AddressAu pair wanted (live-in position) – private granny flat in Isaacs, two children, busy household
We are a happy, busy family of four with two adults and two children, currently aged 3 and 9.
We are looking for a responsible, organised, energetic, kind and caring Au pair/nanny/mother’s helper/housekeeper to live with our family in Canberra south.
This position would be ideal for an existing Au pair/nanny/mother’s helper/housekeeper, a uni student, an early career professional (eg. in nursing or education) or a young adult who is either single or happiliy living apart from their partner.
We have a son and a daughter and we are looking for someone who doesn’t (whether secretly or obviously) have a preference for girls over boys or boys over girls. We want to find someone who just loves kids regardless of age or gender, and who enjoys helping with light housekeeping and home organisation.
We live in the suburb of Isaacs, which is a 5 minute drive to The Canberra Hospital and a 5 minute drive to the Westfield Woden shopping centre (which has a cinema, food court, supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, bakeries, department stores, specialty shops, post office, newsagent, hairdressers, nail and beauty salons, public library, and a major bus station/interchange).
We are an open, accepting, loving, caring, compassionate, gender-positive, race-positive, body-positive family. We take care with our words and actions. We care about people and the planet. We are pro-safety, pro-science, pro-vaccine, and equal opportunist. We are anti-racist, anti-discrimination, anti-violence, and anti-smoking.
We welcome and respect everyone. Please also understand that as working parents running a busy household, we don’t have time for a one-on-one friendship with an Au pair or for providing one-on-one help or counselling to an Au pair with major personal problems – absolutely we are sympathetic and supportive but you would need to ensure you disclosed the issues and had your own existing, effective help and support systems in place prior to commencing.)
We are not religious. We welcome applicants of any faith or no faith.
We want to raise our children in a calm, caring, kind, fun, organised, smooth-running household in the most compassionate, child-focused, age-appropriate, educational and happy ways.
We are offering:
• Your own brand new, secure, private granny flat studio located in our house, with new carpet, new tiles, new curtains and a lockable glass sliding door
• Your own brand new bathroom Monday to Friday, which will also be used as a guest bathroom for our visitors to the house on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays (you will still be able to lock the bathroom doors when you are using it on those days). 5 days out of 7, the bathroom will be for your sole private use.
• Your own kitchenette with your own brand new fridge (with a standard size freezer compartment), stovetop, rangehood, microwave, benchtop, pantry with shelves, overhead and under-bench storage cupboards, splashback, kitchen sink and dishwasher
• Your own brand new washing machine and indoor washing line
• 50 cube shelves for storage of your clothes, towels, linen and personal items
• A wall-mounted television
• Use of our home wifi network (for reasonable quantity daily use of internet and social media – limited streaming / large downloads)
• Your utilities (electricity and water bills) will be included
• A new smoke/fire alarm is installed in the granny flat (as well as throughout the house, of course)
• We can supply a single bed, pillow, a pillow protector, a mattress protector, a quilt and two sets of sheets, pillow cases and quilt covers – or you are free to bring your own bed/bedding
• We can supply basic kitchen items (saucepan, frypan, kettle, toaster, plates, bowls, cutlery, glasses, mugs) – or you are free to bring your own kitchen items
Our neighbourhood is green and walkable. You can easily walk to a park, the Isaacs Pines nature reserve with walking trails, the local shops (café and supermarket, post box) and there are bus stops nearby. There is an outdoor parking space on our unsealed driveway if you have a car.
If you have a car, you will be responsible for your car insurance and car expenses. We will not ask you to drive the children anywhere.
Your job will be a mother’s helper or second mother in the house, give our family the benefit of your eyes and ears, and care for and about the children and the home.
As a children’s caregiver and family helper, you will spend lots of time with our family and make a lasting impression on our children. We want this to be wholly positive and we want you to enjoy your role and make lots of happy memories.
You will be a role model and team mate, and we want you to feel inspired and empowered to teach, guide and help our children in their journey every day.
Here is some further, detailed information so you can identify whether or not we are the home and family you are looking for.
We are looking for a NON-SMOKER (365 days a year – occasional smokers are not acceptable) who is okay to go without their phone for a few hours at a time, doesn’t swear, is proactive, caring and patient, and is able and willing to:
1. Make a minimum 6 month commitment, give 4 weeks’ notice when finishing and return the granny flat and bathroom to us clean and undamaged, with all rubbish and personal items removed, and all keys returned
2. Help in the house for 15-30 hours a week (the days, times and pay are flexible/negotiable and can be worked out with the successful applicant), with the mix of tasks depending on needs for that day or week but likely including:
• children’s care and supervision (kids are aged 9 and 3 and they need and enjoy highly active play and activities), which could be before school, after school or during the daytime or early evening on weekends (no overnight or late night work)
• light food preparation (eg. kids’ breakfasts, lunch for school or home, and snacks)
• putting children’s clean washing away in their drawers and wardrobes
• organising and tidying kids’ bedrooms and play areas
• packing games/activities/toys/books away after use
• putting kids’ things away from around the house
• unpacking clean dishes
• unpacking groceries
• taking rubbish and recycling to the bin
• cleaning and tidying of children’s bathrooms
• helping 3 year old with toileting
• supervising 9 year old’s homework
• light cleaning as needed (eg mopping)
3. Leave your phone behind when you are working (as well as your smart watch if it receives calls and messages) in order to give our family and home your full attention and care, because accidents happen quickly.
4. Be proactive and responsible (we are looking to welcome a 3rd adult in our home, not a 3rd child ), look around and see what needs doing, think ahead, multitask, focusing firstly on the kids’ safety, health and wellbeing, also on fun and keeping the house running well. We want you to be Mum’s second set of eyes, ears and helping hands. We want you to build a genuinely caring, fun, engaging, educational, playful, positive and respectful relationship with our children equally, with lots of play, chatting, games, backyard and deck activities, reading lots and lots of books, art, craft, pool time (no jumping into the pool please, and no running around the pool).
