Most businesses will need a child employment licence to employ children under 15 years old in Victoria, whether the work is paid or voluntary.
A child must be:
- 11 to deliver newspapers and advertising material
- 13 to deliver pharmaceutical products or do other types of work, such as retail or hospitality.
There is no minimum age for working in entertainment, but there are industry-specific requirements. If you will be employing children in the entertainment industry, you must apply for an entertainment specific licence.
Children can only be employed for light work, that is not harmful to their health, safety, wellbeing and development. A child cannot work:
- on a building site
- on a fishing boat
- selling door-to-door.
Use the Child Employment Decision Tool to find out if you need to apply for a licence. Where a licence is granted, a business can employ multiple children under one licence.
