Forms You Will Need For A New Employee In Australia

We’ve compiled a list of the common forms you’ll need for a new employee in Australia. The list covers most employees but please keep in mind there will be some roles and circumstances where other specialised forms will be required.

Employment agreement

While not technically a form, you will need an agreement that sets out the terms of employment for your new employee. Agreements must meet the minimum requirements of the Fair Work act. You can find more information on the Fair Work web site.

Fair Work also provide a number of templates. At the time of writing that did not include a template agreement.

Lawyers who specialise in employment law can provide advice on what to include in your agreement and many will have a ready made template.

What taxation forms are required for new employees?

Australian employers are required to withhold tax from an employee’s pay. To help you determine how much tax to withhold you will need your new employee to complete a Tax File Number declaration. You can find a copy of the form on the ATO web site.

What superannuation information do you need to collect for new employees?

In addition to withholding tax from employee pay packets, Australian employers are also required to pay a portion of an employee’s salary into a superannuation fund.

For most new employees in Australia, employers are required to give them a choice of the fund to which you will make payments. Your new hire will need to fill out a portion of a form to advise you of their nominated fund. You will fill out the other portion.

You can find out more and download the relevant form on the ATO web site.

Fair Work Information Statement

A Fair Work Information Statement must be provided to all new employees in Australia. This statement provides your new hire with information about conditions of employment in Australia.

Payroll and HR Information Systems

Because there are record keeping requirements for Australian employers, you will want to establish information about your new employee in your payroll system and HR Information System if you use one. To help you collect the information you’ll need from your new employee, you may use one or a number of forms. Typical examples include:

Personal contact details
Emergency contact details
Bank account

What do you need to know beyond the mandatory new employee forms?

There is more to taking on a new employee beyond filling out tax, super, payroll and other forms. To get your new hire off to a productive start and increase your chances of retaining them past 6 months, you will need to onboard them into your organisation. This involves a series of activities both before and after day one.

Find out more in our comprehensive onboarding checklist.

Software to automate new employee forms

Onboarding software is used to automate completion and processing of new employee forms and other induction activities.