INDEPENDENT CARERS & SUPPORT WORKERS: Frequently Asked Questions
Find a Carer is an online marketplace (website) for self-employed Carers to promote their services and connect with clients who require in home or community care. It is free to join, safe and makes owning your own business as a Carer simple. We ensure that you are guaranteed payment for your services and are covered by our group insurances for your peace of mind.
As an Individual Carer you will need to register your details and enter all your skills and experience that you are able to offer. You will also need to specify the area you will be servicing for clients to be able to find you using our simple search engine. Your area does not have to be restricted to your residential area. If you travel around the country, you can update the area you can service.
If your profile is selected by a potential client you will receive a message to notify you that a client wants to make contact with you. It is very important that you respond to clients quickly, as booking enquiries expire if not responded to within 48 hours. In our experience, those responding within a couple of hours have the best outcomes with potential services being booked.
Your bookings are made via the Find a Carer website and payments are processed via FindaCarer’s secure online payment gateway. The payment will be released directly to your bank account 7 business days after the service has been completed.
No. We are your all-in-one portal for selling your services and managing your calendar. Find a Carer is the website where Clients (Care Seekers) will find you.
It is FREE to register and create your Profile!
This will depend on various factors such as:
- client / care seeker needs
- your annual income
- hours accrued with one Client over a specific time period
- number of clients you take on
Many Clients (Care Seekers) and all Service Providers (who are able to search the Find a Carer platform for Carers), will want to select Carers who have an ABN. So, having an ABN is likely to increase your chances of being selected.
For more information on or to apply for an ABN, go directly to the Australian Business Registry
It is free to register and usually takes about 10 – 15 minutes.
You can learn more about starting your own business here.
Yes. Police checks offer a simple and non-intrusive pathway to verify your identity and reduce risk for your future clients.
Find a Carer is committed to a high safety standard, to protect vulnerable people who will be purchasing your services through our marketplace. All care and support workers listed on our site must complete a National Police Check process suitable for employment purposes. A National Police Check has a validity period of 1 year, so if you have obtained a Police check in the last 1 year, simply attach your certificate to your profile record. We will ask you to provide us with a new, current Police Check every three years to comply with industry practice. Please note we cannot accept Volunteer Police Checks.
Please note that the application process does attract a fee. You may get a new check for a special discounted fee through our partnership with Cited. To start your National Police Check please click on this link to get the National Employment Police Check.
Please ensure to specify that it is for employment purposes as well as unsupervised access.
It is your responsibility to renew your National Police Check every three years and update your profile with the new certificate. It is also your responsibility to notify us immediately on help@findacarer.com.au if you are charged or convicted of any criminal offence.
If your work involves children under 18 years of age then a Working with Children Check is also required, regardless of whether it is required by law. Please note that Find a Carer cannot accept Volunteer Police Checks.
If your work involves working with people with disability then a NDIS Worker Screening Check is also required. You will be required to provide us with your Check ID number.
In Queensland, if you are a support worker and want to supply disability services you are required to undertake screening checks. There are two types (Yellow Card and Blue Card) and here’s the main difference:
Yellow Card – All support workers working with adults with disability need to apply and pass a criminal history screening check. For more information please visit: Queensland Government Yellow Card
Blue Card – All support workers working with children or young people with disability need to apply for a Blue Card. If you work with both children and adults, you can use your blue card for both services but must also apply for a yellow card exemption. Yellow card exemptions are issued by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services. For more information please visit: Queensland Government Blue Card
Enquiries will come from individuals and service providers who require carers/support workers in Aged Care, Disability Care, Special Needs Child Care, general household assistance, transportation assistance, companionship or any combination of these. Some examples of services that clients are looking for are:
- Personal Care – may include washing, showering, toileting, dressing, grooming, feeding, cutting nails and more
- Home Help – may include cooking, cleaning, vacuuming, dish washing, clothes washing, ironing, making beds, hanging out clothing, watering plants, taking out the garbage, shopping and more.
- Running Errands – may include accompanying Care Seeker to appointments, helping with the pick-up and drop off at school, banking, paying bills and more
- Companionship – this may be as simple as going for a cup of coffee or to a movie. Carers can accompany Care Seekers to community events, sporting events or visiting family and friends.
