The Ultimate Guide to Hire a Virtual Assistant in Australia

• • 15 Min Read

Introduction: The Australian Business Productivity Problem
What Does it Mean to “Hire a Virtual Assistant”? (Featured Snippet)
The “Why”: Why Australian Businesses Are Hiring VAs
What Can You Actually Delegate? From General Admin to Real Estate
- General Administrative & Marketing Tasks
- Specialist Tasks for Australian Real Estate Agents
Employee vs. Contractor: A Guide for Australian Businesses
Onshore vs. Offshore: Which Virtual Assistant is Right for You?
How to Hire a Virtual Assistant: A Step-by-Step Guide
The Onboarding Checklist: Setting Your New VA Up for Success
Common Pitfalls When You Hire a Virtual Assistant (And How to Avoid Them)
People Also Ask: Hiring a Virtual Assistant
Your Expert Q&A: In-Depth Questions on Hiring a VA
The Verdict: Is It Time to Hire Your First Virtual Assistant?

Introduction: The Australian Business Productivity Problem

As an Australian business owner, you’re likely working harder than ever. Yet, for many, that extra effort isn’t translating into proportional growth. It’s a feeling backed by hard data. Australia’s Productivity Commission noted in its December 2024 bulletin that our post-pandemic productivity “bubble” has burst, with labour productivity falling. Many business owners, especially in service-based industries like real estate, are trapped in the “grind”—drowning in $50/hour administrative tasks that prevent them from doing the $500/hour work of closing deals and building their brand. This is the precise challenge that leads smart leaders to hire a virtual assistant.

From my experience, the decision to hire a virtual assistant isn’t just about “outsourcing.” It’s a strategic move to buy back your most valuable asset—time. It’s about systemising your operations, improving client service, and creating the bandwidth needed to scale. This guide is designed for Australian business owners, particularly those in real estate, to navigate the process from start to finish. We’ll cover costs, compliance, and the practical steps to find and integrate a professional who can truly transform your workday.

What Does it Mean to “Hire a Virtual Assistant”? (Featured Snippet)

To “hire a virtual assistant” (VA) means engaging an independent contractor to provide professional administrative, technical, or creative support remotely. For an Australian business, this typically involves delegating tasks like email management, scheduling, data entry, social media, or specialist real estate admin, allowing the business owner to focus on core growth activities.

The “Why”: Why Australian Businesses Are Hiring VAs

The primary driver for hiring a virtual assistant is the strategic recapture of time. Most business owners are the biggest bottleneck in their own company. They are the chief salesperson, marketer, and administrator, all at once. This isn’t just inefficient; it’s a direct cap on growth.

A VA solves several key business problems at once:

Cost-Effectiveness: When you hire a virtual assistant, you are engaging a contractor. This is crucial. As explained by the Fair Work Ombudsman, you are not responsible for an employee’s typical overheads. You don’t pay for superannuation (with some specific exceptions), annual leave, sick leave, or payroll tax. You are paying for a productive output, not a person to sit in a chair.
Scalability: Your needs change. In real estate, the spring selling season is frantic, while late January can be quiet. A VA model allows you to scale. You can hire a VA for 10 hours a week, increase to 25 hours during your peak, and scale back down, all without the friction of hiring and firing permanent staff.
Access to Specialist Skills: You may not need a full-time marketing manager, but you desperately need 10 hours of expert social media management per week. You may not need a full-time administrator, but you need someone who is an expert in Agentbox or VaultRE to clean up your database. A VA allows you to “time-share” a specialist’s brainpower.
Productivity and Focus: This is the most important “why.” A VA’s entire purpose is to manage the high-volume, low-value (for you) tasks that consume your day. Every email they answer, every listing they upload to REA or Domain, and every report they pull from CoreLogic is a 10-minute block of time you get back. This reclaimed time is then invested in prospecting, negotiating, and building client relationships—the activities that actually grow your business.

