How to hire employees in Australia through an Employer of Record (EOR) [2026 Guide]

Hiring in Australia? Foreign employers keen on tapping into the country’s skilled workforce can start by hiring Australian contractors and sending international payments. But to hire full-time employees, you’ll need to set up a legal entity or hire through an Employer of Record (EOR).

Registering a legal entity can take months. Once it’s set up, you need working knowledge of Australian employment laws, and any misstep can attract legal action from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Fair Work Ombudsman, and other state and territorial authorities.

Alternatively, you can use an EOR, which handles Australian payroll, tax, and compliance for you. Through Rippling EOR’s entities, you can start hiring and working with employees in Australia quickly and compliantly.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to hiring through an EOR in Australia.

What is an Employer of Record in Australia?

An Employer of Record (EOR) is an organisation that serves as the legal employer of your company’s employees. By using an EOR in Australia, you can expand internationally without setting up an Australian entity. It lets you grow quickly while minimising compliance risk.

EORs handle the administrative work for you, such as onboarding, benefits, payroll, and termination. They also keep up with Australia’s evolving tax and labour laws.

Step by step: How to hire through an Employer of Record in Australia

Step #1: Decide between an Australian EOR and a legal entity

Should you hire Australian employees through an EOR, or set up your own entity? It depends on your company’s resources, size, and plans to scale.

• Legal entity in Australia. Setting up a legal entity from scratch usually means registering with local authorities, opening a local bank account, and consulting with local experts to make sure you’re compliant with tax and employment laws.

• Australian EOR. An EOR is a third-party service that operates as the employer on your company’s behalf, so you don’t need to set up your own entity. As well as allowing you to hire full-time Australian employees, EORs handle all the legal requirements for Australian payroll, contracts, and benefits. EOR services usually include calculating and withholding taxes, onboarding and managing employees, and running payroll.

Step #2: How to choose the best EOR for your business

Several EORs on the market can help hire, pay, and manage Australian employees. Before you choose a platform, think about the services you need and how much you plan to grow your global hiring footprint.

All-in-one global HR platforms, like Rippling, let you hire, pay, and manage employees and contractors worldwide. It’s also a payroll processor, which means it actually runs your payroll, transmits funds, and calculates and files taxes through its own software. You can manage and automate the entire employee journey in one place, across every country you hire in.

Most EOR platforms aren’t HRIS (human resource information systems). They were built specifically to hire and pay people internationally. They aggregate local payroll providers in every country and manually transmit your payroll files to them. That approach comes with limitations.

Get the full checklist in our guide: What is an EOR?

Hire employees in Australia in 90 seconds with Rippling

Setting up a corporate entity abroad is usually a long, expensive process. Through Rippling EOR’s entities, you can start hiring and working with people abroad quickly and compliantly. See Rippling.

Step #3: How to hire and onboard your Australian employees

Once you’ve picked an EOR that works in Australia, you can begin onboarding by collecting the following information from each new hire:

• Name (matching the account where you’ll deposit their pay)

• Date of birth and date of hire

• Contact information, including their mailing address in Australia

• Bank account information

• Amount to be paid in Australian dollars (including any bonuses)

• Completed Tax File Number (TFN) declaration forms, which every employee needs to fill out to determine withholdings

Next, you need to send out an employment agreement that outlines key working conditions. An EOR can automatically localise and distribute employment agreements. Every Australian hire will have a legally compliant contract covering probationary periods, working hours, the National Minimum Wage, modern award coverage, benefits, and termination policies including severance pay and notice periods.

Rippling EOR automatically flags non-compliant sick leave policies and tells you how to fix them. If you want to give your employees more leave to match policies in other countries, you can do that too. See Rippling.

Step #4: Run payroll

For the full picture on global payroll, read our comprehensive guide to running international payroll for employees in Australia.

Once you’ve collected a new hire’s details and both parties have signed the employment agreement, an EOR will pay your Australian employees in AUD and withhold the legally required taxes from their salary. This includes contributions to:

• Superannuation funds (12% from 1 July 2025)

• Employee taxes (PAYG withholding)

• Medicare levy (where applicable)

• State and territory payroll tax

• Workers’ compensation insurance

From 1 July 2026, Payday Super rules require employers to pay super on every payday rather than quarterly, with contributions reaching the employee’s super fund within seven business days. Your EOR should already be set up for this, so you don’t have to manage the change yourself.

Keep in mind that many EOR companies are payroll aggregators, meaning they pay employees via third-party vendors. This makes for slower processing and headaches when you’re managing international employees in the same system.

Rippling EOR, by contrast, simplifies global employment by using native payroll software to send funds and handle taxes. You can pay Australian employees alongside your local workforce, all within a single pay run.

Below is a preview of how Rippling’s one-click global payroll system works:

Frequently asked questions about hiring through an EOR in Australia