With the festive sales season in full swing and school holidays around the corner, it is crucial for businesses to check their child employment obligations twice and ensure they are compliant when engaging younger workers during the busy holiday season.
While the regulations on child employment vary in each State and Territory, the applicable pieces of legislation underpinning the regulations have an overarching objective to protect children not only as vulnerable workers, but to ensure their schooling is not impacted by them entering the workforce.
To take the guesswork out of navigating between each State and Territory’s differing rules, we have created a general summary of the key obligations to consider when engaging junior employees.
New South Wales
| Legislation | The Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW), the Industrial Relations (Child Employment) Act 2006 (NSW) and Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW). |
| Minimum Age | There is no minimum age to start casual or part-time work. However, certain restrictions will apply to employees who are under 15 years of age. |
| Parental Consent | There is no requirement for parental consent (unless the employee is engaged in live performance, a still photography session, door-to-door sales etc.) |
| Restrictions | If your employee is under 15 years of age, the following restrictions will apply:
For clarity, the restrictions above do not apply to employees 15 years of age and above. |
| Supervision | Yes. Adult supervision is required. |
| Full-Time Employment | You may only engage a junior employee on a full-time basis if the employee has completed Year 10, or turned 17, or permission from the Department of Education has been granted. |
Victoria
| Legislation | Child Employment Act 2003 (Vic). |
| Minimum Age | The minimum age of employment is 13 years of age (for work other than delivering newspapers, advertising material, or in a family business). |
| Parental Consent | No. Parental consent is not required. |
| Restrictions | You must apply for Child Employment Permits for each employee you engage under the age of 15.
Further, if your employee is under 15 years of age, the following restrictions will apply:
For clarity, the restrictions above do not apply to employees 15 years of age and above. |
| Supervision | Yes. Adult supervision is required at all times. The supervising adult must hold a valid Victorian Working with Children Check, unless they are exempt. |
| Full-Time Employment | You may only engage a junior employee on a full-time basis if the employee has completed Year 10. |
Queensland
| Legislation | Child Employment Act 2006 (Qld). |
| Minimum Age |
The minimum age of employment is 13 years of age (for work other than delivery work, voluntary work, entertainment industry work or in a family business). |
| Parental Consent |
Yes. If your employee is under 16 and required to be enrolled in school, parental consent must be obtained. You can access the form here. |
| Restrictions | If your employee is under 16 and required to be enrolled in school, the following restrictions will apply:
For clarity, the above restrictions do not apply to employees 16 years of age or above. |
| Supervision | Yes. An adult must be in the vicinity and in regular contact with the child if they are involved in the exchange of money or delivery work. |
| Full-Time Employment |
You may only engage a junior employee on a full-time basis if the employee has completed Year 10 or turned 16 years of age (whichever occurs first). |
Australian Capital Territory
| Legislation | Children and Young People Act 2008 (ACT) |
| Minimum Age | There is no minimum age to start casual or part-time work, however, employees under the age of 15 can only perform ‘light work’’ (e.g., completing clerical work or working as a cashier). |
| Parental Consent | Yes. If your employee is under 15, parental consent must be obtained. |
| Restrictions | If your employee is under 15, the following restrictions will apply:
|
| Supervision | Yes. Adequate supervision by a responsible adult is required. |
| Full-Time Employment | You may only engage a junior employee on a full-time basis if the employee has completed Year 12 or turned 17 years of age (whichever occurs first). |
Western Australia
| Legislation | Children and Community Services Act 2004 (WA) |
| Minimum Age | The minimum age to perform work in a shop, retail outlet or restaurant is 13. |
| Parental Consent | Yes. If your employee is 13 or 14 years of age, parental consent must be obtained. |
| Restrictions | If your employee is between 13 and 14 years of age, you must not engage them to work before 6.00am or after 10.00pm.
If your employee is 15 years of age or above, no specific restrictions will apply. However, you must not engage the employee to work during school hours. |
| Supervision | While supervision requirements only apply to child employees engaged in delivery work, it would be recommended as a matter of best practice. |
| Full-Time Employment |
You may only engage a junior employee on a full-time basis if the employee has completed the compulsory attendance at school or at the end of the year that they turn 17. |
South Australia
| Legislation | No specific child employment legislation is currently in force. |
| Minimum Age | There is no minimum age to be engaged in casual or part-time work. |
| Parental Consent | No. Parental consent is not required. |
| Restrictions | If you engage an employee under the age of 16, you cannot engage them to work during school hours. |
| Supervision | While there is no specific legislation requiring supervision of a child employee, it would be recommended as a matter of best practice. |
| Full-Time Employment | You may only engage a junior employee on a full-time basis if the employee is 16 and has completed Year 12 qualification from a high school/Certificate II qualification from TAFE or the employee is 16 and their full-time employment is an apprenticeship or traineeship through a registered training organisation. |
Northern Territory
| Legislation | Care and Protection of Children Act 2007 (NT) |
| Minimum Age | There is no minimum age to start casual or part-time work. However, certain restrictions will apply to employees who are under 15 years of age. |
| Parental Consent | No. Parental consent is not required. |
| Restrictions | If you engage an employee under the age of 15, you must not engage them to work during school hours or perform work before 6.00am or after 10.00pm. |
| Supervision | While there is no specific legislation requiring supervision of a child employee, it would be recommended as a matter of best practice. |
| Full-Time Employment | You may only engage a junior employee on a full-time basis if the employee has completed Year 10 and is at least 15 years of age. |
Tasmania
| Legislation | No specific child employment legislation is currently in force. |
| Minimum Age | There is no minimum age to be engaged in casual or part-time work. |
| Parental Consent | No. Parental consent is not required. |
| Restrictions | You must not require an employee under the age of 18, and still enrolled in school, to work during school hours. |
| Supervision | While there is no specific legislation requiring supervision of a child employee, it would be recommended as a matter of best practice. |
| Full-Time Employment | You may only engage a junior employee on a full-time basis if the employee has completed Year 10. |
Record Keeping Requirements
All States and Territories (except for South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania) have specific requirements for record keeping when engaging a child, in addition to those specified under the Fair Work Regulations 2009. When engaging a junior employee, you should ensure records kept include:
- the child’s full name, date of birth, address, and phone number;
- the name/s, address, phone number (home and business) of the child’s parent/guardian;
- the name/s, address, phone number of an emergency contact (in the event the child’s parent/guardian is unavailable);
- copies of any special documents (e.g., parental consent form);
- the nature of the work to be performed by the child;
- the date/days on which the child is required to work;
- the number of hours worked by child (per day and per week), including start and finish times;
- the details of the breaks taken by the child; and
- the details of the person in the business responsible for supervising the child.
