Guide
How much do recruitment agencies charge in Australia?
Australian recruitment agencies typically charge 12 to 18 per cent of a candidate's first-year salary for a permanent placement, which is about $7,700 to $11,550 on a $64,200 salary. Temp and casual work is charged as an hourly margin instead. Very few agencies publish either number, and almost all quote on enquiry.
Key facts
- Permanent placement typically runs 12 to 18 per cent of first-year salary
- On a $64,200 salary that is $7,700 to $11,550
- At least 1 Australian agency publishes a flat 5 per cent instead
- Replacement guarantees range from about 3 months to 12
- Temp work is charged as an hourly margin, published by almost 0 agencies
What we charge, by role How it works
What the percentage actually costs
The percentage is the part everyone quotes and the least useful way to think about it. What matters is the number on the invoice. This is the same fee structures worked out at salaries a care or support role actually pays.
| First-year salary | At 5% | At 12% | At 18% | Flat $3,900 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $2,250 | $5,400 | $8,100 | $3,900 8.7% of salary |
| $55,000 | $2,750 | $6,600 | $9,900 | $3,900 7.1% of salary |
| $64,200 | $3,210 | $7,704 | $11,556 | $3,900 6.1% of salary |
| $78,000 | $3,900 | $9,360 | $14,040 | $3,900 5.0% of salary |
| $90,000 | $4,500 | $10,800 | $16,200 | $3,900 4.3% of salary |
| $110,000 | $5,500 | $13,200 | $19,800 | $3,900 3.5% of salary |
The pattern worth noticing is in the last column. A flat fee is a shrinking percentage as the salary rises, which is why percentage pricing survives: the work of filling a role does not get harder because the salary is bigger.
What agencies actually publish
Almost nothing. Searching this question returns pages about how to start an agency, what a recruitment consultant earns, and two Reddit threads. The figures below are the ones we could verify against a primary source, meaning the agency's own page rather than a directory's summary of it.
A published Australian fee
Superior People Recruitment, a Melbourne agency, publishes its permanent fee on its own website as a flat 5 per cent of annual base salary plus GST, with a twelve-month replacement guarantee for the same position at no additional cost, no refunds, and seven-day payment terms with the invoice issued on the candidate's start date. Read on their fees page and checked on 2026-10-25.
Source checked 2026-10-25 the agency's own published page
We looked at a directory that lists stepped percentages for other agencies, typically 16 per cent below $100,000 and 18 above, with 20 for executive search. We have not reproduced those figures against the agencies named, because they come from the directory's review team rather than from the agency, and the page carries no date. A price attributed to a named business from an undated secondary source is not a fact we are willing to publish.
What we charge, including where we lose
Our own fee is a flat $3,900 per permanent placement, $1,900 for a casual placement, or $390 a month for pool access. Against the 12 to 18 per cent band that is roughly half on a support worker salary.
Against the 5 per cent figure above, it is not. Five per cent of a $64,200 salary is $3,210, which is $690 cheaper than our flat fee. A flat $3,900 only becomes the cheaper option above a salary of $78,000. If the whole point of this page is that agencies hide their pricing, we do not get to hide the one comparison that goes against us.
The questions that change the number
Two agencies quoting "15 per cent" can land a long way apart. These are the terms that decide it, and they are worth getting in writing.
- Base or package Fifteen per cent of base salary and fifteen per cent of total package including superannuation and allowances are different invoices.
- Guarantee length Three months and twelve months are both common. Ask what happens at month four.
- Replace or refund Most guarantees are replacement only. Some state plainly that no refund is offered, which is honest but worth knowing before signing.
- Minimum fee A percentage with a floor under it. On a lower-paid role the floor, not the percentage, is what you pay.
- Temp charge rate Ask for the worker's pay rate and your charge rate separately. One number hides the margin.
Is an agency worth it at all?
Often not, and this is a strange thing for us to write. For a single predictable role that you could advertise and fill from job-board applicants, paying 12 to 18 per cent is money spent on work you could have done. An agency earns its fee when a role is genuinely hard to fill, when speed matters more than cost, or when screening is specialised enough that getting it wrong is expensive.
In care work the third of those is the real one. The screening is not hard, but it is fiddly, it expires, and nobody notices it has expired until a provider asks.
Common questions
How much do recruitment agencies charge in Australia?
Most permanent placement fees fall between 12 and 18 per cent of the candidate's first-year salary. On a $64,200 salary that is roughly $7,700 to $11,550. Some agencies publish far less: one Melbourne agency publishes a flat 5 per cent. Most publish nothing at all and quote on enquiry.
Why will almost no agency publish its fee?
Because a published number can be negotiated down by the client and undercut by a competitor, while an unpublished one is set per deal against what the client seems able to pay. That is the whole reason this question sits unanswered on page one of Google.
Is the fee charged on base salary or on the whole package?
It varies, and the difference is real money. A percentage of the total package including superannuation and allowances is a bigger number than the same percentage of base salary. Ask which, in writing, before you sign.
What is a replacement guarantee?
A period during which the agency will replace a candidate who leaves, at no extra fee. Lengths vary widely, from about three months to twelve. Read whether it is a replacement or a refund: most are replacement only, and some explicitly offer no refund.
How do temp and casual fees work?
Usually as an hourly margin on top of the worker’s pay rate rather than a one-off fee, which makes them harder to compare. The margin is rarely published. Ask for the pay rate and the charge rate separately, not just the charge rate.
Is a recruitment agency worth it?
For a single, predictable role that you could advertise and fill yourself, often not. An agency earns its fee when the role is hard to fill, when you need to move fast, or when screening is genuinely specialised. Paying 12 to 18 per cent to fill a role that three job-board applicants could have filled is the common mistake.
Do candidates ever pay a fee?
They should not, and in Western Australia an employment agent is restricted in what it may charge a work seeker. If an agency asks a worker for money to be placed, treat that as a reason to stop.
What we charge, by role Other guides
The 12 to 18 per cent band is a vendor benchmark rather than a regulated rate, so treat it as indicative. The table is arithmetic. The published figure is sourced and dated above. Checked 2026-10-25.
A flat $3,900 per placement, published, against $7,700–$11,550 at the common market band.
See what we charge