Writing it down can feel like a small act of distrust, at exactly the point you are trying to build some. It is the opposite. A house-sitting agreement is a plain record of what you have both already said out loud: dates and handover times, the animals and the care they need, who can authorise vet treatment and up to what amount, who pays which bills, who else holds a key, and what either of you does if the sit falls through. The headings fit on a page. Filled in with your own detail, expect two. House-sitting trouble tends to start with two people recalling the same conversation differently, and that is the part a written page settles.
- A private record of what two people agreed. Not a lease, and it should not read like one.
- Handover times cause more friction than anything else. Put an hour beside every date.
- The vet clause needs three things: who can authorise treatment, a dollar limit, and what happens above it.
- With no money changing hands and no business involved, consumer law is largely not in play.
- Keep it to one page, agree it in platform messages, and you both hold the same timestamped copy.
What this page is, and what it is not
A house-sitting agreement is a short written record of what two people agreed before a non-monetary sit: one person goes away, the other stays in the home and looks after the animals, and no money changes hands for the sit itself. The page exists so that when someone later says "I thought you were arriving Friday", there is a line you can both point at. It records a conversation rather than replacing one, so talk it through first, using our questions to work through before confirming a sit, then write it down.
It is not a lease and should not read like one. The sitter pays no rent and acquires no interest in the property, so avoid words like rent, bond, tenancy and premises. Residential tenancy law differs in every state and territory, and arrangements involving payment for the right to occupy a home, or that run open-ended, can look quite different.
Writing it down also fills a gap. The ACCC notes 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's house-sitting guidance addresses the other situation, a homeowner engaging a registered house-sitting business, which must meet those guarantees and act with due care and skill. A non-monetary 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.
Do not start from a rental template
A house-sitting agreement records a private, non-monetary arrangement between two individuals, not a residential tenancy, and should not borrow tenancy language. If money starts changing hands for the right to occupy the home, or the stay becomes open-ended, residential tenancy rules may come into it, and those rules differ in every state and territory.
The header: who, and which property
Above the clauses: full names, mobile numbers and email addresses for both, the full property address, and the date you agreed it. Add an emergency contact for each side. The homeowner may be mid-flight on the day something goes wrong, and the sitter needs a second person to ring.
The nine clauses
1. Exact dates and handover times
The most common source of friction, and the easiest to fix. "Saturday to the Sunday week" can mean a two-night difference depending on who reads it. Say your flight leaves Melbourne at 7am on a Saturday and your sitter is driving up from Geelong. "Arrival Friday 6pm, handover about 45 minutes, departure Sunday 22nd by 11am" leaves nobody guessing at 4am. Every date needs an hour beside it.
2. The pets, named, and exactly what care
One line per animal, in specifics rather than adjectives. "Good with other dogs" is an adjective. "Off lead is fine at the reserve, but she lunges at bikes, so lead on the shared path" is something a stranger can act on. The detail carries a legal edge: 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 it a duty of care. Other states and territories word it differently, but the principle is consistent. Long detail goes in dated care notes, as our guide to preparing your home and pets explains.
3. The daily commitment, time alone, and updates
How many hours a day does the sitter need to be there, and how long can the pets be left? A sitter planning day trips along the coast and a homeowner picturing someone home by four can both leave the same conversation satisfied. Put numbers on it, then agree how often updates arrive and by what channel. "I'll keep you posted" means something different to each of you.
4. Running costs: who pays for what
Electricity, gas, water, internet, pet food, litter and bin night. The usual convention: the homeowner keeps paying the household accounts and leaves enough pet supplies, the sitter buys their own groceries. A convention is not a rule: six weeks of a Perth summer with the air conditioning running is a different conversation from a long weekend in Hobart. Settle the reimbursement limit before the sit rather than after.
5. Vet emergencies: authority and a spending limit
Three things belong here: who can authorise treatment, a dollar figure the sitter can approve without reaching anyone, and what happens above it. Without them the sitter is at a clinic counter at 11pm with no authority and a phone going to voicemail. Animal Emergency Service lists difficulty breathing, collapse, repeated vomiting, suspected poisoning and prolonged seizures among the signs needing immediate attention, and none of those wait for a returned call. Record both vets, the insurance excess and the microchip numbers, which the RSPCA recommends keeping current. Our article on emergency vet consent goes further.
6. Other people in the home
Who else will be in the house, who may stay overnight, and who already holds a key? Cleaners, gardeners and a neighbour with a spare set should not surprise the person sleeping there. Consumer Protection WA notes that many home and contents policies exclude deliberate damage and theft by people lawfully invited onto the property, including sitters and their guests, and suggests asking your insurer whether cover can be modified. That is a homeowner job, covered in home insurance and house sitters. A sitter's own dog belongs in this clause too.
7. The car, if one is offered
Plenty of homeowners offer a vehicle, especially for regional sits where the nearest vet is 40 minutes away. The insurance side is the homeowner's to check. Moneysmart notes that an insurer sets the premium taking into account who will be driving the car, and policies differ in how they treat drivers who are not named on them. Confirm the position with the insurer first, and if the answer is no, write the no down.
