The network covers Australia within the Oceania region. Payslips there are drawn up in AUD, and dealings with a local firm are conducted in English.
The business centres where the network is looking for a correspondent as a priority are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth.
The country lies outside the European Union and outside the European Economic Area: the A1 certificate has no standing there. Whether the employee remains in the scheme of origin then depends on the bilateral social security agreement, if any, concluded with the sending country; where no such agreement exists, dual affiliation must be expected and budgeted into the assignment.
The answer to this question changes everything: it determines to whom you may entrust your payslips locally, and what you must ask for before signing. It has been verified country by country with the local authorities.
In Australia, running payroll on behalf of third parties is a regulated activity. It is carried on under the title of Registered BAS agent (ou registered tax agent), and a registration in force must be produced to you before any engagement.
L'Australie est l'un des rares pays où la paie pour compte de tiers est réellement réglementée. Depuis la réforme du Tax Agent Services Act 2009, le calcul et la déclaration des obligations PAYG withholding, de la superannuation guarantee et du Single Touch Payroll constituent des « BAS services » qui ne peuvent être rendus contre rémunération que par un BAS agent ou un tax agent inscrit au TPB. Les conditions d'inscription incluent un diplôme reconnu, une expérience pratique, la probité (fit and proper person) et le maintien d'une assurance PI. Un partenaire australien non inscrit au TPB doit être écarté.
Australia is an exception: it is one of the few countries where third-party payroll is genuinely regulated. Providing withholding, compulsory superannuation or real-time wage reporting services for a fee requires registration with the Tax Practitioners Board, the federal regulator of tax practitioners. An unregistered provider is acting unlawfully, and registration can be checked free of charge on a public register.
Remuneration is paid in Australian dollars and all documents are in English. Australia takes part in no European coordination mechanism; a bilateral social security agreement links it to France, but its scope is limited and does not reproduce European coordination logic.
The Australian system resembles no continental model: there are no social charges in the European sense. Retirement is funded by an employer contribution paid directly into private funds chosen by the employee, so no collecting body exists that could issue a social security clearance certificate of any kind. Employers arriving from Europe should expect a vocabulary and an institutional map that share very little with continental practice.
Identifying the applicable modern award is the first task to complete. That sector instrument governs the employment relationship and fixes classifications, loadings and minimum conditions. A written contract is not required by statute, but the employer must give the employee the statutory information statement on their rights.
An Australian Business Number is obtained beforehand, together with goods and services tax registration above a given turnover. Foreign companies may incorporate locally, register as a foreign company carrying on business in Australia, or work through an employer of record.
Registration for pay as you go withholding is completed with the tax office. The employer also takes out workers' compensation insurance with the scheme of the state where its employees work, since each state runs its own arrangements, and assesses its exposure to state payroll tax, which likewise follows rules specific to each jurisdiction.
Each pay event produces a report transmitted directly to the tax office, together with periodic payment of compulsory superannuation to the funds nominated by employees. Termination rules complete the picture: notice, redundancy entitlements and the unfair dismissal jurisdiction all turn on length of service and on business size, and they belong in the analysis before any offer is issued.
The network asks 8 documents of any firm wishing to represent it in Australia. The table gives, for each of them, the exact wording in use locally, the body that issues it and the period during which it remains admissible. These are the terms to use in an application to the local administration.
Of these 8 documents, 8 are required of every applicant and 6 have a limited period of validity, the shortest being 3 months. 1 of these documents exist only in Australia and have no equivalent in the common core of the network.
