A house sitter is responsible for the pets, the home and the routine both sides agreed in writing before the sit was confirmed, and for nothing that turns up after it. In an ordinary Australian sit that means feeding and fresh water, medication exactly as the treating vet described it, exercise and company, litter trays and yard pick-up, bins and mail, keeping the home secure and looking lived in, and leaving it as it was found. Mowing a large block, pool chemistry and livestock are negotiable extras rather than duties. A deep clean at the end, and anything added after the sit was confirmed, are rarely reasonable at all.
The question underneath is rarely what the tasks are. It is whether you are allowed to say no to one. You are, and the earlier you say it the less it costs.
The agreed list is the job, and anything added later is a request
Scope is whatever the two of you wrote down before the sit was confirmed. Not what is customary, not what the previous sitter apparently did, and not the duty list on an international job-description site. In a non-monetary sit no money changes hands, so there is no rate to adjust halfway through, which makes the agreement the only place scope lives. Our house sitting agreement guide puts the task list before almost everything else for that reason.
That is why the failure is so consistent. A sit advertised as easy turns out to include twice-daily injections, or a quick tidy at the end turns out to mean carpets and windows. Rarely a trap. Usually a homeowner who has stopped noticing work they do without thinking, meeting a sitter who did not want to look precious by asking.
Most tasks fall into one of three groups
| Task | Where it usually sits | Settle this before you say yes |
|---|---|---|
| Feeding, water and the pet's normal routine | Standard | Portions, times, who replaces food that runs out |
| Medication already prescribed and demonstrated | Standard | Dose and times in writing, plus a demonstration at handover |
| Walks and company for a dog | Standard | How many, how long, on lead or off, which park |
| Litter trays, yard pick-up and pet dishes | Standard | How often, where the waste goes, which day bins go out |
| Bins, mail and parcels | Standard | Kerbside or bin bay, and what happens to deliveries |
| Watering indoor plants and a modest garden | Standard | Which plants, how often, hand watering or a timer |
| Keeping the home secure and looking occupied | Standard | Alarm codes, which lights, who else holds a key |
| Leaving the home as it was found | Standard | Linen, floors, fridge, and what "as found" means to the owner |
| Sleeping at the property every night | Standard | Whether any night away is acceptable, and how much notice |
| Injections, fluids or a post-surgical pet | Negotiable | Whether the sitter has done it, and the vet's written directions |
| A pet that cannot be left for long | Negotiable | The real maximum in hours, written down, not implied |
| Mowing a large block or acreage | Negotiable | Whose mower and fuel, how often, what happens after rain |
| Pool or spa testing and chemicals | Negotiable | Who supplies chemicals, whether a pool service already visits |
| Chickens, horses or livestock | Negotiable | Feed, gates, and who to call if one is sick or missing |
| Letting tradespeople in or taking deliveries | Negotiable | Known dates only, never an open-ended duty |
| End-of-stay deep clean, carpets or windows | Rarely reasonable | If it matters, book a cleaner and say so in the listing |
| Repairs, renovating, clearing a shed, running errands | Rarely reasonable | Paid work, not part of a non-monetary exchange |
| Rent, or the full bills on a short sit | Rarely reasonable | Who covers utilities, and whether a long sit changes that, agreed in writing before you commit |
| Anything added after the sit was confirmed | Rarely reasonable | Agree it in writing as a change, or decline it |
Two rows deserve a note. On medication, the Australian Veterinary Association's policy on veterinary prescribing rights says vets exercising those rights must provide adequate directions in writing and make them available to whoever administers the medicine. Ask for that standard: written directions in the sitter's hands before the owner leaves, not a briefing at the door. Our pet care handover template is built around it.
Whether a bond or deposit is appropriate runs into state and territory residential law, which is outside what this article covers. Your fair trading or consumer affairs office is the place for that one.
Sitterly draws none of these lines for you. We publish no rule about utilities, lawns or length of stay, and no standard task list, which is exactly why the two of you need to write one down. Where a garden stops being basic is covered in our guide to pools, lawns, bins and the other Australian extras.
Time at home is the scope item that never reaches the listing
How much of the day a sitter must be in the house decides whether a sit is a fortnight in Fremantle with your days free or an unpaid full-time job. Owners rarely mention it, because to them it is not a task. Ask for it in hours.
| The situation | Ask this before you agree |
|---|---|
| A confident adult cat | How long the cat is normally left, and whether it is indoors only |
| An adult dog in a working household | The longest stretch the dog is routinely left, and how it copes |
| A puppy, a senior dog, or a dog with separation distress | The genuine maximum in hours, and whether a neighbour may cover a gap |
| A pet on twice-daily medication | The exact dosing times, and how far they can shift |
| A pet recovering from surgery, or on palliative care | Whether the treating vet has written a plan, and who decides on changes |
| Chickens, livestock or a rural block | Whether you must be there at dawn and dusk for lock-up |
The RSPCA Knowledgebase page on whether to take a cat on holiday, last updated 14 June 2023, says that for a cat the options are a trusted person such as a friend, family member or neighbour, or a house and pet sitter from a reputable agency, staying at the house or visiting at least once or twice a day, and that the cat's health and wellbeing should be checked daily. That is a welfare floor for a cat, not a description of the sit you agreed to.
