Engage consultants with clear terms for IP ownership, fees, and confidentiality. AI customises the agreement with your details. No Word editing required.
Detailed description of services, deliverables, reporting requirements, and acceptance criteria.
IP assignment or licensing, pre-existing IP carve-outs, and moral rights provisions.
Rate structure (hourly, fixed, retainer), invoicing schedule, expense reimbursement, and GST.
Protection of client information, trade secrets, and business data during and after the engagement.
Restrictions on soliciting the client's employees, customers, or suppliers for a defined period.
Engagement duration, renewal options, termination for convenience, and handover obligations.
Engage management, IT, marketing, or strategy consultants with professional terms.
Present clients with a polished agreement that covers fees, IP, and liability from the start.
Standardise engagement letters across your practice with consistent terms and branding.
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A consultancy agreement sets the terms under which an independent consultant provides advice or services to a client. It is the document that distinguishes a genuine consulting relationship from employment, and it allocates the things that matter most in professional work: who owns the deliverables, how and when the consultant is paid, what happens to confidential information, and who carries the risk. In Australia, getting these terms right protects the client's investment and gives the consultant a clear, professional basis for the engagement.
Use a consultancy agreement whenever a business engages an external expert: management, IT, marketing, strategy, or technical consultants all sit here. Independent consultants should present clients with their own agreement so the terms favour clarity from the start, and consulting firms use a standard engagement letter across the practice. Anyone advising a client on an ongoing or project basis benefits from a written agreement rather than an email exchange.
A strong consultancy agreement defines the scope of services and deliverables, sets the fees and GST treatment, and resolves intellectual property ownership explicitly (usually by assigning deliverables to the client). It should cover confidentiality, non-solicitation, the consultant's status as an independent contractor, any required insurance, the term, and termination and handover obligations. The IP and scope clauses deserve the most attention, because vague scope leads to disputes and silence on IP can leave ownership with the consultant.
A consultant is engaged as an independent contractor, not an employee, which means they invoice with an ABN, manage their own tax, and are generally responsible for their own superannuation (though some arrangements can trigger super obligations for the client). The agreement should make the contractor relationship explicit, but a label alone is not decisive: courts and the ATO look at the substance of the relationship. Treating a consultant like an employee in practice can lead to reclassification and penalties.
A consultancy agreement is an ordinary contract, needs no witness, and can be signed electronically under the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth). The most common mistakes are leaving IP ownership unaddressed, describing the scope too loosely, forgetting to clarify GST, omitting insurance requirements, and writing restraints that are too broad to enforce. A clear scope, an express IP assignment, and a defined fee structure prevent the disputes that most often arise in consulting work.
This page is general information about consultancy agreements in Australia and is not legal advice. Contractor classification and tax treatment depend on the facts. For significant engagements, seek advice from a qualified Australian lawyer or accountant.
A consultancy agreement engages an independent consultant, not an employee. The consultant controls how the work is done, invoices with an ABN, pays their own tax and superannuation, and is usually free to work for other clients. An employment contract involves direction and control, set hours, and employer-provided entitlements like leave and super. Getting the classification right matters, because misclassifying an employee as a consultant can attract penalties.
By default, intellectual property created by an independent consultant may remain with the consultant unless the agreement says otherwise, which surprises many clients. To avoid doubt, the agreement should expressly assign the IP to the client, or licence it on agreed terms, and address moral rights and any pre-existing IP the consultant brings in. Most Australian consulting engagements assign the deliverables to the client.
Common structures are hourly or daily rates, a fixed project fee, a retainer, or milestone payments. The agreement should set the rate, the invoicing frequency, payment terms (often 14 or 30 days), expense reimbursement, and whether fees are inclusive or exclusive of GST. A consultant registered for GST will generally add GST to their invoices.
Many clients require consultants to hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance, particularly for advice-based or on-site work. The agreement can specify the types and minimum levels of cover the consultant must maintain for the duration of the engagement. This protects the client if the consultant's work causes loss.
No. A consultancy agreement is an ordinary contract, not a deed, so no witness is required. Both parties sign, and electronic signatures are valid under the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth), so you can send it through SignAndGo and have it signed in minutes.
Yes. The template covers confidentiality of the client's proprietary information and trade secrets, and includes non-solicitation provisions to stop the consultant approaching the client's staff or customers during and after the engagement. Any restraint must be reasonable in scope and duration to be enforceable.