- Experiences – you can create your own experience for a fee or for free. These may be designed to cater for individuals or for groups.
Absolutely. Carers often work for a number of Clients. Find a Carer makes it easy for you to manage your calendar, bookings and invoicing on our platform.
We need this information so we can link you geographically with Clients. This information also enables us to plot you on the map. PO Box addresses are not accepted. Your address is not made public and will be kept private and not seen by service users. Your identified address and travel range work with our search engine to find your clients.
All communication must be done via the Find a Carer website to ensure safety and security. You may want to exchange contact details when you feel comfortable about the client intentions and clear on their needs. The decision to meet and work with the client is entirely yours.
Most Carers offer an introductory half hour free to meet potential clients in order to work out if you are a fit for each other. This will be automatically created as a service item on your services list on the Find a Carer platform.
Please do however note that all bookings by the client must be done via Find a Carer and going off-site places both you and the client in breach of the Terms and Conditions that you agree to. Doing so also means that you and your Client(s) will not be covered by Find a Carer’s Complimentary Insurance policies.
The very minimal percentage you are charged guarantees that the payment for the services you provide is received straight into your account. This means that you will never have to worry about outstanding payments!
Should arrangements be made outside the Find a Carer website you will not be covered by our Public Liability, Professional Indemnity, and Personal Accident insurances as well as breaching the Terms and Conditions you agree to when you sign up to offer your services.
You will be doing this at a great risk to yourself and risk having your account deactivated. We expect you to let my Find a Carer Customer Care team know if somebody should approach you to make this kind of arrangement.
We are committed to make your business successful and enable you to reach as many Clients in your area as possible!
During the on-boarding process you will be required to provide your nominated bank account details – they will be encrypted and cannot be seen by anybody, not even by our employees. Clients will use the secure, online payment gateway to make payments for your services. The payment for your services will appear in your nominated bank account 7 business days following the completion of the service or as soon as the client fund managers process your invoices.
Log in using your email and password, select Edit Profile, make the required changes and save. Updates take effect immediately.
No. Not all opportunities require transporting clients, however, having your own transport would certainly be an advantage. If you are using public transport make sure you allow for travel time when taking on Clients.
Absolutely! Find a Carer will never disclose personal or contact details of Carers or Clients / Care Seekers. The website has been designed so that both Carers and Care Seekers can communicate safely and securely without revealing personal details or email addresses. Please view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for further information.
All transactions booked and paid for via the Find a Carer payment gateway are covered by the Find a Carer Public Liability, Professional Indemnity, and Personal Accident group insurance policies. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE that by trading with Find a Carer sourced Clients outside the Find a Carer platform you do not honour the sign-up Terms and Conditions that you agree to, and you will not have the benefit of this complimentary offering. You will also be in danger of losing access to our website.
All Independent Carers are encouraged to consult an insurance broker to see what other insurance covers are relevant to your business as you may be required to take out your own Workers Compensation cover.
All bookings made and completed via the Find a Carer platform are covered by our group Public Liability, Professional Indemnity, and Personal Accident insurance.
This will depend on what requirements/criteria the Client is looking for. Some Clients will value experience more than formal qualifications, whilst others will specify the need for qualifications. This will also depend on the service(s) being offered.
Independent Carers with qualifications in the Aged Care or Disability Support sectors are in high demand in many areas of Australia.
You have the option of making your profile Enabled or not. An enabled profile will show up in search results. If you are unavailable, have enough work, are unwell or on holiday, you can ‘disable’ your profile by switching off the Enabled button on your profile until you are ready to take on more work.
Yes. Come visit us at Facebook at Find a Carer ! We will keep you updated on community news and urgent opportunities. It’s really important to advertise your services and market yourself at every opportunity. We suggest advertising on all social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and let all your friends and followers know what you are doing.
To keep updated on community news and urgent opportunities you must LIKE and FOLLOW our page.
Go to our Contact page and message us with your question. We will get back to you promptly with an answer.
Need more information? We would love to hear from you.
