Reading a contract before you sign

An offer email is marketing; the contract attached to it is the actual deal, and most of the terms that matter later are in the clauses nobody reads twice.

Before you accept

1. Read the whole document, not just the offer email.
2. Check the pay against the relevant award or the Fair Work Ombudsman's pay tools, so you know if it's at, above, or below the legal minimum for the role.
3. Confirm start date, probation length, and notice periods explicitly — ask if anything's unclear rather than guessing.
4. Ask for a few days to review — a reasonable employer will give you this; being asked to sign on the spot is itself a signal.
5. Get anything agreed verbally (a start-date change, a role adjustment) added to the written contract — verbal promises that aren't in the document are hard to rely on later.

What to check

• Employment type — casual, part-time, full-time, or fixed-term (see job types); this changes what leave and notice you're entitled to.
• Pay — the actual rate, whether it's before or after tax, and whether super is on top of it or included in a "package" figure.
• Hours and location — the hours you're actually committing to, and whether the role can require relocation or on-site attendance beyond what was discussed verbally.
• Probation period — how long, and what (if anything) changes about notice or entitlements during it.
• Notice period — how much notice either side has to give to end it.
• Restraint of trade / non-compete clauses — what you're restricted from doing after you leave, for how long, and in what geographic area. A restriction that's broad, long, or vague is worth questioning — courts don't enforce ones that go further than protecting a genuine business interest, but you don't want to find that out the hard way.
• Confidentiality and IP clauses — especially anything claiming ownership of things you build or write outside work hours.
• Any clawback clause — training costs or bonds you'd owe back if you leave within a set period.

Red flags

• An unpaid "trial" longer than the time it genuinely takes to demonstrate a skill — extended unpaid trial shifts are a known underpayment pattern, not a normal part of hiring.
• Being asked to get an ABN for what's described as a normal job with set hours and supervision — see the sham-contracting note in the ABN guide.
• Vague duties, vague hours, or a start date with no written contract yet — get it in writing before you resign from anything else or make other commitments.
• Pressure to sign immediately, with no time to read it properly.

This page is general orientation, not legal advice on your specific offer — for that, especially anything with a restraint-of-trade, IP, or clawback clause that looks non-standard, book a query and have someone actually read it with you.