Paying people at a club

For treasurers and committees whose club pays, or is thinking of paying, a member for work.

How clubs do it

1. Clubs that pay for work commonly start with the ATO's employee or contractor check.
2. If the person is a worker, they look at WorkCover (insurance for workers' injuries), taking tax out of pay, and super.
3. Volunteers who spend their own money are commonly repaid against a receipt.
4. Any payment to a committee member is disclosed at the AGM.

When a payment can make someone a worker

Fair Work says unpaid work "is lawful if the person doing the work isn't an employee". An employee gets the pay and conditions of the Fair Work Act.

The ATO's check for employee or independent contractor asks who can do the work, how the payment is worked out, who provides the tools, who pays to fix mistakes, and who controls how and when the work is done.

The ATO also says a payment's name, such as "wage" or "compensation", does not decide how it is taxed. Payments that are "earned, expected, relied upon" and regular are generally income of the volunteer.

If the member is a worker

WorkCover Queensland says: "In Queensland, if you employ workers, you must cover them for work-related injury or illness with an Accident Insurance Policy." A worker includes PAYG employees and some contractors. "You don't have to cover volunteers."

The croquet insurance programme (Croquet Australia, through V-Insurance) lists workers' compensation as not automatically available.

For an employee, the ATO says the payer takes tax out of each payment and sends it to the ATO (called PAYG withholding). The payer also pays the super guarantee, the compulsory super contribution, each payday if the employee is eligible. The rate is 12%. Whether very small payments attract super is a question for the ATO.

An independent contractor (someone in business for themselves) generally handles their own tax. The ATO says no tax is taken out unless they do not give an ABN (Australian Business Number). Super may still apply if the contract is mainly for their labour.

Honorariums and reimbursements

The ATO says "honorary rewards for voluntary services are not assessable income" for a volunteer, but fees for professional services are. Tax is generally not taken out of volunteer payments.

Repaying a cost a volunteer actually paid, such as a spare part for the club mower, is not their income, the ATO says.

Committee members

The Act says the committee discloses at each AGM payments and benefits to committee members and their relatives. The detail is in Treasurer: yearly obligations.

Where this comes from

1. Fair Work Ombudsman, Unpaid work
2. ATO, Employee or independent contractor and Your tax and super obligations
3. ATO, About Payday Super
4. WorkCover Queensland, Who your policy needs to cover
5. V-Insurance, What is Covered? (2026 policy year)
6. ATO, Paying volunteers, Honorariums, Reimbursements and Volunteers and PAYG withholding (read 29 Oct 2026)
7. Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld), s.70D: disclosing payments