5. If the kids are happily playing on their own, it is a good time for you to tidy up or organise things related to the kids, while keeping an eye and ear out for the kids.
6. Please don’t turn on any screens when you are with the children. It is not a time for watching screens, but a time for engagement and play.
7. Please wear clothing that is appropriate for caring for children and housework, most importantly clothing that allows you to be comfortable and to run, jump, dance, play and move easily around with young kids. When outside, please wear comfortable shoes that you can easily run and move in. When indoors, please wear socks or slippers. We also request that you do not wear any perfume or hairspray, due to asthma in our family.
8. We are a good vibes household, meaning no negativity, name-calling, teasing, tickling without consent, physical discipline, shouting, put-downs, sarcasm, eye-rolling or insults. No swearing, no teasing, no tickling, no inappropriate topics, proactive diversion from inappropriate words or topics if raised by the children. In our family, we believe it is important to choose our words carefully. We don’t use words like dumb, stupid, fat, annoying, etc. We only ever discipline our kids by teaching – that is, by gently teaching and talking. We do not scold, yell or shame.
9. Please always be calm, gentle, patient and kind with the children and us. Please help build and encourage our kids’ self-esteem and self-confidence with your positive and kind words and actions.
10. We always model good behaviour for the children’s benefit and ask the same of you. It’s our job as adults to show children how to behave (using manners, gentle hands, etc) and how to look after themselves, others, and the environment.
11. The granny flat shares a wall with a child’s bedroom, so we need the noise on both sides to be respectful. We request silence by 9pm and until 7am – of course please feel free to use screens with earphones/headphones between these times.
12. Abide by our policies/expectations around visitors, privacy, boundaries, health and safety (including sun safety and pool safety), hygiene, and dealing with illnesses and injuries.
13. A few house rules you would need to be fine with: no running on the tiles, no chasing games inside, no ball games, no swear words. No hot drinks on the floor. They must be unreachable by kids. Same with knives, scissors etc. Nobody answers the front door except the parents (you and the children can ignore the doorbell). Appropriate play areas are the kids’ play areas, the common/open areas, not parents’ bedrooms, your granny flat (this is your private space), or the garage or driveway or road.
14. Please let us know before you leave the house to go to the park. We must know at all times where the children are. The kids must have sunscreen on all areas the sun can reach if they are going outside during the day, before they leave the house, and they must wear hats. Please model good behaviour by doing the same for yourself. Aim for shade where possible. The children should never be out of your sight when you are outside the house, including at the pool or the park.
15. Please look both ways before crossing the road to the park, teach the children to do the same and ensure they do the same. Please hold both children by the arms or hands when crossing. Please remember that electric vehicles can be totally silent, even when closeby, and even when they are being driven fast.
16. Treat the granny flat using logic and care (keep it clean on a daily basis including the bathroom ready for weekend guests to use, use the rangehood when using the stovetop, remember to lock the sliding door, keep your keys safe and secure at all times, use air conditioning only when needed and turn it off when not needed, etc), limit showers to a few minutes, nothing pinned or taped to the walls, no hot hair products left unattended or on the bench or near water, no candles, incense, fire, electric blankets, portable heaters, hot batteries, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes. No drugs, no intoxication. Only natural waste and toilet paper can go into the toilet. No sanitary products, wet wipes, “flushable wipes”, paper towels etc in the toilet.
17. Household duties are shared in by everyone in the home. You will help in our part of the house, and take care of your own daily dishes, washing, rubbish removal and granny flat cleaning and tidying.
18. We will ask you to facilitate our very brief inspection of the granny flat once a month, just to ensure it is being maintained in good condition and there are no issues needing to be addressed. We will never enter the granny flat without your permission and attendance.
19. Please be ready to start work on time – please shower, dress, eat and be ready for your start time, so you can focus on the children and the house from the start time onwards.
20. Please do not be offended if we ask you to do something differently. It is a learning process for us all. Nobody is perfect. We don’t expect you to be perfect and we ask you to be patient with us as we are not perfect either. We just ask that we all do our best and be kind.
21. Communication is important. Please ask questions. Please be open and communicative with us about your duties and how things are going. We are here for you and want to support you. Let us know if anything is unclear. Let’s talk openly, calmly and kindly about any issues. Let’s limit chatting between you and the parents to quick chats, because the main focus for you will be the children or the house. Extended chats are best saved for the children or for your personal time with friends.
22. As we teach our children and do ourselves, please keep noise at appropriate levels (both in the house and in your granny flat). Please no loud voices in the house (we use our “inside voices”).
23. You will need relevant experience, a clean/nil criminal history, WWVP card, first aid certification, a 2024 flu vaccine, up to date Covid vaccination, and at least two referees we can call, preferably three. Written references and other supporting documentation are welcome. Copy of your current government-issued ID required (passport or driver’s licence or over 18’s card) required. You must have the right to work in Australia (whether through citizenship, permanent residency or a work visa).
24. We plan to interview up to three applicants in June.
25. You are welcome to meet our family and inspect the granny flat prior to accepting an offer.
26. You are welcome to undertake work with other families on your days off.
27. No pets, sorry. The granny flat is only big enough for one person. We do not have any pets, and are not planning to get any. However, please let us know of any allergies or sensitivities you have, so we can avoid these in the unlikely event that we get a pet in the main part of the house.
28. Except in the case of serious non-compliance with our agreement (for example, your failure to work, physical discipline of the children, deliberate property damage or criminal activity), we will provide at least four weeks’ notice of finishing the arrangement, and we ask for the same notice period of you.
