Employing Your First Person Taskforce

The Department established a cross-agency taskforce in 2020 to make it easier for sole traders and micro businesses to become first time employers.

The Employing Your First Person Taskforce’s key priority is to help employers understand:

• key steps to hire an employee
• their responsibilities to meet their obligations

The taskforce creates tools and resources to help small businesses meet their hiring requirements. This work supports the Australian government’s commitment to reduce regulation.

See the government’s Deregulation Agenda on the PMC website.

Taskforce projects

Hiring employees checklist

The taskforce developed Hiring Employees checklist on business.gov.au. It guides employers through the required steps when hiring an employee.

The checklist includes:

• recruitment and employment types
• pay requirements
• tax and superannuation
• ending employment

Employment contract tool

The taskforce developed the Employment Contract Tool on business.gov.au. It aims to help employers build an employment contract that:

• includes contract clauses covering employee pay and conditions
• meets national employment obligations
• helps employers to manage employee expectations and protect their business
• is tailored to their business needs 

The tool steps employers through a series of easy to understand questions to generate clauses for their employment contract. By giving employers greater confidence to do it themselves, it may help reduce reliance on expensive third party help. 

Taskforce members

The government agencies in the taskforce are:

• Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
• Deregulation Taskforce in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Attorney-General’s Department
• Fair Work Ombudsman
• Fair Work Commission
• Australian Taxation Office
• Digital Transformation Agency
• Department of Education, Skills and Employment

Contact us

Email EmployingYourFirstPerson@industry.gov.au