au pair down under...

[chloeb2002]

thinking as a maybe about having an au pair. we live in brisbane and have no idea about the ins and outs... have a dd aged 5 and a new baby son. looking at returning to work part time at the end of the year. dd is at school so need someone to drive her to school and collect her as well as look after ds whilst i am at work probaly three shifts a week. dh works away alot.. interstate so need to be able to function solo!
so...
1/ would it be acceptable for an au pair to have a room within our home? we dont have an annex?
2/ how much do we pay one? is it dependant on how many hours they do. assuming we feed and house them and give them a car to drive too?
3/ i may have a friends son interested but if that fails where the heck do i find one?
thanks!

Don't know much about au pairs in Australia, but suggest you look at other families' profiles on greataupair and aupairworld websites. In UK, most au pairs have just a room, not an annex. They work 25 hours a week. Use those websites to find one, they are world wide, so you'd be matched to prospective au pairs wanting to work in Australia.

By the way, in UK au pairs not supposed to be left in sole charge of under 2s.

Hello! I am originally from Bris but I don't think Au Pairs are all that common there. From your job description, I think a part time nanny would work better for you. The rules for an au pair are only around 20-25 hours a week and that's mainly house work and shouldn't be left alone with young children.

The going rate around Bris are $15-20 per hour before tax and either you or they pay, depending. If you would like some websites where you can find one without an agency send me a message and I can help you out!