An Australian house sitting agreement is a one page written record of what two people settled before a non-monetary sit: the exact dates and handover times, each animal and the care it needs, who may authorise vet treatment and up to what dollar figure, who pays which bills, who else holds a key, the state the house is left in, and what happens if either side has to cancel. It needs no lawyer, no witness and no signature to work as a record of what you agreed, and the full wording is below for you to copy. This is general information, not legal advice.
Checked on 22 August 2026, two Australian platforms point readers at a written agreement and hand over nothing usable. Aussie House Sitters recommends an agreement while its own house-sitting-agreement URL returns a 404. Mindahome advertises a sample agreement and keeps it in a member-gated PDF its own robots.txt blocks from being indexed. TrustedHousesitters, Pawshake and PetCloud publish no template and no clause checklist at all. So here is the page.
An agreement records a conversation, it does not replace one
Talk it through first, then write down what you said, so that when one of you says "I thought you were arriving Friday" there is a line you can both point at.
Written detail matters more in an unpaid sit than in a paid one, because consumer law is largely not in the picture. The ACCC states that most consumer guarantees do not apply to one-off sales between two people where the seller is not running a business. Consumer Protection WA, last updated 21 November 2024, covers the other case: a business providing a house sitting, pet sitting or cleaning service must meet the service guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law. An unpaid swap between two individuals generally sits outside that, so neither of you has a statutory standard to fall back on. Your own page is what you have.
Two questions readers reach for here are outside what this article covers. The first is whether a live-in sitter acquires any occupancy status under your state or territory's residential tenancy law: your state or territory consumer protection agency is the place to ask, and the ACCC lists all eight of them. The second is visa questions for sitters arriving from overseas, which belong with the Department of Home Affairs and its visa finder, or with a registered migration agent.
The twelve clauses, and what each one decides
| Clause | What it settles | What goes wrong without it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Header | Both names, the property address, the date you agreed | Nothing ties the page to the sit it belongs to |
| 2. Contacts | Mobiles and emails, plus one emergency contact each | The owner is mid-flight and the sitter has nobody to ring |
| 3. Dates and handover | Arrival and departure to the hour, and where the keys go | Saturday to the Sunday week reads as two different stays |
| 4. Pets | Each animal named, with the care notes it points to | Good with other dogs is an adjective, not an instruction |
| 5. Presence, time alone and updates | Hours the pets may be left, nights away, update frequency | One of you pictured day trips, the other someone home by four |
| 6. Running costs | Utilities, pet food, and the reimbursement limit | A six week summer power bill argued about afterwards |
| 7. Vet authority and ceiling | Who authorises treatment, up to what figure, what happens above | The sitter is at the counter at 11pm with no authority |
| 8. Other people and access | Who else stays or visits, and who already holds a key | A cleaner lets herself in and the sitter rings 000 |
| 9. Vehicle | Whether the sitter drives it, on whose insurance, who pays fines | An unlisted driver and a conversation nobody wanted |
| 10. Emergencies | What happens on a Watch and Act, and where the carriers are | Smoke over the ridge and no plan for the animals |
| 11. Departure condition | The task list, bin night, photographs at both ends | Leave it as you found it means two different houses |
| 12. Cancellation, and what this is | The notice period, and that no money passes either way | A sitter withdraws three days out with nothing written down |
Two of those rows rest on Australian law rather than convention. Under Queensland's Animal Care and Protection Act 2001, a person with custody, care or control of an animal is a person in charge and owes that animal a duty of care, and every state and territory words the same principle its own way, so clause 4 is what your sitter is acting on. On clause 9, Moneysmart notes an insurer sets the premium taking into account who will be driving the car, which makes it the homeowner's job to confirm the position before offering the keys.
Three clauses are where sits actually come unstuck
Handover needs an hour beside every date
The most common source of friction and the easiest to remove. Your flight leaves Tullamarine at 7am and your sitter is driving up from Geelong the night before. "Arrival Friday 6pm, handover about 45 minutes, departure Sunday the 22nd by 11am, keys in the meter box" leaves nobody guessing at 4am. Say what happens if the return flight is delayed too.
The running-costs convention is a convention, not a rule
The homeowner usually keeps paying the household accounts and leaves enough pet supplies, and the sitter buys their own groceries. That reads very differently over a long weekend in Hobart and six weeks of a Karratha summer with the air conditioning running, so name the reimbursement limit before the sit rather than after. Our guide to what a house sitter is responsible for covers the scope underneath it.
Cancellation is the clause people leave out and the one that costs most
A sitter who withdraws two days out is a real problem for a homeowner with tickets already paid, and a homeowner who cancels can leave a sitter without accommodation in another state. Agree a notice period and how it is given. Sitterly will not find you a replacement sitter, so decide now who does the ringing around.
The vet clause needs a dollar ceiling, and nothing outside your agreement sets it
Three things belong here: who may authorise treatment, the figure the sitter may approve alone, and what happens above it.
The ceiling matters because the vet needs the owner's decision. The Australian Veterinary Association's contextualised care policy describes veterinarians respecting owners' legal role as decision-makers providing consent, and requires the costs of each option to be discussed. At 11pm on a Sunday with the owner somewhere over the Indian Ocean, the person at the counter is the sitter, and without a written figure there is nothing for anyone to act on.
Animal Emergency Service lists difficulty breathing, collapse, seizures over two to three minutes, a distended abdomen, snake bite, tick paralysis and a male cat struggling to urinate among the signs needing immediate attention. None of them waits for a returned call.
