Au pairs are young overseas students who come out to live with an Australian family as part of a cultural exchange experience. They often do this as their “gap year” when finishing high school or taking a year “out” from their University studies. They are usually aged 18-25 years and do not have any formal childcare qualifications. All of our Au Pairs have baby-sitting experience with families and personal references from home countries. They are an “extra pair for hands” during busy periods of the day, such as early morning and afternoons/ dinner time. As Au Pairs are not qualified childcare workers or nannies therefore cannot be responsible for looking after babies under 12 months of age unsupervised for long periods of time, 2/3 hours maximum, definitely not for the entire day.

Au pairs are not housekeepers or cleaners. The au pair provides assistance by helping you with childcare and light childcare related duties or duties associated with being a member of the family e.g. Unstacking the dishwasher, folding clothes, tidying the toy room. An Au Pair comes out to live with an Australian family to work whilst seeing another country, to improve their language skills and experience how a family from another culture lives whilst sharing things about their own culture with their host family.

Nannies are trained childcare workers or nurses, consequently hourly rates are higher. As we only place overseas live-in nannies requirements are normally the same for our overseas Au Pairs except they are able to care for children less than 12mths old. Nannies also may work 40+ hours but again this is agreed at the outset of the relationship, before final agreement for placement is signed. Generally qualified Nannies are more difficult to find.

The placement periods range from 3-11mths. Average placement is usually 6-9mths.

Average placement times are between 2-4mths depending on the season and type of placement. There is a high and low season for au pair placements due to end of school and university years in overseas countries. We try and work with you on your timelines wherever possible.

Yes, however most au pairs prefer the city areas. It is a special type of person to be an au pair in a country area therefore they are less frequently available and they usually do not commit to more than a 6 month placement.

Our applicants come through our overseas partner agencies. All overseas au pairs and nannies have undergone a criminal record check and medical check to make sure they are emotionally stable. They supply a minimum of two childcare references (often more) which are verified by our partner agencies in their home country. All au pairs attend an interview to make sure they clearly understand the role of an au pair and the responsibilities. All our applicants sign an agency behaviour contract in line with the IAPA (International Au Pair Association). Occasionally we may have applicants already in Australia that contact us for placement. It is more difficult to screen these applicants so we will always let you know in advance when this is the case. You can then decide whether you wish to proceed with the assessment and placement process.

No. Au Pairs come here on a cultural and language exchange with an Australian family. Just as you expect them to focus on your children, it is expected that you also focus on them. Sharing an au pair around will make it difficult for the au pair to feel included and accepted as a family member and to settle into your family Australian lifestyle.

Yes the au pair must live with the host family. We do not place live out au pairs.

In all industries the provision of service has the dynamic and unpredictable factor of “people”. Unfortunately not every placement works out and this can be for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the family and the au pair find they are not a good match, or the expectations of one or both parties is not met or addressed. Sometimes the job turns out to be very different from what the au pair expected or they may simply get homesick. Au Pairs are young people who are from a different culture and this can prove too uncomfortable for the au pair. The key to our successful placements is the focus on preparation, initial settling in period and accepting the au pair as a member of your family for the placement duration. You need to be ready to welcome them properly into your family and assist them to adjust – remember you have had years to create your family and understand the dynamics of all the member’s personalities before reaching a level of understanding and harmony, the au pair will take time to adjust to this new family situation . The au pair and family need to prepare themselves properly and your family need to be able to welcome and support a young person from overseas into your home. Families need to be honest and consider very carefully what they are looking for in a person to care for their children. It is important not be attracted solely by the on hand, flexible and economical childcare. Their are many benefits such as language and custom exchange, different ways of approaching or doing things. Embrace the differences and create an atmosphere of openness to try new ways and new things. Remember the more you invest in any relationship the better the results.

Au pairs are primarily there to assist with child care and child care related duties. E.g.Breakfast, clearing up, packing and unpacking kids lunch boxes, school drop off and pick up, bath time, outings to the park, art, craft and playing with the children are typical Au Pair tasks. It is fine to ask them to cook regularly for the children and even an occasional meal for the whole family. You can expect the au pair to assist with some other general light duties such as laundry, tiding for the children and occasionally vacuuming the main family room etc. With respect to the duties of the au pair, there is a fine line between what can and what cannot be expected. For example changing the bed sheets or ironing the kid’s school uniform are typical au pair jobs. However this does not extend to changing the parents bed or ironing the parents’ clothes without exceptional prior agreement by the au pair. Au Pairs are not to be confused with housekeepers or cleaners and we recommend that all families employ separate cleaning help.

The family’s expectations should be clearly outlined in detail to the au pair when in discussion prior to the placement agreement. Phrases such as “light housekeeping” are often open to misinterpretation and therefore misunderstandings may occur.

Not being explicit in describing duties the au pair will be performing or pressuring the au pair to perform duties they had not been advised of normally results in the au pair requesting a new family and leaving your family. This is disruptive to both the family, especially the children and the au pair hence should be avoided at all costs. El Viaje are here to assist you with guidelines and help to ensure a mutually beneficial exchange is successfully achieved.

Au pairs arrive with full insurance to cover emergency hospital stays however they usually have to pay for normal GP visits. If they cannot work due to illness, it is your responsibility to arrange alternative care for the period the au pair is sick and to ensure the au pair is cared for as required.

You need to contact us and we will work with you to identify the problem and resolve. E.g.the au pair is not a good match, the family have never had someone in their home and are having trouble adjusting, the family no longer want an au pair or there are some teething problems we are able to help you resolve. Ultimately both you and the au pair have to get along to live and work together successfully and happily, if this cannot be achieved we would assist by finding an alternative family where possible for the au pair as quickly as we are able. We would also work with you to determine if your family would like to try again on another placement depending on what the issue was with the first au pair.