Australian legal document
Contractor agreement template for Australian business
Bring on a contractor or an overseas VA, with the risky parts covered.
What this document does
This agreement fixes who owns the work, how and when the contractor gets paid, and keeps you on the right side of the sham contracting rules. It was written for Australian conditions, and includes an overseas contractor variant for VAs in the Philippines, India or elsewhere. You answer a few questions and download it ready to sign.
What’s included
- Principal and contractor details, with ABNs
- Scope of services and deliverables
- Payment terms, rate and GST status
- IP ownership of the work product
- Confidentiality obligations
- Insurance requirements
- Term and termination
- Overseas variant: jurisdiction, currency and data handling
Questions people ask
- Will this protect me from a sham contracting claim?
- It is written to keep the relationship clearly a contractor one, but a document alone is not a shield. Fair Work looks at the real working arrangement. A 2024 case (Pascua v Doessel) caught a business even with an overseas worker, so check that the contractor runs their own business and has their own ABN.
- Does it work for an overseas VA?
- Yes. Choose the overseas variant and the agreement adds a jurisdiction clause, currency, timezone and data handling terms for a contractor based outside Australia.
- Who owns the work the contractor produces?
- You do, once the IP assignment clause is in place. Without it, a contractor can retain rights to what they create, which catches a lot of businesses out. This agreement assigns the work product to you.
- Is this a one-time payment?
- Yes. $49 once. No subscription, no renewal. You own the document and can reuse it for future contractors.
- How is this different from an employment contract?
- A contractor runs their own business and invoices you; an employee works under your direction and gets leave and super. Using the wrong one is where sham contracting problems start. If you are hiring staff, use the employment contract instead.
People who get this also need
Ready for your contractor agreement?
$49 once, no subscription, ready in about 15 minutes.