Au Pair in Australia with Au Pair International!

You'll need to be 18–30, have a high school diploma, be unmarried with no children of your own, and have childcare or babysitting experience someone can actually vouch for. You also need enough savings to support yourself during the program. First aid training and a driver's licence aren't required, but host families love both — they'll help you get matched faster.

Placements run 6 to 12 months, with both shorter and longer options available. You'll work up to 35 hours a week, though the exact schedule shifts depending on what your host family needs — school runs and evenings look different in every household.

Mostly childcare: playing games and doing activities with the kids, getting them to and from school, making their meals and snacks, and babysitting some evenings. There's light household help too — tidying, laundry, and the daily grocery run. Your specific duties get spelled out in the contract you sign with your host family, so there aren't surprises.

You'll get your own room in your host family's home plus three meals a day, and pocket money of AUD 250–300 per week. Emergency care is covered under the government health plan. Placements are available throughout Australia, so you could land anywhere from a coastal town to a major city.

The placement fee is USD 495. 

USD 95 when you apply, the rest once you're matched with a family. On top of that, budget for flights to and from Australia, your visa, a federal criminal record check, a medical check, any document translation, and travel insurance. You'll also need a valid passport and childcare references ready to go.