How Do I Find a House Sitter I Can Trust?

Start with evidence you can check: experience relevant to your pets, references you can contact, a conversation about the actual stay and a meeting before you commit where practical. A friendly profile, a badge or a promise to love your animals cannot answer all those questions for you.

You do not have to decide that someone is trustworthy in every situation. You need to decide whether there is enough information to let this person care for these animals, in this home, on these dates. That makes the decision more manageable and the questions more useful.

Make a shortlist around your household

Before messaging, write down the requirements that would rule out a match. These might include the dates, time at home, experience with a particular species, transport or the ability to follow an established medication routine.

Read profiles against those requirements. Look for examples rather than broad claims. Someone who has cared for a quiet adult cat may still be a good applicant for your home, but that experience does not establish they can manage two dogs walked separately.

Ask about gaps without turning them into accusations. A new sitter may have relevant experience from outside a sitting platform. The question is what evidence they can offer and whether you are comfortable with the remaining uncertainty.

Understand what the platform actually checks

Sitterly's homeowner information states that members confirm their email address and that this is the only check Sitterly makes. Email confirmation is not an identity check, a police check or an assessment of animal care skills. Sitterly does not vet members or provide insurance.

On any platform, read the explanation behind a check rather than inferring its meaning from a badge. Ask who carried it out, what was checked and what it does not cover. If a sitter offers a document, establish that it belongs to the person you are speaking with, and ask the issuer where necessary.

Consumer Protection WA's guidance on sitting services suggests asking for references, checking whether the people working in your home have a National Police Certificate, and clarifying insurance. It is written about businesses, so do not read it as a promise that an unpaid exchange carries the same protections as a paid service.

If you ask for a police check, know exactly what it covers

Sitterly does not collect or display police checks, so this step is a conversation between you and the sitter. Asking is normal, it is cheap, and only the sitter can obtain one. Under the National Police Checking Service the applicant applies for their own check, so you cannot obtain one about somebody else.

The Australian Federal Police publishes both figures and says anyone can apply for their own check. The certificate lists disclosable court outcomes, which the AFP describes as including local and interstate criminal and traffic court outcomes, outstanding warrants, and pending charges where someone has not yet been to court. Four limits come with it, all published by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, which runs the national system.

1. It is a point in time. ACIC states a result reflects police records only on the date and time it was released, and that a person can receive a no disclosable court outcome result one day and be charged the next. A certificate from March tells you about March.
2. It is tied to the purpose it was requested for. ACIC says a check is not suitable for reuse for a different purpose, because the stated purpose can change what police release under each state's spent convictions legislation.
3. It matches a name, not a face. ACIC describes the process as checking personal details against a national database using a name matching algorithm, after an accredited body has verified the applicant's identity at lodgement. That is why an ID check and a police check are worth more together than apart.
4. It only knows what reached a court. Anything never reported, never charged or never proven is not on it.

To confirm a certificate is genuine, ACIC's advice is to contact the accredited body that submitted the check, and it publishes the list of accredited bodies so you can check the name on the letterhead is real. Our companion piece on cameras, checks and privacy during a sit covers the same ground from the sitter's side.

Speak with referees about what actually happened

Ask the sitter to get permission before sharing a referee's contact details. A useful conversation establishes the relationship, the care involved and how the stay went. It is more informative than asking only whether the sitter was nice.

Questions you can use include:

• What animals and home responsibilities did the sitter manage?
• Were dates, communication and agreed routines handled as expected?
• Did anything change, and how was it dealt with?
• What would a future homeowner need to explain carefully?
• Would you arrange another stay with this person?

If an answer is unclear or inconsistent, ask a follow-up question before drawing conclusions. A reference is one person's account, not a guarantee about a future stay.

Meet and discuss the ordinary day

Use a call to settle practical questions, then arrange a meeting with the animals where feasible. For cats, the RSPCA suggests a meet-and-greet with an unfamiliar carer beforehand.

Explain the daily routine and invite the sitter to describe how it would fit their day. Discuss time away from the home, visitors, cameras, pet handling and anything they are not comfortable doing. A sitter asking careful questions is giving you useful information, and neither person should feel pressured to confirm during the meeting.

For individual health or behaviour concerns, ask your vet what the carer needs to know. A general interview cannot establish clinical competence.

Three things should end the conversation on the spot

Any request for money. On Sitterly no money changes hands for the sit and there is no per-booking commission: the sitter is not paid and pays no rent. Anyone asking for a deposit, a bond, a holding fee or a transfer to secure dates is not describing this model at all. Stop, use the Report function, and report the approach to Scamwatch, which the ACCC runs.

Pressure to move off-platform before you have met. Swapping numbers once a sit is agreed is ordinary. Being pushed into a private channel at first contact removes the record, and refusing costs nothing.

A story that will not hold still. The referee describes a different house, the name on the document is not the name on the profile, the dates keep sliding. One of those can be innocent. Two is a pattern.

Confirm only when the important questions are settled

Record dates, duties, expenses, communication and the backup plan in one shared agreement. Use our questions to ask before confirming to find anything missed.

If information does not line up, ask for clarification. If you remain uncomfortable, you can decline without alleging misconduct. The exchange should be clear: accommodation in return for agreed care, with practical expenses discussed separately. It does not remove the homeowner's responsibility to choose carefully, and it does not come with a guaranteed match.

Build your shortlist

Browse Sitterly's sitter profiles with your requirements beside you. Build the shortlist first, then do the checking before handing over the keys.