally still needs confirming market by market.

G-P publishes a starting rate at the $599 market anchor and a contractor product at $39, then routes every buyer to a proposal request for the actual number. That structure tells you something about the intended buyer: this is enterprise procurement, sold against compliance governance rather than a self-serve price.

For a small company hiring one person in Australia, that process is friction with no upside. For a business in a regulated sector where the compliance chain is part of what you are buying and an audit committee will read the contract, the same process is the point.

Rippling sells a custom quote rather than a rate card, and its distinguishing feature has nothing to do with Australia specifically. It is the single employee record spanning HR, device management, and payroll, which no other vendor on this page offers in the same shape.

That makes it a strong candidate if you already run it for a US team and want an Australian hire on the same system, and a weak one if this is a standalone decision, because you cannot compare a quote against six published rates without first requesting the quote.

What an Australian hire actually costs

The platform fee is the smallest line on the invoice. Superannuation at 12 percent, New South Wales payroll tax at 5.45 percent, and leave loading at roughly 1.35 percent of salary already add close to 19 percent before a workers compensation premium or a single dollar of provider fee is counted.

The table below models a single employee on an A$120,000 salary in New South Wales, employed through a provider at the $599 anchor. Every Australian figure in it comes from a government source cited later in this article, and every figure is annual.

Three things follow from that shape. Superannuation alone is larger than the entire platform fee at every provider on this page that publishes one. Payroll tax is a state charge rather than a federal one, so the same salary costs different amounts in different capitals. And leave loading, at roughly 1.3 percent of salary, is small in isolation but invisible in every headline quote.

Superannuation and the payday rule

Superannuation is a compulsory employer contribution to the employee's retirement fund, currently 12 percent of qualifying earnings, and it is not negotiable. The Australian Taxation Office super guarantee schedule holds the rate at 12 percent for 2025 to 2026, 2026 to 2027, and every year after, so the long climb through the 2020s has finished.

The timing changed more recently than the rate did. Under Payday Super, contributions must be received by the employee's fund within 7 business days of each payday rather than quarterly, per the ATO's payment deadlines guidance. A first contribution for a new employee or a new fund gets 20 business days.

There is a ceiling on the obligation. The maximum contribution base for 2026 to 2027 is A$270,830 a year, and once qualifying earnings reach it no further super guarantee is owed for that employee for the rest of the year. For most small business hires that limit never binds, but it matters for senior roles.

The practical consequence of Payday Super for an employer of record buyer is cash timing rather than compliance. Contributions used to sit with the provider between quarters, and now they move with every pay run, so ask when your funding is due relative to payday and whether any deposit requirement changed with the rule.

Awards, the NES, and why your contract is not the floor

Two instruments set minimum terms in Australia, and a contract cannot undercut either. The National Employment Standards apply to every employee in the national system and cover twelve entitlements including annual leave, personal leave, parental leave, notice, and redundancy pay.

Modern awards sit on top. The Fair Work Ombudsman lists more than 120 of them, each covering an industry or occupation and setting minimum rates, penalty rates, allowances, and conditions above the standards. Award coverage follows the work performed rather than the job title you wrote, which is how a role gets covered when nobody expected it to be.

Where no award and no agreement applies, the floor is the national minimum wage, which the Fair Work Ombudsman states is A$26.44 per hour or A$1,004.90 per week from 1 July 2026. For salaried professional roles that number is rarely the constraint. The award rate usually is.

Annual leave and personal leave both accrue from the first day of employment, including through probation, and both roll over rather than expiring. Unused annual leave is paid out when employment ends, with leave loading included where the employee would have received it, which is a real balance-sheet item after a couple of years rather than a rounding error.

The single most useful thing to demand from a provider is the name of the award in writing before the offer goes out. Pay under an award is a legal floor, the Fair Work Ombudsman says most modern awards pay annual leave loading and that a number of them require the higher of a 17.5 percent loading or the weekend penalty rates the employee normally gets, and a back-payment discovered two years later is more expensive than the whole platform fee.

Payroll tax, workers compensation, and long service leave

Australia charges payroll tax at the state level rather than federally, and the rate and threshold both differ by state. Because a provider pools the wages of everyone it employs across all of its clients, it sits far above the threshold already, so the tax reaches your invoice on the first dollar rather than after A$1.2 million of your own wages.

Rates and thresholds for New South Wales come from Revenue NSW, Victoria from the State Revenue Office Victoria, and Queensland from the Queensland Revenue Office. The other states and territories set their own, so the state your hire works in is a budget input rather than an address.

Workers compensation follows the same pattern. The Fair Work Ombudsman states that employers in each state or territory must take out workers compensation insurance and that the laws vary, with a separate regulator in each jurisdiction. Premiums are set by industry classification and wage bill, so an engineering hire and a warehouse hire on the same salary do not cost the same.

Long service leave is the entitlement with no US analogue at all. It comes from state and territory legislation rather than federal law, and those laws set how long someone must work to qualify, in some cases from seven years. It rarely bites on a first hire and it accrues quietly from the start, so it belongs in the model rather than in a surprise.

Ending employment in Australia

Australia is not an at-will jurisdiction, and this is where US employers get the biggest shock. Ending employment requires notice or payment in lieu, may require redundancy pay on a statutory scale, and can be challenged as unfair dismissal at the Fair Work Commission.

Notice and redundancy both scale with tenure. The Fair Work Ombudsman's fact sheet sets both schedules, and the redundancy figures are paid at base rate on top of notice rather than instead of it.

Employees over 45 who have completed at least two years of service receive an additional week of notice. Redundancy pay does not apply where service is under twelve months, where the dismissal is for serious misconduct, or where the employer is a small business, and that last exemption is the one worth reading twice.

