Going Independent as a Support Worker: What Changes and How to Start

If you're weighing whether to go independent, the tipping point might not be pay or one bad shift. It could be being sent to a different house every week, having no say in the roster, or watching a client you'd built a relationship with get reassigned.

Working for yourself fixes some of that. It also hands you a pile of things an agency was quietly doing on your behalf. Here's an honest look at both sides, and what to set up if you decide to go ahead.

What actually changes

You choose the work. Which clients, which services, which days. If a job doesn't suit your skills or your schedule, you don't take it.

You set your own rates. Nobody sets them for you, and nobody negotiates on your behalf either.

You keep your clients. Continuity stops being someone else's rostering decision. This is often the real prize, and it's also what makes the work steadier over time.

You're a business. You're an independent contractor, not an employee. That means an ABN, your own records, your own invoicing, your own tax obligations, and your own decisions about insurance.

What you give up

Worth being clear-eyed about this, because the accounts you'll read online are usually written by people selling something.

• A guaranteed roster. Nobody hands you a week of work. Building a client base takes time, and the first stretch is usually the thinnest.

• Someone else's admin. Scheduling, invoicing, chasing payment, record keeping. It's a few hours a week, not a few minutes.

• Employee entitlements. Contractors and employees are treated differently. What that means for your situation is a question for the ATO or a registered tax agent, not for a blog post.

• A colleague to call. Independent work is more isolated. Workers who do it well tend to build their own informal network deliberately.

If that list makes you hesitate, that's useful information rather than a failure of nerve.

The setup checklist

Six things, roughly in order.

1. Get an ABN. It's the foundation for everything else, and you'll need it before you can register for GST.

2. Decide on GST. See the next section. If you're just starting out, there's a good chance you're under the threshold.

3. Sort out screening. A current police check is the baseline requirement for aged-care and DVA work. Different screening requirements apply to NDIS-related work.

4. Line up references. Two professional references are a standard requirement, and they're much easier to get from an employer you're leaving on good terms than one you left six months ago.

5. Deal with insurance. Work out what covers you and when. Cover attached to a platform generally applies to work booked and invoiced through that platform, which matters if you also take private work directly.

6. Set up your records from day one. A separate bank account, a simple system for invoices and receipts, and a habit of logging shifts as you go rather than at tax time.

To work through CareVicinity specifically, you'll need an ABN, two professional references and a valid police check. Approved services booked and invoiced through the platform are covered by CareVicinity's insurance, subject to the Terms and Conditions.

ABN and GST: what the rules actually say

This is where advice tends to get vague, so here are the facts as the ATO states them.

You need an ABN before you register for GST. You can apply for GST registration as part of your ABN application, so it isn't two separate exercises.

GST registration is required once your GST turnover reaches $75,000 or more. Below that, registration is optional. If you cross the threshold, you need to register within 21 days of your GST turnover exceeding it.

Current turnover isn't the only test. Even if your current GST turnover is at or above the threshold, you don't have to register if your projected GST turnover will be less than it.

One care-work specific point: GST treatment varies depending on your GST-registration status, the service being provided, and the care seeker's funding source. On CareVicinity, the applicable GST treatment is identified within the platform rather than being something the client works out.

Everything past this point, deductions, what to set aside, superannuation, business structures, is a question for a registered tax agent or the ATO directly. It's worth one paid conversation early rather than a year of guessing.

Setting your rates

Nobody enjoys this part, and underpricing early is an easy mistake to make.

Some things to weigh up, all of them judgement rather than rules:

• An hourly rate isn't a wage. It has to cover unpaid time as well: travel between clients, admin, insurance, and the gaps in your week.

• Look at what similar work is being offered at in your area for the specific services you provide, and where your experience sits within that.

• Price by service, not one flat rate. Personal care, domestic assistance and transport aren't the same work.

• Factor in the platform fee. CareVicinity charges support workers a 12.5% platform fee. Care seekers and coordinators pay no platform fee.

• Raising a rate later is harder than setting it right. Starting low to win clients tends to lock you in with exactly the clients most sensitive to a future increase.

Finding your first clients

The honest answer is that this is the hard part, which is why a platform can be easier than starting from nothing.

What tends to work:

• A specific profile beats a general one. "Experienced with dementia support and early morning personal care in the inner west" gets read. "Caring and reliable" doesn't.

• Say what you actually do. Services, availability, languages, whether you drive.

• Be responsive early. The first message back matters more than anything else on your profile.

• Treat the first few clients as your reputation. Referrals and continuity carry this work far more than marketing does.

On CareVicinity you search for local work, filter by services, location, hours and client needs, and apply for the jobs that suit you. Clients choose their worker directly, so a clear profile does a lot of the work for you.

You don't have to jump all at once

The framing of "leave the agency and go independent" makes this sound like a single irreversible decision. It doesn't have to be.

A staged version: keep your agency shifts, get your ABN and screening sorted, take on one or two independent clients around the edges of your roster, and see how the admin feels in practice. Then shift the balance as your own client base builds.

It takes longer. It also means you find out whether you like running the business side before you're relying on it.

FAQ

Am I an employee or a contractor? Support workers on CareVicinity are independent contractors. CareVicinity does not employ or assign them. What contractor status means for your particular circumstances is a question for the ATO or a registered tax agent.

Does my insurance follow me to private clients? Approved services booked and invoiced through CareVicinity are covered by CareVicinity's insurance, subject to the Terms and Conditions. Work you arrange privately, outside the platform, sits outside that, so it's worth checking what you have in place.

Your next step

If the setup checklist looked manageable rather than alarming, the practical starting point is an ABN and a current police check. Everything else can follow.

When you're ready to find your own clients, you can see how delivering care through CareVicinity works, including setting your own rates and choosing your own hours, or read the step-by-step version in how to become an independent support worker with CareVicinity. For the money side once you're up and running, there's navigating invoicing and payments as an independent support worker.