Early access open
IT is the sector where subcontracting is most common and least regulated. There is no licence to check, which means the risk moves entirely into the contract and the classification of the relationship.
This page covers what gets subcontracted in this sector, the credentials worth confirming, and how a job runs on Workforce Marketplace. Early access is open.
What gets subcontracted
The work most often subcontracted covers:
- Software development and specialist engineering on a project basis
- Infrastructure, network and cloud migration work
- Cyber security assessment, penetration testing and remediation
- Managed service delivery and after-hours support overflow
- Data and communications cabling, and physical network installation
- Systems integration and ERP implementation
- Field services across multi-site rollouts and refreshes
Credentials that matter here
There is no general licence for IT work in Australia. Two things are still worth confirming, and one of them is a genuine licence:
- ACMA Registered Cabler, open registration for voice and data, with separate coaxial and optical fibre endorsements. This is a legal requirement for fixed cabling connected to the telecommunications network, and it catches out IT firms who treat cabling as an extension of the install
- Vendor certifications, which are contractual rather than statutory, and verifiable directly with the vendor
- ISO Lead Auditor credentials where the engagement involves a certification programme
- Professional indemnity insurance, which carries more weight here than public liability, because the exposure is advice and code rather than physical damage
- Police check and clearances where the engagement touches government or critical infrastructure
Because nothing is licensed, the substitute for verification is the contract. Define the deliverable, the acceptance criteria and who owns the intellectual property before work starts, not after.
What to confirm before work starts
An active ABN. Where a supplier does not quote one, you are generally required to withhold 47 per cent of the payment and remit it to the ATO. Their GST registration also tells you whether the price should carry it.
That the credential is held by the entity you are contracting with. A person can hold a qualification while the business you are paying holds nothing. Check the name on the document against the name on the invoice.
Insurance appropriate to the scope. Public liability is the common one. Depending on the work you may also need professional indemnity, and workers compensation if they carry their own staff.
That the engagement is genuinely a contract for services. Since the Fair Work amendments the test looks at the real substance of the relationship rather than the label on the paperwork, and getting it wrong creates back-pay, superannuation and payroll tax exposure. Contractor vs employee in Australia sets out how it now works.
Writing a scope that gets comparable quotes
IT engagements go wrong on definition rather than price. What makes quotes comparable is a stated deliverable rather than a stated headcount, clear acceptance criteria, who owns the code and the documentation, what environments and access the contractor needs and who provides them, how change is handled once work is underway, and what happens at the end in terms of handover and knowledge transfer. Day rates without a defined outcome are not quotes, they are open cheques.
How it works on Workforce Marketplace
Post the scope with the payment structure it actually uses, whether that is fixed price, hourly, daily, quoted or split into milestones for staged work. Subcontractors apply, and you compare them side by side rather than chasing callbacks.
Every account is ABN-verified at sign-up. Beyond that, subcontractors can submit licences, certifications and insurance for verification, which we review rather than grant automatically. Their profile shows the status against each credential without showing the document, the licence number or the ABN. Verification is opt-in, so a profile may hold credentials that have not been submitted, and it reflects the document as at the date it was reviewed rather than standing indefinitely.
Applying for work costs nothing and there are no leads to buy. Payment runs through Stripe, and Workforce Marketplace never stores your card or bank details.
Related guides
- Find subcontractors in Australia
- How to find subcontractors for your business
- What insurance does a subcontractor need in Australia?
- How to invoice as a subcontractor in Australia (with GST)
Post work, or apply for it, from the same account. Early access is open.