8. Departure: cleaning and condition
"Leave it as you found it" means different things to different people, and the gap between two reasonable readings is where a good sit sours in its final hour. A task-by-task list defines what finished looks like. Add one habit that costs nothing: photograph each main room at handover and at departure, and note any pre-existing damage in writing on day one.
9. If either of you has to cancel
The clause people leave out, and the one that causes the most damage. A sitter who withdraws two days before an international flight is a real problem; a homeowner who cancels can leave a sitter without accommodation in another state. Agree the notice period and how it is communicated. Be realistic about the limits: no platform, Sitterly included, will find you a replacement sitter, so decide in advance who does the ringing around. We cover the rest in what to do when a sitter cancels late.
The full template
Copy the labels, fill in your detail, delete what does not apply, and keep it to one side of paper.
- 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 on arrival takes about [X] minutes. Keys [returned to / left at] [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 detail is in the care notes dated [date], which both parties have read."
- Time alone and presence. "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 in advance."
- Updates. "The sitter will send an update with at least one photo every [frequency]. The homeowner will reply within [X] hours where reception allows."
- 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 $[X]. Neither party pays the other for the sit itself."
- Vet authority. "Regular vet: [clinic, phone]. Emergency clinic: [clinic, address, phone]. Pet insurance: [insurer, policy, excess]. The homeowner authorises the sitter to obtain veterinary treatment for the named pets and to approve up to $[X] without prior contact. Above that, the sitter calls [number]; if unreachable within [X] minutes, [named person] may decide. The homeowner is responsible for all veterinary costs."
- Other people. "Only [names] will stay at the property. Daytime visitors are [permitted / not permitted]. Others who may attend: [cleaner, day], [gardener, day], [neighbour, spare key]. Keys, codes and access details will not be shared with anyone else."
- Vehicle. "The sitter [may / may not] drive the [make, model, registration]. If permitted: insurer [name], policy [number], excess $[X], use limited to [X]. Sitter's licence: [number], [state]. Petrol, tolls and fines are paid by [party]."
- Departure condition. "Before leaving, the sitter will wash the dishes, strip the bed, put the [colour] bin out on [day], vacuum, clean the litter tray and leave the keys [location]. Both parties will exchange photographs of each main room at handover and at departure. Pre-existing damage noted at handover: [list]."
- Cancellation. "Either party will give at least [X] days' notice of cancellation, by [message and phone call]. On cancellation, [who does what]. Neither party owes the other any payment or compensation."
- Nature of the arrangement. "This is a private, non-monetary arrangement between two individuals. It is not a lease, a tenancy agreement or an employment arrangement. The sitter has permission to occupy the property for the dates above and for no other purpose."
- Copies. "Both parties hold a copy. [Name], [date]. [Name], [date]."
Where to keep it
Work through the detail 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 record, with no printer or e-signature service involved.
Where these pages fall down
- Adjectives where numbers belong. "Not too long on their own" is not an agreement. "No more than five hours" is.
- Agreeing it all by phone. A call is a good way to reach agreement and a poor way to remember it.
- Expecting the platform to sort it out. Sitterly supports the connection. Homeowners and sitters remain responsible for agreeing terms, and nobody can arbitrate what neither of you wrote down.
Frequently asked questions
Does a house-sitting agreement need to be signed or witnessed?
No. There is no signing or witnessing requirement for a private arrangement like this. 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 message thread. If the sit is long or unusual, get legal advice rather than rely on a template.
Is a house sitter a tenant?
In a standard non-monetary sit, no. The sitter pays nothing to occupy the home and is there for a fixed, short period at the homeowner's invitation. Residential tenancy law differs across the states and territories, though, and arrangements involving payment for occupancy or an open-ended stay can look quite different. Speak to a legal practitioner or your state or territory's fair trading body if you are unsure.
What if we disagree about what was agreed?
This is what the written page is for. Where the detail was agreed in writing, most disagreements end quickly, because there is something to point at. Where it was not, goodwill is usually the only tool left. Sitterly is not a party to arrangements between users and does not mediate financial disputes. You can report conduct concerns and we can act on accounts, but we cannot decide who was right about the departure time.
Twenty minutes, once
None of this needs to feel adversarial. Most Australian house sits go well, and the page is not there because you expect trouble. It is there because two people recalling one conversation differently is the ordinary way good arrangements come unstuck, and twenty minutes of writing removes nearly all of it.
If you are arranging a sit on Sitterly, settle these clauses in the message thread before you confirm anything. How Sitterly works sets out the steps from first enquiry to a confirmed sit, and messaging is where the detail belongs: dates and hours, the vet limit, who else will be in the home, and what departure day looks like.
This article is general information only and is not legal advice. The template above is a starting point for a conversation, not a document that has been legally reviewed, and it has not been prepared for your circumstances or your state or territory. Laws affecting occupancy, animal welfare and insurance differ across Australia. For long, high-value or unusual arrangements, seek advice from a qualified legal practitioner.
