Perhaps you have had this conversation at the kitchen table. The children are in bed. Someone has mentioned a household manager, and for a moment you have both pictured it. The appointment made. The school email read in time. A Saturday that begins without a list.
Then the practical question. What would it cost?
It deserves a proper answer. Household support is a recurring commitment, made alongside the mortgage, the school shoes and everything else the month already holds. You should be able to see the numbers before you decide whether to make room for it.
The largest number is the manager’s pay. Then come the costs of engaging them properly, and our fees for the introduction and the ongoing support. Here is how those pieces fit together.
I. The person keeping the week
You engage your household manager directly and pay them for the hours you agree. Quietly Kept takes no margin on their wages.
The rate depends on the brief. Keeping a family calendar and arranging appointments is a different responsibility from coordinating several service providers, overseeing maintenance or keeping two properties in order. Experience, location and the pattern of hours matter too. Being available every weekday is a different commitment from two agreed blocks of time.
Start by describing the work. The person you need, and a fair rate for that person, follow from there. Our introduction to the role is a useful place to begin if you are still deciding what to hand over.
For the examples below, we have used $50 an hour in gross wages. This is an illustrative budgeting figure, not a quoted rate, a national average or a statement of minimum pay. The actual rate and conditions need to be settled for your role.
II. Our part, in two pieces
Our placement fee is $324.50 including GST, paid once. That covers finding and introducing your manager and helping your household get started.
The ongoing subscription is $53.90 a month including GST. It covers the shared platform, your named household partner and our continued support. The calendar, routines, household notes and handovers have somewhere to live, and you have someone to contact when you need us.
These are the same fees shown on our household page: $295 and $49 before GST. Here, we have included GST so you can put the amounts straight into a household budget.
Your manager’s pay is separate.
III. Three ways to picture the hours
These are starting points for a conversation about scope. The work needs to fit the paid hours, with time allowed for planning, messages and keeping the household notes current.
Five hours a week. A few recurring things, properly held.
Imagine beginning with the household diary, appointment bookings and the regular household orders. A small brief with clear boundaries. You still handle much of the week, but those agreed responsibilities have a keeper. When the car needs a service, there is someone to arrange it and put the date where everyone can see it.
Ten hours a week. More room around the routine.
The brief might extend to coordinating regular service providers, following up repairs and preparing for the week ahead. A school holiday booking needs confirming. The gardener needs access. A delivery needs moving to a day someone will be home. There is more time to carry these things through to completion.
Fifteen hours a week. A broader share of the household.
There may be several diaries to coordinate, maintenance to track and visits to prepare for. More hours can make room for that larger brief and its interruptions. The arrangement still needs agreed working times and a clear understanding of what happens outside them.
Your manager works in person, in your home. Allow time for errands as well as the work in the house when agreeing the hours. These examples describe possible priorities, not a promise that every task will fit every household.
At the illustrative $50 hourly wage, the figures below show gross wages and an average monthly base of wages plus our subscription:
| Weekly hours | Weekly gross wages | Monthly base |
|---|---|---|
| 5 hours | $250 | $1,137.23 |
| 10 hours | $500 | $2,220.57 |
| 15 hours | $750 | $3,303.90 |
The monthly base uses 52 paid weeks divided by 12, then adds the $53.90 subscription. Actual monthly payments will follow your pay cycle. Add the one-off $324.50 placement fee when you begin.
These are base figures, not complete employment budgets. They exclude the additional costs below, as well as groceries, trades and other household purchases.
IV. The rest of the budget
Before agreeing a start date, have the arrangement costed properly. Depending on the role and how the person is engaged, the budget may need to allow for paid leave or casual loading, superannuation, workers compensation insurance and payroll administration. Extra hours, travel expenses and cover during an absence may need their own allowance.
Australian superannuation rules include specific provisions for private and domestic workers. Employment and contracting also carry different obligations; an ABN alone does not settle which arrangement applies. Your accountant, payroll provider or employment adviser can help establish the right treatment for your household. The ATO’s domestic-worker guidance and Fair Work’s explanation of contracting are useful starting points.
If you are engaging a business, check whether its quote includes GST and expenses. Compare the full amounts you would pay.
Then keep the household spending visible. A manager can arrange the plumber; the plumber’s bill remains a household expense. The same is true of groceries, deliveries and the people already helping you. Agree spending limits before the work begins. We have written about that conversation in five things to settle before the first morning.
V. An amount you can live with
You can begin with a budget. An amount you would be comfortable committing to through an ordinary month, including the months when the car registration arrives and someone needs new glasses.
Work back from there. Choose the responsibilities that keep returning to you, then agree a brief that gives a capable person enough time to hold them well. There should be room to ask questions, learn the household and leave a useful note at the end of the day.
Some of the value may show up in spending: fewer duplicate orders, perhaps, or less last-minute arranging. Some of it will be harder to count. Reading with a child without mentally drafting tomorrow’s instructions. Finishing work and being finished. Sitting down together while the tea is still hot.
Those things belong in the decision too. You can weigh them honestly alongside the cost.
If you would like to work out what that could look like, tell us about your household. Bring the budget you have in mind and the part of the week you would most like help with. We can begin there.
All amounts are in Australian dollars. Quietly Kept fees checked on 6 September 2026. Worked examples are illustrative and use gross wages before additional employment costs. The hero image is an AI-generated illustration of a fictional home.