What Can You Actually Delegate? From General Admin to Real Estate

A common mistake is under-delegating. A good VA can handle far more than just “data entry.” The key is to start by identifying tasks that are repetitive, rules-based, and time-consuming.

General Administrative & Marketing Tasks

This is the foundation for any business, real estate or otherwise:

Inbox and Calendar Management: Acting as the “gatekeeper” for your inbox, filtering spam, actioning client requests, and managing your schedule. This alone can save 5-10 hours a week.
Financial Administration: Chasing unpaid invoices (accounts receivable), managing bills (accounts payable), and liaising with your bookkeeper.
Social Media & Marketing: Scheduling posts on social media, creating simple graphics in Canva, managing email newsletters, and updating your website.
General Administration: Creating document templates, proofreading proposals, and managing your digital filing systems.

Specialist Tasks for Australian Real Estate Agents

This is where a specialist VA becomes a force multiplier for an agency. They understand the platforms and the processes that are unique to the Australian property market.

CRM & Database Management: This is the single most valuable task. A VA can live inside your CRM (like Agentbox, VaultRE, or Rex) to ensure every lead is captured, every call is logged, and every client has a “next action” date. This stops leads from falling through the cracks.
Listing Coordination (The “Pre-Sale” Admin):
- Ordering signboards, photography, and floor plans.
- Preparing listing authorities and agency agreements (for your review and signature).
- Writing draft copy for listings.
- Uploading the listing and all assets to portals like REA and Domain.
Sales & Prospecting Support:
- Using CoreLogic or Pricefinder to pull property data and create Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) reports. (Note: The VA prepares the report; you, as the licensed agent, provide the analysis and price recommendation).
- Managing appraisal kits and pre-listing documentation.
- Cleaning up prospecting lists and managing follow-up reminders.
Property Management Admin:
- Processing new tenant applications (gathering data for the PM).
- Coordinating maintenance requests between tenants, landlords, and tradies.
- Chasing rental arrears and sending breach notices (as per your instructions).
- Scheduling routine inspections.

A VA performing these duties is providing administrative support. They are not, and should never be, performing the licensed duties of an agent, such as negotiating a sale or providing financial advice.

Employee vs. Contractor: A Guide for Australian Businesses

This is the most critical compliance piece you need to understand before you hire a virtual assistant in Australia. Misclassifying an employee as a contractor can lead to severe penalties from the Fair Work Ombudsman and the ATO, including back-pay for wages and superannuation.

The Australian government has recently clarified the rules. As of August 2024, the test for determining if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor considers the “whole of relationship”—not just the contract.

According to business.gov.au, an independent contractor (which your VA should be) generally:

Runs their own business: They have an ABN, pay their own tax, and are responsible for their own super.
Controls their work: They have the freedom to decide how and when the work is done (to meet a deadline) and can work for other clients.
Provides their own tools: They use their own laptop, phone, and internet.
Bears the risk: If they don’t work, they don’t get paid. There is no paid sick leave or annual leave.

Sham Contracting: This is the illegal practice of deliberately misrepresenting an employment relationship as a contracting arrangement. You cannot simply call someone a contractor if they are, in practice, an employee. If you are directing their hours, providing all their equipment, and they work for no one else, you are at high risk.

When you hire a virtual assistant through a reputable provider or as a legitimate freelancer, they are operating their own business and are correctly classified as a contractor.

Onshore vs. Offshore: Which Virtual Assistant is Right for You?

This is the next big decision. “Onshore” means hiring a VA based in Australia. “Offshore” typically refers to hiring a VA in a country like the Philippines, which has a strong, mature industry for virtual support.

There is no “better” option—only the right option for the specific task.

