Unpaid work arrangements include:
Some types of unpaid work arrangements benefit a common cause or the community, such as volunteering. Others help a person’s education, such as student-based work experience or student placements.
However, relying on unpaid and underpaid work in the place of paid work is unfair and unsustainable. It can also be illegal. It can result in an organisation and individuals facing criminal sanctions, such as financial penalties and imprisonment, for ‘wage theft’.
It’s important to understand the difference between unpaid work arrangements and employment.
The information on this page can help you get it right.
Volunteering
Volunteering is a distinct and important form of work, separate from paid work and other types of unpaid work.
Volunteering can be a great way for people to contribute to creative industries, particularly in non-for-profit creative organisations. There are significant benefits and value of volunteering to art, individuals and communities.
“Volunteering is time willingly given for the common good and without financial gain.” — Volunteering Australia
This means that:
- the main reason for volunteering is to benefit a common cause, be part of a community or a team, or to give back
- although there may be suggested minimum hours or shifts, the times to participate are usually flexible and the volunteer chooses when they are available
- if the volunteer can’t make it, they don’t experience the same consequences that would apply to a paid employee.
There is no legal definition of volunteering, however the key attributes of volunteering are:
- the volunteer has no expectation of being paid
- the purpose is usually for the common good or community or to benefit a cause
- there is no legally binding obligation to attend or carry out the work, like there is for an employee.
However, an organisation may require volunteers to meet some legal obligations. For example, related to privacy, confidentiality or intellectual property.
Sometimes a volunteer may need to meet certain legal requirements before they can volunteer for their chosen work, such as a working with children and/or police check.
A volunteer may need to show they have a particular qualification or authorisation for the voluntary work, such as a first aid certificate or occupational licence. Organisations may ask for this information before they accept a volunteer. Learn more about business registrations.
Volunteers choose to offer their services with no expectation of being paid.
Volunteering can include:
- mentoring
- providing professional skills, expertise or advice to an organisation pro-bono
- voluntary board positions and governance roles
- event volunteers (greeting patrons, setting up chairs, putting labels on seats, etc.)
- fundraising
- organising community events.
Can volunteers be paid?
Volunteers can be:
- paid honorariums
- reimbursed for expenses
- given gifts, rewards or receive other appreciation for their time.
However, there is no expectation or requirement for volunteers to be paid for their work or time. The volunteer isn’t entering the relationship expecting to be paid and the organisation can’t legally require them to work.
In practice:
Ravi – violinist, music teacher and community volunteer
Ravi is a violinist who owns his own business as a music teacher giving private lessons to students. Once a month, Ravi volunteers at a community centre teaching children aged 8 to 11 to play the violin. Ravi provides support to the children and encourages them to learn music for enjoyment and community.
Ravi also organises the community centre annual showcase where the children perform in an annual concert. Ravi does this because of his love for music and to give the children an opportunity to learn that they otherwise wouldn’t have.
The community centre relies on volunteers like Ravi to run their music programs. They reimburse Ravi for his expenses and pay him an honorarium.
This is likely a genuine volunteer arrangement.
Keep learning:
Unpaid work experience and internships
Unpaid work experience and internships can be valuable opportunities for students, graduates and people looking for a new career. They can be a way to gain experience and lead to other paid employment opportunities.
The main benefit of unpaid work experience or an unpaid intern should be to the person working– not the organisation hosting them.
The kinds of things a person might do can include:
- shadowing or observational learning (‘watch and learn’)
- supervised work and learning from paid workers
- attending meetings and taking notes
- doing minor administrative or coordinating tasks
- having regular catch ups with supervisors to ask questions about the day-to-day responsibilities of different roles
- being exposed to people with skills or industry experience.
Getting it right
It is important to understand the difference between unpaid work experience/internships and employment.
Treating someone as an unpaid work experience worker or intern, when in fact they are working as an employee, can be unlawful and lead to civil and criminal penalties. Organisations may also need to pay back the employee entitlements they would have earned.
The information below can help decide whether an unpaid work experience or internship engagement is likely to be lawful.
Features of genuine unpaid work experience or internships generally include:
- the person benefits more than the business or organisation
- an engagement for a short period
- giving the person meaningful experience relevant to their career goals
- the engagement is not designed to support the business’s ordinary operations (for example, in the place of paid workers)
- the person is not producing work or being productive for the business
- there are no serious consequences if the worker does not attend work
- the unpaid engagement is closely supervised and managed by the organisation.
Features of unlawful unpaid work experience or internships include:
- the organisation profiting or making commercial gains from the work of unpaid work experience workers or interns
- a longer term engagement
- asking or allowing unpaid work experience workers to be responsible for tasks critical to the operations of an organisation (this work should be done by paid workers)
- very limited or no supervision over the day-to-day tasks performed
- lack of awareness, oversight or monitoring of an unpaid arrangement or an unpaid arrangement continuing after an agreed end time.
If an employment relationship exists, the person must be paid at least the minimum employee wages that applies to the work.
Can work experience workers and interns be paid?
Unpaid work experience workers or unpaid interns may be:
- reimbursed for expenses
- given allowances
- given gifts, rewards or receive other appreciation for their contribution.
Work experience and internships don’t have to be unpaid. This can help create a more sustainable and diverse creative sector.
Some organisations employ their work experience workers and interns as employees. This can be done even for a short period.
Students or interns engaged as employees are entitled to receive the applicable minimum pay and conditions. Learn more about employment relationships and minimum wages.
It’s also important for organisations to consider child employment laws if the student or intern is under 18. These laws are different in each state and territory. Learn more about children and young people in the arts as well as junior rates.
