House Sitters Australia

A house sitter stays in your home while you're away, caring for your pets and keeping an eye on the property. They follow your pets' routine, so your pets stay in familiar surroundings.

House sitting on PetCloud starts from $45 a night, charged as a flat rate rather than per pet. Sitters set their own prices, shown on each listing, and prices rise in peak periods such as Christmas and school holidays.

Yes. House sitters on PetCloud are paid for their time. The best sitters have homes, bills and responsibilities of their own, and stepping away from them to care for your home and pets deserves fair pay. Paying for the sit also changes who turns up. Someone who has committed to a paid booking is accountable for it, and looks after your place like someone who knows what it takes to keep a home. So you're not paying for someone to sleep at your house. You're paying for an ID-verified, police-checked sitter who shows up reliably and properly cares for your home and animals - and we think that's money well spent.

Yes. A house sitter sleeps at your home every night until you return, from 8pm to 6am, so please have a guest bed made up with fresh sheets and pillows.

Yes. Many sitters on PetCloud take long-term house sits. Mention your dates in your job post, and ask about discounts, as sitters are more likely to offer them for long stays and repeat bookings.

PetCloud verifies every sitter with an ACIC-accredited provider: live biometric checks, cross-matched with their DVS records and a fresh, nationally coordinated police check. Look for sitters who've completed PetCloud Academy, created with veterinarian Dr Mandy Paterson. Always read a sitter's reviews from confirmed bookings, and meet them before you book. A police check isn't a guarantee on its own, so the meet and greet matters too.

PetCloud's House Sitter Visits Checklist contains the instructions you can leave for house sitters. Leave your pets' feeding times and amounts, any medication, your vet's contact details, house rules, Wi-Fi and alarm details, bin days, and a backup contact. Walk through the property together to check for escape routes and hazards.

You provide all food and supplies for your pets. Food for the sitter isn't expected, but agree on what's included, such as use of the kitchen, before the sit starts.

You pay when you confirm the booking. Your payment is held securely and released to the sitter after your 24-hour quality check window at the end of the booking. A booking fee of 10%, capped at $40, applies.

Look for identity and police check verification, reviews that only come from confirmed bookings, and secure payment that's held until after the sit. PetCloud has all three, plus a vet-endorsed training option for sitters.

Sign up as a pet sitter on PetCloud, add house sitting to your listing, set your own rates and complete your verifications. Sitters on PetCloud are independent contractors who choose the jobs they take.

PetCloud's homeowner guidelines for granting sitter access recommend that you:

• Meet the sitter at your home first, show them the areas they'll use, and point out hazards and security features
• Lock away valuables, documents, medication and cash, and secure any rooms that are off limits
• Share only the access the sitter needs, avoid permanent codes, change codes or smart lock access after the booking, and agree how keys will be returned
• Leave written instructions for feeding, walking, medication, house rules, emergency contacts and your vet
• Ask about the sitter's plans, overnight stays and whether anyone else will visit
• Keep your home and contents insurance current, as PetCloud doesn't insure property
• Keep communication on PetCloud, and don't grant access if something doesn't feel right

Sitters on PetCloud are independent, so granting access to your home is your decision.

We recommend a video security surveillance system that has an HD camera, a smart door lock, a video doorbell, detailed entry and exit logs in a remote monitoring app, and local video storage with no monthly fees. You will pay monthly fees for cloud-hosted video, but the footage may be safer from deletion by anyone in the house. Let your sitter know about any cameras before the booking, and don't place cameras in bathrooms or bedrooms.

Read PetCloud's House Sitter Visits form. Also read PetCloud's homeowner guidelines for granting sitter access. Walk through your home and yard with your house sitter at the meet and greet using PetCloud's free Property Safety Checklist, created with a veterinarian. It covers fences, gates, gaps, hazards and escape routes, so you both agree the property is safe and escape-proof before the stay.