There is no Australian benchmark for the figure, and the only published numbers come from the paid half of the market, read on 22 August 2026. Mad Paws published a guarantee capped at $8,000, with a $350 minimum contribution, paying only in excess of any other insurance. Pawshake published up to $2,500, with a $250 excess, always secondary to other cover. Exchange platforms hold no money and publish no figure at all, Sitterly included, so in an unpaid sit the ceiling in your own agreement is the only one there is. Who ends up paying is a separate question, covered in who pays the emergency vet bill.
RSPCA Australia's emergency planning guidance approaches it from the other direction, recommending a nominated emergency contact and publishing an Emergency Animal Authorisation Form that lets that person enter the home, care for the animal and make decisions about veterinary care on the owner's behalf.
The emergency clause deserves the same care. The Australian Warning System runs three levels nationally for bushfire, flood, storm, cyclone and extreme heat: Advice, Watch and Act, and Emergency Warning, the last meaning you may be in danger and need to act immediately. Write down what your sitter does at each level, where the carriers and leads live, and where they go.
Copy this, fill it in, and keep it where you both can find it
Replace anything in square brackets, delete what does not apply, keep it to one page. There is also a printable, copyable version of this template on its own page.
- Header. House sitting agreement between [homeowner name] and [sitter name] for the property at [full address]. Agreed [date].
- Contacts. Mobile and email for both, plus one emergency contact each: [name], [relationship], [number].
- Dates and handover. The sit runs from [date] at [time] to [date] at [time]. Handover takes about [X] minutes and the keys go [location]. If the homeowner's return is delayed, [what happens].
- Pets. The sitter is caring for [name, species, breed, age, microchip number]. Feeding, medication and routine are in the care notes dated [date], which both parties have read.
- Presence, time alone and updates. The pets may be left alone for no more than [X] hours at a time. The sitter will sleep at the property every night, and any overnight absence needs the homeowner's agreement first. Updates with at least one photo will be sent every [frequency].
- Running costs. The homeowner pays all utility accounts for the period and has left [X weeks] of pet supplies. The sitter buys their own groceries. Extra supplies are reimbursed on receipt up to $[amount]. Neither party pays the other for the sit itself.
- Vet authority and ceiling. Regular vet: [clinic, phone]. After-hours emergency clinic: [clinic, address, phone]. Pet insurance: [insurer, policy number, excess]. The homeowner authorises the sitter to obtain veterinary treatment for the named pets and to approve treatment up to $[amount] without prior contact. Above that figure the sitter will call [number]; if there is no answer within [X] minutes, [named person] may decide. The homeowner is responsible for all veterinary costs.
- Other people and access. Only [names] will stay at the property. Daytime visitors are [permitted or not permitted]. Others who may attend: [cleaner, day], [gardener, day], [neighbour with a spare key]. Keys and codes go to nobody else.
- Vehicle. The sitter [may or may not] drive the [make, model, registration]. If permitted: insurer [name], policy [number], excess $[amount], use limited to [purpose], licence [number] and [state]. Fuel, tolls and fines are paid by [party].
- Emergencies. On a Watch and Act warning for this area the sitter will [action]. Carriers, leads and the pet emergency kit are kept [location], and the evacuation destination is [address]. In a life-threatening emergency, call 000.
- Departure condition. Before leaving, the sitter will wash up, strip the bed, put the [colour] bin out on [day], vacuum, clean the litter tray and leave the keys [location]. Both parties will photograph each main room at handover and at departure. Pre-existing damage noted at handover: [list].
- Cancellation, and what this is. Either party will give at least [X] days' notice of cancellation, by [message and phone call], and then [who does what]. Neither party owes the other any payment or compensation for the sit. Both parties hold a copy: [name], [date]; [name], [date].
The photograph habit in clause 11 costs nothing. Moneysmart's guidance on making a home insurance claim says to photograph the damage before you move anything. Before and after only works if the before exists.
Where to keep it
Work the detail out in your Sitterly message thread before you confirm anything, then paste the finished page into the same thread. You both end up holding the same timestamped copy, with no printer and no e-signature service involved.
Where these agreements fall down
- Adjectives where numbers belong. Not too long on their own is not an agreement. No more than five hours is.
- Settling it by phone. A call is a good way to agree and a poor way to remember.
- Care detail crammed into the terms. Feeding, medication and routine belong in separate dated notes, as the pet care handover template does.
- Expecting the platform to sort it out. Sitterly supports the connection. Homeowners and sitters remain responsible for their own arrangements, and nobody can arbitrate what neither of you wrote down.
Common questions about house sitting agreements
- Does a house sitting agreement need to be signed or witnessed?
- There is no signing or witnessing step that makes this kind of private record work. What matters is that both people agreed to the same words and both hold a copy. Typing your names and the date at the bottom does that, and so does agreeing it in a timestamped message thread. For a long, high value or unusual arrangement, see a legal practitioner rather than relying on a template.
- What is the difference between the agreement and the care notes?
- The agreement covers terms: dates, costs, authority, access, condition and cancellation. Care notes cover the animals hour by hour, including feeding amounts, medication times and the things that frighten them. Keeping them separate is what lets the terms stay to one page.
- Do we need an agreement for a three night sit?
- Short sits still benefit from clauses 3, 4, 6 and 7, which take about five minutes to write. Handover times, the animals, who pays for what and the vet ceiling cause trouble at any length.
This article is general information only and is not legal advice. The template is a starting point for a conversation, has not been legally reviewed, and has not been prepared for your circumstances or your state or territory. Laws affecting animal welfare and insurance differ across Australia. For long, high value or unusual arrangements, see a qualified legal practitioner.
Write it against a real sit
The clauses fill themselves in once there is someone on the other side of them. Post a listing on Sitterly, free, and settle the twelve clauses in the message thread before you confirm anything. How Sitterly works sets out the steps from first enquiry to a confirmed sit. No money changes hands for the sit and there is no per-booking commission, which is why the page you write yourselves is the one that counts.
