How to Vet a House Sitter in Australia When References Aren't Enough

Vetting a house sitter in Australia is four separate checks, and a reference is only one of them. Confirm who the person is, confirm what has been checked about their criminal history and by whom, speak to a homeowner who has actually had them in the house, then watch them with your animals in your own home before you agree to dates. Each check answers a question the others cannot. A referee is chosen by the sitter, a police certificate says nothing about the person standing in your kitchen, and a warm meet and greet tells you nothing about how the last sit ended.

Run them in that order, so you are not giving up a Saturday morning to someone whose profile had already answered the question.

A reference is a report on someone else's house, given by a person the sitter chose

Almost every Australian page on this subject stops at four words: check references, meet first. Both are right and neither is sufficient, for a structural reason rather than a moral one. The sitter nominates the referee, who describes a house that is not yours, animals that are not yours and a routine you did not write. If a sit ever went badly enough to matter, the person who lived through it is not the person whose number you were handed. That does not make references worthless. It moves them down the sequence and changes the questions, which is step four.

Consumer Protection WA set out the practical version in a Commissioner's blog on house sitting published 9 April 2025. It tells homeowners not to rely on online testimonials alone, to ask for references you can personally contact, to ask to see a National Police Certificate, and to read an intermediary website's terms so you know what checks it actually conducts.

Step one: read the profile for what is missing, not for what is there

A profile is a sales document, so read it the way you would read a rental application. The signal is specificity. A sitter who names the breeds they have cared for, the medications they have given and the sits that did not go to plan is describing real experience. Loves all animals tells you nothing you can check.

Note three things before you message anyone. Location: Sitterly shows a suburb rather than a street address on both sides, and a sitter listing Coburg or Camp Hill is telling you how far they travel and how well they know your vet and your council. Scope: house sitting here means someone stays in your home and cares for your pets and property, not dog walking, drop-in visits, daycare or boarding at their place. Dates: confirm exact arrival and departure times first, because half the trouble in this category is a diary problem in disguise.

You can browse sitter profiles and filter before you contact anybody, which is the cheapest screening step available.

Step two: each verification badge answers a different question

This is the part no Australian platform explains, and the confusion is why homeowners over-trust a badge and under-use a phone call. An identity check and a criminal-history check are not the same thing, and neither is a character reference.

On Sitterly, email verification is automatic and a police check is optional, started by the member and reviewed by an administrator, and homeowners can filter the sitter directory by police check. That is how the filter works, not a claim about anyone's conduct. Sitterly does not vet, screen, approve or supervise members, and provides no insurance. Sitterly supports the connection. Homeowners and sitters remain responsible for their own arrangements, and how Sitterly works sets out where that role stops.

That is not unusual here. Of the seven Australian sitting platforms audited for this site on 22 August 2026, not one screened every member as standard, and Aussie House Sitters states on its own site that it does not screen its sitters.

Step three: ask for the police check, and know exactly what it covers

Asking is normal, it is cheap, and only the sitter can do it. Under the National Police Checking Service the applicant applies for their own check, so you cannot obtain one about somebody else. The Western Australia Police Force says it plainly on its application page: the applicant must complete the application and give consent.

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 police checks, cameras and privacy during a sit covers the same ground from the sitter's side.

Step four: ring the referees and ask the two questions that make a reference useful

Ring, do not email. You are listening for hesitation, and hesitation does not survive a keyboard. Open by asking the referee to describe the house and the animals before you describe yours. If it does not line up with what the sitter told you, the call is finished. Then ask these two.

1. What would you tell the next homeowner to be ready for? This gets the truth without asking anyone to criticise a person they like. The answer is usually small and specific: they are not a morning person, they ring about everything, they left the bins out.
2. Would you have them again, and have you booked them? The gap between yes in principle and yes in the diary is where the information lives.

Ask for two referees, at least one a homeowner they actually sat for. Someone early in their sitting life may not have one yet, which is a reason to go slower, not an automatic no. Our guide to how house sitting references work in Australia covers what to accept from a beginner.

Step five: video call first, then meet at your home with your animals in the room

The call is a filter and costs fifteen minutes. The visit is the decision. The RSPCA Knowledgebase, in guidance last updated 14 June 2023, recommends arranging a meet and greet beforehand where an animal has not met the carer, and says whoever looks after your pet should hold your vet's contact details and your animal's records.

Meet at your place, at roughly the time of day the sitter will be there, and watch your animals more than the person. A good sitter lets a cat come to them and does not loom over a nervous dog. Then cover the practical ground: who else will be in the house, what they do if your dog will not eat on day two, how often you will hear from them, and what else is in their diary during your dates. The questions to ask before you confirm has the full list. If you run indoor cameras, say so here rather than after.

Write it down before you hand over a key

The record is what you will both reach for when your flight is delayed in Denpasar and the dog is limping.

• Exact dates and times, including who is in the house on changeover day.
• Feeding, medication and exercise, written out rather than explained at the door.
• Your vet's name, address and after-hours number, your written authority for the sitter to seek treatment, and the figure above which they must reach you first.
• Who else may enter or stay.
• What each of you does if you need to cancel.

Animal welfare law is state based. In Queensland a person in charge of an animal includes someone with custody, care or control of it, and owes that animal a duty of care under the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001. Whoever is in your kitchen at 2am is the person the law is speaking to, so make sure they have what they need to act. Keep the arranging in platform messaging so neither of you is relying on memory, and read our guide to what a house sitter does to your home insurance before you ring your insurer.

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.

When everything checks out and you are still not sure

Sometimes every box is ticked, the referees were warm, the dog liked them, and you still do not want to go. That feeling is data. It is not proof of anything about the sitter, and it does not need to be.

• Make the first sit a short one. A long weekend in your own city tells you most of what a fortnight would, at far less cost if you are wrong.
• Reduce what is exposed. Lock one room, move the passports and jewellery to a relative's in the next suburb, and take the spare key off the hook by the door.
• Add a second pair of eyes. Ask a neighbour to call in on day two and give the sitter their number too, so your sitter also has someone local if the hot water dies.
• Or say no, without a reason. A sitter worth having will not be offended by a homeowner who wants one more conversation.

Whether a live-in sitter acquires any occupancy or tenancy right under residential tenancy law sits outside this article. It varies by jurisdiction, so put it to your state or territory consumer affairs or fair trading agency, or to your own solicitor.

Browse sitter profiles

The sequence starts with a shortlist. Browse sitter profiles, filter by police check if that is where you want to begin, and read for specifics rather than adjectives. Listing is free for homeowners, always, so you can post your dates first and let the shortlist come to you.

This article is general information only and is not legal, insurance or veterinary advice. Agency fees, turnaround times and published wording described here were read on 22 August 2026 and can change. Animal welfare and tenancy law differ between states and territories. Speak to the relevant authority, your insurer or your own adviser before deciding anything.