Hi all

Thanks again to those who have given their advice.

Firstly, I concur with what you all said about using this advice, I would/ have obviously checked that whatever advice was given was backed up officially per se.

So here are the answers that I have found.

With regards to hiring a photography assistant. From what I can tell, this job role is not covered by an Award or an Agreement, i.e. Govt direction as to how workers should be paid etc. Therefore, the assistant comes under Miscellaneous Award which basically means that National minimum wage applies.

In our case and I guess the majority of others, because our hours are irregular, the assistant is defined as a casual worker. This basically means that they receive minimal entitlements with regards to unpaid leave etc, but this is compensated by applying a 25% casual loading to the national minimum wage (dont forget to check what the percentage is for juniors)

Basically if youre hiring a junior assistant, youre looking at $11 ph which will increase to $13 after a 3mth period. As time goes on, or the hours become more regular, the assistants circumstances may change to part-time and you would have to check the definitions and rules for that.

To reiterate an earlier point, unless youve had assistants before and know this anyway, the trainee cant be classified for pay purposes as a trainee or an apprentice unless you a) have a course program lined out for them and b) that course is recognised by the regulating authority for the state. So even if someone comes to you seeking an education because they want to be a photographer, if theyre carrying out tasks for you whilst your working no matter how minor, they will still be classed as workers.

Because you are now an employer of said assistant, you are obligated to have them covered by accident and injury insurance. Like I plan to do tomorrow, I would also check your PI and PLI insurance to see whether youre covered when the fault may be with the assistant.

Im sure people still have more to add to this and I will add updates as things become clearer. I think the main thing Ive got from this is that taking on an assistant who 'just wants to learn' is actually more of a commitment that it would initially seem and you will have to be on your toes when it comes to the mundane stuff.

Hope this helps anyone who is searching for these kind of answers!