The three numbers that make up the cost

An au pair arrangement in Australia has three parts: weekly pocket money to your au pair, the room and board a family provides, and Yoohoo's service fee if you're placing through us. That's the whole list. There's no joining fee, no subscription and no separate matching charge sitting underneath it.

Pocket money: the real range

Typical pocket money sits between $250 and $350 a week, for around 30 hours of help with the kids and some light housework. Experienced au pairs, or households needing more hours, can land higher. There's no single fixed number: it depends on hours, location and experience, which is exactly why Yoohoo builds the exact range into your listing as you set it up rather than printing one number and hoping it fits every family.

Room and board: the part that doesn't show up as a line item

An au pair lives with the family and shares meals as part of the arrangement. It's not usually itemised as a separate cost, but it's real: a private room and food are part of what a family provides, alongside pocket money, and it's worth factoring in when you compare an au pair to other kinds of child care where accommodation isn't part of the deal at all.

What that room needs to be varies by household: some families have a self-contained space, others a spare bedroom near the kids. Neither is wrong, but it's worth being upfront about what you're actually offering when you list, so an au pair knows what they're saying yes to before they've booked a flight, not after they've arrived.

Other costs that sit outside the weekly number

A few things typically sit outside pocket money and the service fee: your au pair's own travel to Australia and their travel insurance are usually theirs to cover, since a Working Holiday visa is fundamentally their trip. Families sometimes contribute toward local transport if it's needed for the role, particularly school runs, but that's a conversation to have and agree upfront, not an assumption either side should make.

The service fee: just 10%, not a flat number

Yoohoo takes just 10% on top of pocket money, about $30 on a typical $300 week. It's a percentage because it should scale with what your au pair actually earns, not a flat charge that means something different at every pocket money level. And it only runs while an au pair is actually placed with your family: nothing upfront, nothing ongoing if there's no placement.

What a full week actually looks like, in dollars

On a typical $300 pocket money week, that's $330 charged in total: $300 to your au pair, $30 to Yoohoo. Every week states the same split, in dollars, so there's never a bare percentage or a total with the breakdown hidden behind a tap.

The agency comparison: what a $1,500 to $3,000 placement fee gets you

Traditional au pair agencies typically charge $1,500 to $3,000 in placement fees, upfront, before a family has even had a real conversation with anyone. If that placement doesn't work out, families are often back at square one and paying again for a rematch. Yoohoo charges nothing upfront: the only cost is the 10% service fee, and it only applies once pocket money does.

What if it falls through before arrival?

If a placement falls through before your au pair arrives, the week is refunded straight away, and the fee carries over to your next au pair, so you never pay it twice. See the full detail on how Yoohoo Protect works.

Why a percentage beats a flat number

A flat weekly charge sounds simple until you notice it only makes sense at one pocket money level. Ten per cent scales with what your au pair is actually earning: on a $250 week it's $25, on a $350 week it's $35, and it's always proportionate rather than an arbitrary number picked to sound round. It also stops the moment the placement does, which a flat ongoing charge wouldn't necessarily do on its own.

How this compares to hiring a nanny

A nanny's pay follows the usual rules for paid work in Australia, on top of which a family typically takes on the other standard obligations of engaging someone for a paid role. An au pair's pocket money and room and board sit outside that structure entirely, because it's a different kind of arrangement: a cultural exchange, not a job. That's a genuine difference in category, not just in price, and it's worth reading in full in our au pair vs nanny breakdown if you're weighing the two up.

The bottom line

  • No joining fee, no subscription, no match fee.
  • Pocket money: typically $250 to $350 a week, set as you build your listing.
  • Room and board: part of the arrangement, not a separate line item.
  • Yoohoo's fee: just 10%, about $30 on a typical week, only while your au pair is with you.
  • Au pairs never pay Yoohoo anything, ever.