| Local wording | Issuing body | Validity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASIC Current Company Extract (and Certificate of Registration, ACN)ASIC current company extract / certificate of registration Le « current company extract » est la pièce à demander : il donne la dénomination, l'ACN, le statut (Registered), les administrateurs et l'adresse enregistrée. Le certificate of registration d'origine, lui, ne prouve pas que la société est toujours active. | Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Australian Business Number (ABN) registration and GST registration, verified on ABN LookupAustralian Business Number and GST registration ABN Lookup est public et gratuit : il affiche le statut actif ou annulé de l'ABN, l'ACN associé, le type d'entité et la date d'enregistrement à la GST. Une capture datée de cette page vaut preuve. | Australian Business Register (ABR) / Australian Taxation Office (ATO) | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Statement of Tax Record (STR)Statement of Tax Record Il n'existe pas en Australie d'attestation de régularité fiscale de droit commun : le STR, créé pour les marchés publics du Commonwealth, en est l'équivalent le plus proche. Il se demande dans l'Online services for business de l'ATO et porte la mention « satisfactory » ou non. Sa validité usuelle est de 12 mois (réduite pour les entités récemment créées). | Australian Taxation Office (ATO) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance certificate of currencyProfessional indemnity insurance certificate of currency Obligatoire, et pas seulement d'usage : le maintien d'une assurance PI conforme aux niveaux fixés par le TPB est une condition permanente d'inscription des BAS agents et tax agents. Le TPB doit être informé de la police dans les 14 jours. Demander un certificate of currency nominatif, pas une simple attestation de courtier. | Assureur agréé APRA ; niveaux minimums fixés par le Tax Practitioners Board | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Workers compensation insurance — certificate of currencyWorkers compensation certificate of currency Assurance obligatoire pour tout employeur australien, mais gérée État par État : le certificat émane de l'organisme de l'État où sont employés les salariés, jamais d'un organisme fédéral. Un cabinet présent dans plusieurs États doit produire plusieurs certificats. | Organisme d'État compétent : icare (NSW), WorkSafe Victoria, WorkCover Queensland, etc. | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Registration as a BAS agent (or tax agent) with the Tax Practitioners BoardBAS agent / tax agent registration with the Tax Practitioners Board Pièce décisive : en Australie, fournir contre rémunération des services de paie relevant des « BAS services » (retenue PAYG withholding, superannuation guarantee, déclaration Single Touch Payroll) sans être inscrit au TPB est une infraction assortie de sanctions civiles. L'inscription se vérifie gratuitement sur le TPB Public Register et se renouvelle au moins tous les trois ans. | Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) | 36 months Required | Official website |
| Director Identification Number (director ID) and photo ID of the directorsDirector identification number and directors' photo ID Le director ID est obligatoire pour tout administrateur de société australienne depuis 2021 et attribué à vie. Il n'est pas public : le demander au candidat, et recouper les noms d'administrateurs avec l'extrait ASIC. | Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) / ASIC | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Privacy policy under the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles (APP 1)Privacy policy under the Privacy Act 1988 Aucun enregistrement auprès d'une autorité n'existe en Australie : la pièce attendue est la politique de confidentialité publiée (APP 1) et l'engagement sur le Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. Attention, les entités de moins de 3 M AUD de chiffre d'affaires peuvent être hors champ du Privacy Act — exiger alors une adhésion volontaire par contrat. | Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) | No expiry Required | Official website |
The award architecture is what most disconcerts foreign employers. It is neither a European-style sector agreement nor a simple minimum wage: the instrument sets hourly loadings, allowances and minimum conditions occupation by occupation, and misapplying it is the leading cause of back-pay claims.
The complete absence of any social security clearance certificate comes as the next surprise. Compulsory retirement contributions go to private funds rather than to a public institution. The tax office's statement of tax record in fact covers both aspects, since it captures unpaid superannuation as well.
Payroll tax, finally, is a state tax, with rules and thresholds specific to each jurisdiction. A firm claiming to cover the whole of Australia should be invited to demonstrate exactly how. Verification here is correspondingly simple, and a firm that resists it has already told you something useful.
Il n'existe pas d'attestation de régularité sociale en Australie : les charges sociales à l'européenne n'existent pas, la retraite passe par la superannuation guarantee versée directement à des fonds privés et il n'y a donc aucun organisme collecteur susceptible de délivrer un quitus. Le STR de l'ATO couvre en réalité les deux volets, puisqu'il englobe la superannuation impayée. Deuxième particularité : la payroll tax est un impôt d'État, pas fédéral, avec des seuils et des taux différents dans chaque juridiction — un cabinet qui prétend couvrir toute l'Australie doit le démontrer. Enfin, se méfier de l'appellation « bookkeeper » : elle n'est pas protégée, seule l'inscription au TPB compte, et elle se vérifie en trente secondes sur le registre public.
The network opens 3 partner slots in Australia, not one more. No firm is listed there yet: all 3 slots therefore remain open to applications.
No listed partner in Australia has asked to appear in the public directory. The contact details of a firm are passed on to the client only when an assignment is awarded.
Filing an application does not amount to admission: every request is reviewed one by one. There is no minimum turnover requirement, and the partner selected invoices its fees directly.
Submit an application: we review your file, we check the documents required on the ground and we give you an answer, whether it is positive or not.
Australia allows the fastest verification of all: Tax Practitioners Board registration can be checked in moments on the public register, and a firm that does not appear there should be set aside without further examination. Requested next are a current company extract from the corporate regulator, verification of the Australian Business Number on the public register, a professional indemnity certificate of currency at the levels the regulator requires, and workers' compensation certificates for each state concerned. Both cover levels and the states actually served should be stated in writing.
Describe your requirement. No firm is listed in Australia yet: we review the request, then entrust it to a local firm that the network identifies and vets, or to the partner of a neighbouring country covering this territory. Your contact details are passed on to the selected firm alone.
Request a provider in AustraliaEach page takes up the data in this profile from a particular angle.
Mobility is rarely arranged one country at a time. The neighbouring profiles follow the same outline.
These countries account for most of the requests received: each one has, in addition to its profile, six pages devoted to a single aspect of local payroll.
The information gathered on this page comes from the registers, administrations and bodies listed below, consulted when the reference base was compiled. It is given for guidance and does not replace the advice of a professional established in Australia.