New Employee Onboarding Checklist for Australia

Before a new employee's first pay run, you need a few things from them and they need a few things from you. Here is the list, split into what you collect and what you hand over.

It covers employees, not contractors. The ATO's hiring page starts by asking you to work out which one you are hiring.

Collect from them

Tax file number declaration

The TFN declaration gives you their TFN, residency status, any study loan debts, and whether they claim the tax-free threshold. You need it to work out how much tax to withhold.

They can fill in the paper form, or complete it through ATO online services in myGov and give you the printed summary. If they do it online, they have 28 days from starting to complete those forms.

If they don't give you a TFN and don't claim an exemption, you withhold tax at the top rate. If your payroll software isn't STP Phase 2 enabled, you lodge a paper declaration with the ATO within 14 days of it being signed.

A TFN is protected information. The Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015 requires you to take reasonable steps to keep it secure, and to destroy it once you no longer need it or are no longer required by law to keep it. More in collecting tax file numbers safely.

Super choice form

Most employees can choose their own super fund. You must give eligible employees a Superannuation standard choice form within 28 days of their start date, with your default fund filled in. You don't have to give one to an employee on a temporary visa, though they can still ask.

To pay their super you need the fund name, the fund's ABN, its USI and their member number, along with their TFN. The ATO's new employee page says these come from the choice form. If they don't know the USI, you can look it up on Super Fund Lookup.

Keep the completed form for 5 years. You must also pass their TFN to the fund by the next payment, or within 14 days of receiving it, whichever is later.

Stapled super, if they don't choose

If they don't pick a fund, you can request their stapled super fund through ATO online services. A stapled fund is an existing account that follows them from job to job. You can ask any time from when they accept the offer until they choose a fund.

If the ATO says they have no stapled fund, you pay into your default fund.

Bank details

You can pay wages in cash, by cheque or into their bank account, according to business.gov.au. To pay into their account, you need the account name, BSB and account number. Some awards set the payment method, so check yours.

Proof of the right to work

You must confirm a new worker can legally work in Australia. Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens can. For a citizen, a passport or citizenship certificate is the usual proof, because VEVO can't confirm citizenship.

For anyone else on a visa, check their work conditions in VEVO. It is free, and you need the visa holder's permission. Some visas limit hours or how long they can work for one employer.

Hiring on a working holiday visa (subclass 417 or 462)? You must also register as an employer of working holiday makers before you pay them.

Emergency contact

Who to call if something goes wrong at work.

Role-specific checks and licences

Some roles need a check or licence before day one. If they will work with people under 18, you and they may need a Working with Children Check. Each state and territory runs its own, with its own name and rules.

A national police check, a trade licence or a qualification depends on the role and industry. Ask only for what the job needs, and note the expiry date on anything that has one.

Give to them

Fair Work Information Statement

Every new employee gets the Fair Work Information Statement before, or as soon as possible after, they start. It sets out their minimum entitlements under the National Employment Standards.

You can hand it over in person, post it, email it, or email a link to the Fair Work Ombudsman's page.

Casual Employment Information Statement

Casual employees also get the Casual Employment Information Statement, at the same time as the FWIS. You give it again later: after 12 months for a small business (fewer than 15 employees), or after 6 and 12 months and then yearly for everyone else.

Fixed Term Contract Information Statement

An employee on a new fixed term contract gets the Fixed Term Contract Information Statement when they enter into the contract. Use the version current on that date.

The award

If an award covers them, you must make it easily available, on paper or digitally. business.gov.au also suggests telling them which award covers them and their classification under it.

Employment contract and letter of offer

business.gov.au's hiring checklist has you create a contract and letter of offer that you both sign. If they are under an award, its employment contract tool builds both.

Policies, safety and emergency information

Walk them through your key policies and procedures. Give them your work health and safety information: hazards, safe work procedures, evacuation procedures, where the exits and first aid kits are, and who your first aid officers and fire wardens are.

Not advice

This is a general checklist, not legal or tax advice. Your award, industry and state can add to it, so check the ATO and the Fair Work Ombudsman for your situation.

Collecting it with WorkZerk

WorkZerk's Australian staff onboarding pack asks for the TFN declaration, super choice form and fund details, bank details, proof of the right to work, an emergency contact, and an optional Working with Children Check and police check. Each person fills it in from one private link, with no account or password. Tax forms, bank and super member numbers, right to work and police checks are stored encrypted and visible only to admins. WorkZerk doesn't run payroll or lodge anything with the ATO: it gets the paperwork to you. See staff onboarding in Australia.