Employ Contract
Social media marketers: employing one, or contracting one
Taking on a social media marketer starts at a fork: will they be your employee, or a contractor running their own business? This guide, published by Dotto, follows both paths through pay, super and the ownership of the work, from official pages listed at the foot of each page.
General information only, not legal, tax or employment advice, and never an answer about one person’s arrangement. For pay and workplace rights the official place to check is the Fair Work Ombudsman; for tax and super, the ATO.
The fork, row by row
The name given to the arrangement does not decide the path. business.gov.au says working it out is “not as simple as whether or not they have an ABN or send invoices”, and the ATO says a label in the contract, such as calling someone a contractor, “will not determine or be relevant” to how the relationship is characterised.
| Question | Employee | Contractor |
|---|---|---|
| Who controls the work | The employer controls how, where and when they work. | They run their own business and often use their own processes, tools and methods, and can work for more than one client at a time. |
| Minimum pay | The award rate for the job or, where no award or registered agreement applies, the National Minimum Wage for adults: $26.44 an hour from 1 July 2026. A casual employee on the National Minimum Wage is owed at least $33.05 an hour, a figure that includes the 25 per cent casual loading. | The price the contract sets. The Fair Work Ombudsman says contractors don’t get the same pay and conditions as employees. |
| Super | At least 12% of qualifying earnings, paid for each payday from 1 July 2026. | Can be payable when they are paid mainly for their labour, whether or not they have an ABN. |
| Tax | The business withholds tax from their pay and sends it to the ATO. | They set money aside for their own tax, unless they have a voluntary agreement for the business to withhold it. |
| Who owns the work | Work made under the terms of their employment belongs to the employer under the Copyright Act. | The contractor owns what they create unless the contract says the hirer will. For a film made under a paid agreement, section 98(3) makes the person who paid for it the owner of the copyright, unless agreed otherwise. |
Five guides, in the order the questions arrive
- 1
Employee or contractor
The ATO’s test for tax and super, the Fair Work Ombudsman’s whole of relationship test, and sham contracting.
- 2
Who owns what a marketer makes
Captions, graphics and video under the Copyright Act, and signed transfers.
- 3
Pay, awards and minimums
Award coverage, the National Minimum Wage, and what a contract can’t undercut.
- 4
Super for contractors
The ATO’s three-part labour test, and how Payday Super works from 1 July 2026.
- 5
Working with influencers
The brief, the ACCC’s disclosure points, and super for paid promoters.
Who answers which question
The ATO puts the job of classifying a worker for tax and super on the business, and says a wrong decision can bring penalties. The Fair Work Ombudsman says it can’t tell a worker which they are, and that legal advice is the better route for that question.
Dates this guide counts from
Minimum wages are reviewed every year, with most changes starting from the first full pay period on or after 1 July, so check each figure on its linked page before relying on it.
- 26 August 2024Constitutionally covered businesses start using the whole of relationship test to tell an employee from a contractor.
- 1 July 2026The National Minimum Wage becomes $26.44 an hour, or $1,004.90 a week, from the first full pay period starting on or after that day.
- 1 July 2026Payday Super begins: super is paid for each payday and must reach the fund within 7 business days.
- 1 July 2026The high income threshold becomes $190,100. Awards don’t apply to an employee who has accepted a written guarantee of annual earnings above it.