Most recruiters will not tell you what they charge until you are on a call with them. I would rather you knew before you rang.
This is what it costs, what I commit to, and what happens if I do not deliver. It is my standard, it is what I quote everyone, and you get to see it before you ring rather than after.
If your organisation buys through a panel or works to set terms, tell me at brief stage and we will talk about it then. What I will not do is quote you one number and someone else another for the same work.
15% of the first year base salary, plus the compulsory superannuation on that base.
18% for directors of nursing, executive and senior clinical appointments. These are retained, and the fee is split in three: a third to start, a third at shortlist, a third on start date.
A $110,000 role at 15% is $16,500 plus GST. A $140,000 director of nursing at 18% is $25,200 plus GST.
No fee is calculated on bonuses, car allowances, relocation, or anything else in the package. Base and the super on it, nothing else.
Your own advert stays yours. If you are already advertising the role, I screen every applicant who comes through it, phone them, and tell you which are worth your time. No charge, and I never claim those people as mine.
If you already have a preferred supplier agreement. Most cover ward and agency staffing rather than the roles I recruit, and usually carry a clause allowing a specialist search outside the panel. Send me the agreement and I will tell you whether I can work inside it. If I cannot, I will say so.
Part time roles are charged on the full time equivalent salary, not on the pro rata salary the person will actually be paid.
So if the role is three days a week and the full time equivalent is $120,000, the fee is calculated on $120,000. Not on the $72,000 the person takes home. A two day a week role at the same equivalent is charged the same again. There is no reduced rate at the lower end.
Why. Filling a part time role is not less work than filling a full time one. It is usually more. The pool is smaller, the candidates are harder to find, and the conversations take longer because the person is fitting the role around something else. A three day a week director of nursing is one of the hardest searches I do.
I would rather tell you this on a public page than in an invoice you were not expecting.
If the role is genuinely job shared between two people, that is two placements and two fees, each calculated on the full time equivalent. Tell me at brief stage if that is the plan.
I do not take on roles below two days a week. Not a pricing position, just what I am useful for. Below that the pool is small enough that you will do better advertising locally or asking your own network, and I would rather tell you that than take the brief and disappoint you.
Nothing. If I do not fill the role, you owe me nothing. There is no engagement fee, no retainer, and no charge for the work done along the way.
If the person I place leaves or is terminated within six months of their start date, for any reason other than redundancy or a change to the role, I run the search again from scratch at no charge.
I replace rather than refund. There is no cash back on any search, on any role, at any point. I would rather tell you that here than have you find it in the terms later.
The guarantee applies where the original invoice was paid within terms. Seven days is short, and I know it. It is short because the guarantee is long, and the two go together. If the invoice is paid on time you have six months of cover. If it is not, you do not.
If your organisation runs a monthly accounts payable cycle and seven days is not physically possible, tell me at brief stage and we will agree something in writing then.
Exclusively, for 21 days. I do not work roles that three other agencies are also working. It produces a worse shortlist for you and a worse experience for the candidates, who end up submitted twice to the same job by people who have not spoken to each other.
I name your shortlist date in writing before I start. Not an estimate. A date. Usually around two weeks from taking the brief.
If I miss that date, exclusivity lapses automatically and you owe me nothing for the work already done. You are free to go to anyone else, and I do not invoice you. That clause exists because a deadline that costs the recruiter nothing is not a deadline.
A written update every Friday, whether there is news or not. If a date is going to slip you hear it before the date, not after.
I work on six roles at a time. That is the limit, and it is why I know every person on every shortlist by name.
Invoices are issued on the successful candidate's start date and are payable within 7 days. If the candidate does not start, there is no invoice.
Seven days is deliberate and it is tied to the replacement guarantee above. If a monthly payment cycle means seven days will not work for you, say so when you give me the brief and we will agree different terms in writing before I start.
An introduction lasts 12 months. If I introduce you to someone and you hire them within 12 months of that introduction, the fee is payable, whether they come through me or come back to you directly later. If you have already been talking to that person before I introduced them, tell me and there is no fee. I will take your word for it.
Changes are in writing. Anything agreed that differs from this page needs to be in an email between us. Nothing said on a call overrides what is written here.
Engaging me means accepting these terms. Sending me a brief and asking me to start work means these terms apply. There is nothing else to sign unless you want something different, in which case say so and we will write it down.
Aussie Nurse Recruiters, ABN 24 342 936 804
Michelle Mexted. 0439 248 885, michelle@aussienurserecruiters.com
Current as at September 2026. If these change, the change applies to briefs taken after the date on this page, not to work already underway.