Feature	Onshore (Australian) VA	Offshore (e.g., Filipino) VA
Typical Cost	$35 – $70+ AUD per hour	$10 – $25 AUD per hour
Local Context	Excellent. Understands AEST/AEDT, Aussie slang, suburbs, and market nuances.	Learned. Highly proficient but may need training on specific Aussie terms or platforms.
Timezone	Identical. Can work your 9-to-5 business hours seamlessly.	Very similar (e.g., Manila is 2-3 hours behind AEDT), making AEST hours very feasible.
Specialist Skills	High-level strategic skills. May already know Agentbox or CoreLogic.	Excellent at process-driven, repetitive tasks. Can be trained on any software.
Best For…	Client-facing roles, high-level marketing, complex admin.	Task-based work, database management, general admin, inbox control.

From my experience, a “blended” model is often the most powerful. You might use a highly-skilled onshore VA for 5 hours a week to manage your marketing strategy and client communication, while using a cost-effective offshore VA for 15 hours a week to manage your database, upload listings, and handle inbox filtering.

Recent industry data shows you can hire a general admin VA from the Philippines for approximately $10-$15 an hour, whereas a similarly skilled Australian-based VA will cost $35-$50 an hour. Specialist skills (like advanced marketing or coding) will increase rates in both regions.

How to Hire a Virtual Assistant: A Step-by-Step Guide

Hiring a VA is not like hiring an employee. The process is faster, but it requires extreme clarity.

Identify the Tasks (Don’t Skip This!)Before you even think about posting an ad, open a spreadsheet and for one week, write down every single task you do. Highlight the ones that are low-value but time-consuming. This is your “Delegation List.”
Create a “Job Outcome” DescriptionDon’t post a “Job Description.” Post a “Job Outcome.”
- Bad: “Seeking a VA. Must be organised and have good computer skills.”
- Good: “Seeking a Real Estate Admin VA to manage our CRM. The successful outcome will be a 100% clean database where every lead is actioned within 2 hours.”
Decide: Agency vs. Freelancer
- Agency: Companies (like Talentwire) do the vetting, training, and compliance for you. It’s faster and lower-risk, as they can provide a replacement if your VA is sick.
- Freelancer (e.g., Upwork): You can find great talent, but you are responsible for the entire hiring, vetting, and onboarding process. This can be time-consuming.
The (Paid) Skills TestThis is my most important tip. Once you have a shortlist, give your top 2-3 candidates a small, real-world task and pay them for one hour of their time.
- Example: “Here is a link to a 10-minute audio file. Please transcribe it, correct any errors, and email it back to me.”
- Real Estate Example: “Here are the details for a new listing. Please log in to our sandbox (test) Agentbox account and create the new listing, uploading these 5 photos and this draft copy.”This test tells you more than any interview. It tests their real skills, their ability to follow instructions, and their communication.
Check References and Sign a ContractAlways check references. And always, always have a clear Independent Contractor Agreement. This agreement should outline:
- Confidentiality and data security.
- Rates and payment terms (e.g., “Invoices paid within 7 days”).
- Deliverables and scope of work.
- Termination (e.g., “7 days’ notice required from either party”).

The Onboarding Checklist: Setting Your New VA Up for Success

A great VA will fail if you onboard them poorly. A VA who feels confused or isolated will underperform. Use this checklist.

Tech & Access (Day 1)
- [ ] Use a password manager (like LastPass or 1Password). Do not email passwords.
- [ ] Grant access to your CRM (Agentbox, etc.).
- [ ] Grant access to your email/calendar (as a “delegate”).
- [ ] Grant access to your cloud storage (Google Drive/Dropbox).
- [ ] Add them to your communication tool (Slack, Teams, etc.).
Create a “Loom Library” (The Secret Weapon)
- [ ] Use a free screen-recording tool like Loom.
- [ ] Record 5-10 short (2-3 minute) videos of you doing the exact tasks you want to delegate.
- [ ] Examples: “How I check a new lead in Agentbox,” “How I save a file to Dropbox,” “How I upload a listing to REA.”
- [ ] Save these in a shared “Training” folder. This is infinitely faster than writing a manual.
Set Your Communication Cadence
- [ ] Daily Check-in: For the first week, have a 10-minute call (on AEST) to set priorities. This prevents small issues from becoming big ones.
- [ ] Weekly Check-in: Have a recurring 30-minute meeting to review work, give feedback, and plan the week ahead.
Assign the First Task
- [ ] Make the first task small, simple, and with a clear “done” state.
- [ ] Example: “Please go into my inbox and unsubscribe me from all promotional newsletters.”