The high income threshold caps unfair dismissal eligibility for employees who are not covered by an award or agreement, and the Fair Work Commission puts it at A$190,100, adjusted each July. Below that figure, or under any award, the claim route stays open regardless of salary.

Labour hire licensing and other local checks

Four Australian jurisdictions license the supply of workers to a host business, and the Victorian Labour Hire Authority states that schemes presently operate in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory. Host businesses do not need a license, but they are expected to engage only licensed providers.

Whether a given employer of record arrangement falls inside a particular scheme depends on that scheme's definitions and exclusions, which differ between the four. This is not a question to answer from a coverage map. Put it to the provider directly and ask for the license number if the answer is yes.

Two smaller checks belong in the same conversation. Ask whether the provider can sponsor a work visa if your candidate needs one, because many cannot and it is not obvious until the offer is out. And ask how intellectual property assignment is handled in the Australian contract, since the provider signs it and your assignment clause only exists if it is in there.

When to open an Australian entity instead

The crossover usually sits between five and fifteen Australian employees, earlier than the equivalent point in most markets because the fee is charged per person while entity costs are largely fixed. Ten people at $599 is roughly $71,880 a year in platform fees alone.

Against that saving sits real work. An Australian company needs a resident director, an ABN, PAYG withholding registration, Single Touch Payroll reporting to the Australian Taxation Office, payroll tax registration in each state where you pay wages, and a workers compensation policy in each of those states as well. None of that is exotic, and all of it is ongoing.

The migration itself is the part people underestimate. Moving an employee off an employer of record is a termination and a rehire, because the provider is the legal employer, so continuity of service, accrued leave balances, and probation all need explicit handling. Start the analysis at five employees rather than at fifteen, because deciding at fifteen means paying at twenty-five while the entity is set up.

How to vet a provider for Australia specifically

Country coverage numbers are marketing. Six questions separate a provider that genuinely employs people in Australia from one that will go looking for a partner after you sign.

Two answers should end the conversation. A provider that will not say whether it holds an Australian entity is usually relying on a partner it has not yet secured. And a provider that will not put the all-in monthly Australian cost in writing before signature will not become more forthcoming afterwards.

Which provider fits which situation

Routing by situation rather than naming one winner, because the right answer changes with headcount, budget, and whether an Australian entity is in your plans.

Two of those rows point away from every ranked product on this page, which is deliberate. A genuine contractor and a company that already holds an Australian entity are both better served outside the employer of record category, and a comparison that cannot say so is not worth much.

Before you choose

FirstHR is not an employer of record and does not process payroll in any country. We hold no Australian entity and take on no employer liability. If you are hiring someone in Australia and have no company there, one of the eight providers above is your answer, not us.

This section exists because of a pattern I keep seeing. A good share of the founders who reach this decision turn out to have a US-only team and a single overseas candidate they have not yet made an offer to, or a contractor relationship they were about to convert without needing to. For that reader the sequence is to settle the classification question first, then price the employment product, and this whole comparison can wait a week.

The layer we handle is the one that stays yours whichever route you take. Whoever signs the Australian contract, someone on your side still has to run onboarding, collect and store signed documents, deliver training with completion tracking, and keep employee records that can be found later. That is what FirstHR does for small US teams without a dedicated HR person, at flat pricing of $98 to $198 per month regardless of headcount, alongside whatever employment arrangement you sign.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an employer of record in Australia?

A provider that holds an Australian entity and becomes the legal employer of your hire, signing the local contract, running payroll, remitting superannuation, and carrying employer obligations under the Fair Work Act, while you keep the selection, the salary decision, and the day to day direction of the work.

How much does an employer of record cost in Australia?

Published rates on this page span $199 to $699 per employee per month in US dollars, with Rippling the only provider quoting privately. That figure covers the service only. Salary, superannuation, payroll tax, workers compensation, and award entitlements sit on top and are the larger part of the bill.

How much superannuation does an employer have to pay in Australia?

Twelve percent of qualifying earnings, held at that level from 2025 to 2026 onward by the Australian Taxation Office schedule. Contributions must reach the fund within 7 business days of payday, or 20 for a first contribution, and the obligation stops once earnings reach A$270,830 in a year.

What is a modern award and does it apply to my hire?

An industry or occupation instrument setting minimum pay and conditions above the National Employment Standards, and the Fair Work Ombudsman lists more than 120. Coverage attaches to the work performed rather than the contract wording, so ask your provider to name the applicable award, and its rates, in writing.

Do I need an employer of record to hire a contractor in Australia?

No. A genuine contractor invoices against an ABN and needs contractor payment tooling at $25 to $49 per person per month instead. The risk is calling an employee a contractor, which carries sham contracting penalties of up to A$495,000 per contravention for a larger business.

Can I be sued for unfair dismissal if my hire is employed by the EOR?

The claim names the provider, but you fund the result. Eligibility begins after six months of employment, or twelve where the employer is a small business under 15 people. Since the provider is the employer, that exemption rarely helps, so plan on the six month figure.

What does it cost to make someone redundant in Australia?

Notice runs from 1 week to 4 weeks depending on tenure, with an extra week for employees over 45 with two years of service. Redundancy pay is separate and paid at base rate: 4 weeks after a year, 10 weeks at five years, 16 weeks at nine, and 12 weeks from ten years onward.

When should I open an Australian entity instead of using an EOR?

Typically between five and fifteen Australian employees. Ten people at $599 monthly is around $71,880 a year in fees, against a resident director, tax registrations, state-by-state payroll tax and workers compensation, and a transfer that legally counts as a rehire rather than a migration.