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For tour operators

Engage skilled guides compliantly, across seasons and across state lines, without building an HR and payroll function in-house.

A red dirt road running through remote Australian scrub

The problem

Guiding is a hard industry to employ people in

Operating a tour guiding company requires a lot of work and commitment from all those involved. Your guides are the face of the company and critical to providing an exceptional experience for guests.

Meanwhile the employment side carries seasonal peaks, irregular hours, remote work, staff crossing state borders, and a compliance surface that has moved twice in the last two years. Most operators are carrying that load with no dedicated HR function at all.

We take it off you — and because we work only in this industry, we already know how a guiding roster behaves.

Compliance surface

Which award covers your guides?

There is no single answer, and this catches people out. A guide can fall under any of six industry awards — or none of them.

An industry award covers a tour guide only when both of these are true:

The employer operates in the industry defined in that award; and
The award contains a classification matching that employee’s duties and qualifications.

A tour guide may be covered by	Typically where the employer is
Amusement Award MA000080	An amusement, events or recreation business
Hospitality Award	A hotel, resort or similar hospitality operation
Live Performance Award	A live performance or entertainment business
Passenger Vehicle Award	A passenger transport operation
Racing Clubs Events Award	A racing club running events
Wine Award	A winery running cellar door or vineyard tours
Miscellaneous Award	No industry award applies — guides are then classified on their duties and qualifications

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman — Award coverage for tour guides [K600606] · MA000080

Getting this wrong is not a paperwork error. The award sets every pay rate, penalty, loading and classification underneath it — so an incorrect starting point compounds quietly across every guide, every roster, for as long as it goes unnoticed. And because coverage depends on the employee’s role as well as your industry, two guides on your own payroll will not always sit in the same place.

Changed 1 July 2026

Payday Super is now in force

If your payroll still treats super as a quarterly task, it is already out of step.

Every payday Super guarantee must be paid on each payday, not quarterly.

7 business days Contributions must be received by the employee’s fund, with enough information to allocate them, or the super guarantee charge applies.

Qualifying earnings A new and broader calculation base that replaces ordinary time earnings. The rate remains 12%.

For a business running irregular, seasonal pay cycles across a scattered workforce, this is a meaningful operational change — not a switch you flick once. It is the kind of thing we absorb on your behalf.

Sources: ATO — About Payday Super · Fair Work Ombudsman

Two more things to watch

Where operators most often get exposed

Engaging guides on ABNs is riskier than it was

Since 26 August 2024, employment status is judged on the real substance and practical reality of the relationship rather than the label in the contract. The sham contracting defence also moved from a recklessness test to a reasonableness test — an employer must now show they reasonably believed the person was a contractor.

If you have guides on ABNs who work your rosters, wear your branding and follow your direction, that arrangement deserves a look before someone else gives it one.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman — Independent contractor changes
Labour hire licensing does not work the same in every state

Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT operate labour hire licensing schemes. New South Wales and Western Australia currently do not. South Australia expanded its scheme on 29 January 2026 to cover all labour hire providers, not only high-risk industries.

Two things matter for operators: a licence held in one state does not carry to another, and in licensed states engaging an unlicensed provider is itself an offence — so the obligation does not sit entirely with your supplier.

The information on this page is general in nature and current at the time of writing. It is not legal advice, and it does not take account of your particular circumstances. For advice on your situation, get in touch.

What we take on

The whole employment chain

Contracts and arrangements

Comprehensive employment arrangements so all parties are aware of their rights and obligations, set up before the season starts rather than argued about during it.

Fair Work compliance

We navigate the complex world of employment compliance for you to make sure you adhere to Fair Work requirements, saving you time.

Payroll, PAYG and super

We execute the payroll, ensuring wages are correct and paid on time, with PAYG and superannuation paid on your behalf — including under the Payday Super timetable.

Statutory requirements

Record keeping, entitlements and reporting obligations tracked as legislation changes — not reconstructed after an audit finds the gap.

How it works

Three steps to peace of mind

Tell us about your operation

Your guides, your seasons, the states you run in, and how you currently engage people.
We set the arrangements up

Correct award coverage, contracts, and the compliance framework underneath them.
We run it, every cycle

Payroll executed, PAYG and super paid on the Payday Super timetable, statutory requirements met.

To confirm

Labour hire licensing position. Depending on how guides are engaged and supplied, The Guiding Professionals may itself require labour hire licences in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia or the ACT — and in those states engaging an unlicensed provider is an offence for the client too. Operators will ask about this. Confirm which licences are held, and in which states, before this page goes to the root.

Are you a guide rather than an operator? There is a page written from your side of the arrangement.

For tour guides

Want your current arrangements checked?

Tell us how you engage your guides today and we will tell you where you stand.