Common Pitfalls When You Hire a Virtual Assistant (And How to Avoid Them)

The Pitfall: Vague Instructions.
- The Mistake: “Can you please handle my social media?”
- The Fix: “Please schedule 3 posts on our Instagram this week. Use the photos from this Dropbox folder and write a caption for each, focusing on the property’s features. Here is our “tone of voice” guide.”
The Pitfall: Micromanagement.
- The Mistake: Asking your VA to log every minute of their day or checking in every 30 minutes.
- The Fix: Manage outcomes, not activity. Give them a clear task and a deadline. If the work is done well and on time, you don’t need to know how they spent every minute.
The Pitfall: No Feedback.
- The Mistake: The VA makes a small error. You silently fix it yourself and grow resentful.
- The Fix: Give clear, kind, and immediate feedback. “Hey, I saw that report. Great work! In the future, can you please make sure to export it as a PDF, not a Word doc? Thanks!” This creates a culture of improvement.
The Pitfall: Treating Them Like a Robot.
- The Mistake: Only ever communicating with tasks.
- The Fix: Integrate them. A VA is a human. Add them to your team’s Slack channel. If you have a virtual team meeting, invite them. A VA who feels part of the team will always be more proactive and loyal.

Your Expert Q&A: In-Depth Questions on Hiring a VA

Q1: How do I trust a VA with my passwords and sensitive data?

This is a valid concern. First, use a secure password manager like LastPass or 1Password. This allows you to grant access to accounts without ever revealing the actual password. Second, have a strong Independent Contractor Agreement that includes a confidentiality clause. Finally, start with low-risk tasks and build trust over time.

Q2: What’s the best platform for finding a freelance VA?

Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are popular, but they can be overwhelming. You have to sift through hundreds of proposals. For a more curated approach, specialist VA agencies are a better first step as they’ve already vetted their talent for skills and reliability.

Q3: My last VA didn’t work out. How do I make it work this time?

From my experience, 90% of VA failures are due to a failure of process, not a failure of the person. The most common reasons are: 1) No clear onboarding, 2) Vague instructions, and 3) No regular feedback. If you failed on those three points, the VA was set up to fail. Use the onboarding checklist in this article to ensure success.

Q4: Should my VA use my email address or their own?

For professionalism, they should use yours. Create a dedicated email for them (e.g., admin@youragency.com.au). This looks professional to clients and, importantly, you retain control of the account. If you part ways, you simply change the password.

Q5: What’s the right first task to give a new VA?

The perfect first task is “inbox management.” Ask them to log in, clear out all the spam and newsletters, and create folders. It’s a high-impact, low-risk task that immediately shows them how your business works, who your key contacts are, and gives you an immediate “win” in the form of a clean inbox.

The Verdict: Is It Time to Hire Your First Virtual Assistant?

If you’ve read this far, you’re not just curious—you’re likely feeling the exact productivity pain we’ve discussed. You’re stuck in the administrative weeds, and you know it’s holding you and your business back.

Hiring a virtual assistant is the single fastest and most cost-effective way to get your time back. It’s the first and most critical step in transitioning from a “doer” to a true business owner. By delegating the systems, you free yourself to do the work that only you can do: build relationships, set the vision, and drive growth.

If you’re ready to stop drowning in admin and start scaling your Australian business, it’s time to find the right support. Explore our pre-vetted, specialist virtual assistants at Talentwire and take the first step today.

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