How to decline an extra without losing the sit
Most extras are added because the owner has not counted the time, not because they are testing you. Naming the time cost, rather than refusing outright, settles the majority of them. These are sentences you can send before you commit.
- Trade a yes for a boundary. "Happy to keep the front lawn tidy while I am there. Mowing the back paddock weekly is more than I can take on, so could we leave that with whoever does it now?"
- Ask for the time, not the answer. "Roughly how long does the pool take each week, and who supplies the chemicals?"
- Turn an assumption into a line in the agreement. "I will strip the bed, run the sheets and towels through and leave the kitchen and bathrooms clean. Carpets and windows I would leave to your cleaner."
- Decline a late addition plainly. "That was not in the listing and I have planned the dates around what we agreed, so I cannot add the deep clean. Everything else stands."
- Step aside early rather than reluctantly. "Twice-daily injections are outside what I am confident doing, so I will withdraw on this one."
If an owner withdraws because a sitter declined an unlisted extra, the sit was never the sit advertised, and learning that beforehand is the good outcome. New sitters tend to absorb the work instead, which is much of why a first sit with no reviews feels so lopsided.
The one-line test
If a task would have changed your answer to the sit, it belongs in the listing, not in the handover. That single sentence settles most scope arguments before they start.
For homeowners, the honest workload attracts a better sitter, not fewer
Understating the work is the expensive option. It draws people who would not have applied, and produces the mid-sit renegotiation, the early departure, or the polite four-star review from someone who felt stitched up. Describing it fully draws fewer applicants and better ones, because they chose this sit, mower and medication included. Put these in the listing, not the handover.
- How many pets, and the honest daily time each one needs
- Every medication, its times, and whether it is a tablet or an injection
- How long the pets can be left, in hours
- Lawn size, whose mower, and how fast the grass grows in the month you are away
- Pool, spa, tank water, chickens, and whether a service already attends
- What the end of the sit should look like: linen, bins, fridge, floors
- Any tradesperson or neighbour who will need something from the sitter
You can see how both sides fit together on how Sitterly works. Members message each other directly before anything is agreed, and that thread is the simplest written record either of you will get.
Some things are nobody's job until somebody writes them down
Emergency vet treatment is the clearest example: who authorises it, up to what dollar limit, which clinic, and what happens if the owner cannot be reached at 2am. A sitter without that in writing is choosing between an animal's welfare and someone else's money, which is not a decision they agreed to make.
Australian seasonal risk is the second, and no exchange platform covers it. The Country Fire Authority's guidance on pets and bushfires tells owners to decide in advance where pets can go, keep a kit with medication and records ready, and leave early rather than return for an animal. The Queensland Government's pet emergency plan says the same for floods and cyclones. For a January sit in the Adelaide Hills, that plan is the owner's to make and the sitter's to be handed.
The third is damage, because something will eventually break. Who pays is settled by the owner's policy and its product disclosure statement, not by goodwill, and our guide to home insurance while a house sitter is in your home works through the wording. Consumer Protection WA's page on house, pet or baby sitting services, last updated 21 November 2024, warns that many policies have exclusions for deliberate damage and theft caused by people lawfully invited onto your property, such as cleaners, sitters and their guests. It also notes that a business providing a house sitting, pet sitting, baby sitting or cleaning service must meet the service guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law. Where your own arrangement sits is a question for your state or territory fair trading or consumer affairs office. General information, not legal or insurance advice.
Sitterly is equally plain about its limits. We do not vet, screen or approve members, supervise sits, mediate disagreements, or carry insurance for either side. What we offer is email verification, an optional police check started by the member and reviewed by us, a filter for police checked sitters, direct messaging, reviews after a completed booking, suburb-level location privacy, and a report function.
“Sitterly supports the connection. Homeowners and sitters remain responsible for their own arrangements.”
- Sitterly, About page
Two related questions sit outside this article. Whether a live-in sitter acquires any occupancy status is a matter of state and territory residential law, and belongs with your fair trading or consumer affairs office. Visa questions belong with the Department of Home Affairs, and tax questions with the ATO or a registered tax agent.
Common questions about house sitting duties
- What are the standard duties of a house sitter in Australia?
- Feeding and water, medication as prescribed, exercise and company, litter and yard clean-up, bins and mail, watering indoor plants and a modest garden, keeping the home secure and occupied, sleeping there each night, and leaving the place as found. Anything beyond that is negotiable and belongs in the listing.
- Is a house sitter expected to deep clean the house before leaving?
- No. Leaving the home as clean as you found it is standard. Carpets, windows, ovens and a full end-of-stay clean are a separate job, and an owner who wants one should book a cleaner or say so in the listing.
- Can a homeowner add tasks after the sit is confirmed?
- They can ask, and the sitter can say no. A confirmed sit is the task list both sides agreed to, so anything new is a change and needs to be agreed in writing the same way.
- Does a house sitter have to be at home all day?
- Only if that was agreed. Time at home is a scope item, not an assumption, and it varies enormously between a confident adult cat and a puppy or a post-surgical dog. Ask for the maximum hours the pets can be left, and write the answer down.
Scope is easier to judge with a real listing in front of you, where the pets, the dates, the medication and the extras are written down before anybody commits. Browse the open sits and read what each homeowner has actually described.
