Early access open
Real estate is licensed tightly in every Australian state, and the rules around who may perform an agency function, hold trust money or be paid a commission are not flexible. Subcontracting inside this sector runs into those rules quickly.
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 contracted covers:
- Property inspections, condition reports and routine inspections
- Property management overflow and portfolio support
- Valuation and appraisal work
- Building and pest inspection for buyers and lenders
- Photography, floor plans and marketing production
- Leasing and open home support
- Settlement and conveyancing support
Credentials that matter here
The licences to confirm depend on whether the work is an agency function or a service:
- Real estate agent licence or certificate of registration in the relevant state, required for agency functions including leasing, selling and managing
- Registered Conveyancer through state fair trading where conveyancing is involved
- Valuer registration with the state board and professional association membership
- Building Inspection credentials and, for pest, a Pest Management Technician Licence
- Swimming Pool Inspector Certification where pool compliance is part of the service
- Professional indemnity insurance, which is mandatory for licensed agents and valuers
- Working With Children Check where the portfolio includes relevant facilities
Trust money is the hard line. Only a licensed agent may receive and hold it, and no contracting arrangement changes that. If a scope involves rent or deposits touching the contractor, stop and check the licensing position before anything else.
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
These engagements need the regulated boundary drawn explicitly. State which functions the contractor performs and which remain with the licensee, who holds the client relationship and who communicates with tenants and owners, how and to whom commission or fees are paid, who is responsible for trust accounting, what the record keeping obligation is, and what the professional indemnity position is for advice given.
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.