In practice:
Simone’s work experience is genuine
Simone wants to be a theatre producer and she just finished her production course at university. She is eager to get as much experience as she can over the summer to build her resume and meet people in the industry. Simone has found a small theatre company that is producing a new play. Simone would like a work experience placement with the theatre company 4 weeks. The producers of the show have agreed to mentor Simone and show her what it takes to produce a play from pre-post production.
Simone is helping with minor administrative tasks and observes and takes notes while the production team manage the cast and organise schedules for rehearsals. Sarah attends most meetings and the producers make sure she is introduced to as many cast, crew and industry people as possible.
At the end of the 4 weeks, the producers take Simone out for a nice dinner and give her a $200 gift card to thank her for her contribution.
This is likely to be genuine unpaid work experience. It is for a short time and the aim is to benefit Simone. All Simone’s work is supervised by paid staff.
Gulia’s work experience is actually employment
Gulia wants to pursue a career in music producing and sound engineering after finishing her studies. To help get her foot in the door, Gulia reaches out to a music studio and they offer her an unpaid internship.
Pretty quickly, Gulia is given a wide range of tasks including administrative work, setting up equipment and anything else that needs to be done. Gulia doesn’t get much guidance – she’s told to figure things out as she goes along, without clear directions. Gulia doesn’t get much exposure to more senior staff because they’re too busy to offer any guidance or mentorship.
Two months in, Gulia has found her feet and is regularly expected to work long hours from 10am to 7pm most days. Sometimes she is asked to stay later if sessions run overtime. Gulia is often complimented for her work. The studio is understaffed and Gulia is often asked to pick up tasks that are usually handled by paid staff.
This is not genuine work experience. The work goes beyond what is reasonably expected of an unpaid intern – it is an employment relationship. Gulia is working for the benefit of the organisation, doing productive work as a substitute for an employee and should be paid as an employee for her time.
Keep learning:
Student or vocational placements
Student or vocational placements are part of an approved educational or training course, subject or module. For example, where the student must participant in an industry placement program for the student to pass the course.
These parts of educational and training courses give students the opportunity to see how their studies can be applied in the workplace. Students on placement may be required to report on what they have learnt to their school or university.
Student placements are often arranged by the educational or training provider, such as a university.
Lawful student or vocational placements are not employment relationships. They do not need to be paid. There is more information below about unpaid work arrangements versus employment.
There are different insurance arrangements for student and vocational placements, depending on where you are. Some student placements are automatically covered by workers compensation, while others are managed through a student’s educational institution. In some cases, the student may need or want to take out their own insurance (e.g. if travel interstate is involved). Learn more about Business insurances.
Keep learning:
Unpaid work arrangements versus employment
It’s important to classify work arrangements correctly based on:
- the true nature of the relationship and
- how it works in practice.
Calling a work arrangement volunteering, an internship or unpaid work experience may be unlawful if, in practice, it should be a paid work arrangement.
It can result in underpayment or non-payment claims by workers who should have been paid. In serious cases, it can also result in civil penalties and criminal sanctions such as ‘wage theft’.
A relationship is probably employment if:
- a person agrees to do work in return for payment
- both parties intend to enter a legally binding relationship — for example, there are consequences for an employee who doesn’t attend work or an employer who underpays an employee.
Learn more about employment relationships.
Other signs someone might actually be an employee include where they are:
- filling a position that was previously held by a paid worker
- standing in for a paid worker
- working consistently over a long period of time in the core operations of an organisation
- obliged to show up and perform work.
In practice:
Jasmin is a volunteer
Jasmin volunteers at a community festival. She goes into the arrangement knowing that she is giving her time freely and doesn’t expect to gain financially. She is free to choose when she is available to volunteer.
There is no legally binding relationship. Jasmin is a volunteer.
Winnie is an unpaid intern
Winnie takes up a 2-week unpaid internship with a camera crew. She mostly observes and shadows the paid workers. The paid workers teach her new skills and give her a chance to practice them.
This is likely to be a legitimate unpaid internship because:
- Winnie’s internship is for a short time
- Winnie, the organisation and the crew share an understanding that the internship is a learning opportunity for Winnie
- Winnie only contributes to the operations in a limited way and under direct supervision
- Winnie is not asked to produce any work for the crew.
There is no legally binding relationship. Winnie is an unpaid intern.
Rasheed is doing unpaid work that should be paid
Rasheed does regular shifts at a local not-for-profit gallery to break into the industry. He’s not paid. When he can’t work his usual shifts, he’s told he needs to ‘honour his commitment’ and warned he won’t get a good reference from them unless he makes up the time.
This is a legally binding relationship. The gallery must engage and pay Rasheed as an employee if they require him to attend and work set hours.
Keep learning:
Review arrangements to make sure they are still right
Sometimes, what starts off as lawful unpaid work experience or volunteering can turn into an employment relationship.
It is important to review unpaid arrangements regularly, especially if:
- the arrangement continues for a long period of time
- the type of work being done is similar or the same as work done by paid workers
- the organisation is gaining from the work
- the worker is working alongside different people in the organisation
- the worker’s tasks have changed as they have gained more experience
- the worker is required to follow the same direction and control over their work as other paid workers.
Not everyone can afford to work without pay.
Promoting fair creative workplaces includes reducing barriers to entry and finding ways to make sure people from all socio-economic backgrounds can participate.
More in this section:
Honorariums
Honorariums are payments given to volunteers, hobbyists or professionals providing free services as a way to say ‘thank you’.
