We get it. When you type “questions to ask a babysitter” into Google at 9pm on a Thursday, you are not really after a script. You are after a feeling. You want to know that the person walking through your front door on Saturday night is safe, warm and completely capable, and that you can enjoy dinner instead of checking your phone every ten minutes.

So here is our answer, and it may not be the one you expected. You should not have to interview anyone. Every question below is one we have already asked, on your behalf, of every carer long before they are offered to a family. Think of it as a look behind the curtain at how our babysitting service chooses the people it sends into your home.

As a mum myself, I built our process around one test: would I leave my own children with this person tonight. If the answer is anything less than a clear yes, they do not join us. Only around the top 20 per cent of applicants make it through.

The real question behind every question

Strip away the checklists floating around online and parents are really asking three things. Is my child safe with you. Will you actually enjoy them, or just endure them. And can I trust what you tell me afterwards.

Those are the three things our screening settles. Not with a form, but with conversations, scenarios and phone calls to real families.

Safety: settled before you meet anyone

This is the part that keeps parents awake, so it is the part we are most rigid about. None of it lands on you.

Current First Aid and CPR, with the renewal dates tracked

Every Care Collective carer holds current First Aid and CPR certification, including infant CPR where they work with babies and toddlers. The word that matters is current. A certificate from four years ago is not much comfort when a two year old is choking on a grape, so we hold the paperwork and diary the expiry dates. When a renewal falls due, we chase it, not you.

A valid Working With Children Check

Every carer holds a valid Working With Children Check for the state they work in, which in Queensland is the Blue Card. We sight it, record it and monitor it the whole time they are with us. It is the legal baseline for anyone working with children in Australia, and in our world it is the floor, not the finish line.

Police and background checks

A comprehensive background check covering criminal history, driving records and identity is completed at application stage. Nobody is placed with a family while anything is outstanding. There is no grey area and no “starting while we wait”.

Judgement: the scenarios we put to every carer

Certificates prove training. Scenarios reveal instincts, and instincts carry a person through the ten seconds after something goes wrong. So we ask every carer to talk us through moments like these.

A child falls hard off the trampoline. We are listening for a calm sequence. Check the child first, apply first aid, call 000 if there is any doubt at all, then contact the parents straight away. Anyone whose first instinct is to phone the parents before looking at the child has the order wrong.

A toddler is mid meltdown twenty minutes after you leave. The answer we want is get low, stay calm, name the feeling, never use shame or threats, and never bribe their way out of it. The very best carers immediately ask what usually works for that particular child.

Something small goes wrong. A bumped head, a broken glass, a missed nap. The only acceptable answer is that the parent hears it from them that night, even when it seems too minor to mention.

A parent’s rule feels unnecessary to them. Screen time is the classic. The answer we are after is simple: your limits are their limits. A carer who freelances on the television will freelance on other things too.

Experience: matched to your children, not just counted in years

A brilliant carer for a ten year old can be completely at sea with a newborn, and the reverse is just as true. So we do not simply ask how long someone has worked with children. We ask which ages they have spent the most hours with, and how they would fill three hours with a four year old and a seven year old on a rainy day. We want specifics. “Two years with a family with twin babies, then three school years doing afternoon pickups” tells us far more than “all ages”.

We also probe how carefully they follow instructions around allergies, food and medication, because a carer who asks where the EpiPen lives and writes the answer down is the kind of carer we keep. That profile is then matched to your family. When you book, we are not sending whoever is free, we are sending the person whose strengths suit your children.

References: we make the calls

References are only worth anything if somebody actually rings them, and most people never do. We do. Before a carer is placed, we speak with real families they have worked for and ask the two questions that matter: would you book this person again tomorrow, and was there anything you had to explain more than once. Recent and honest beats glowing and ancient every time. If a reference hesitates, we hear it, and that is the end of the conversation.

Why our carers are employees, not contractors

This is the quiet difference that changes everything. Every Care Collective carer is employed by us. We carry the insurance, we deliver the ongoing training, and we hold the accountability if anything is ever not right. It also means there is a backup. When a carer wakes up unwell on the morning of your booking, we set about finding you another screened carer rather than leaving you to sort it out alone.

Hiring privately, whether through a friend of a friend or an app, quietly moves all of that onto you. The insurance question, the reference calls, the renewal dates, the scramble when someone cancels. It is a genuine load, and one we lift off families entirely. You can read the whole process on our screening process page, and the broader picture on why choose us.

What it costs

Clear numbers, no surprises at the front door. Our casual babysitting starts at $56 per hour Monday to Saturday for one or two children, with a three hour minimum, and $70 per hour on Sundays. Three children is $60 an hour Monday to Saturday, four is $65 and five is $70, with Sunday rates of $72, $75 and $77. Overnight babysitting from 7pm to 7am is $275 for one child. Public holidays are $95 per hour.

So a standard Saturday night out, three hours with two children, comes to $168.00. The same three hours on a Sunday is $210.00. Ongoing nannying and personal assistant support are charged at the same hourly rates, and every service is set out in full on our pricing page.

The conversation that is genuinely worth having

There is still one conversation worth ten minutes of your time, and it flows the other way. It is not about testing your carer. It is about telling them the things only you know.

  • Routines. Dinner time, bath, the exact order of the bedtime story, the toy that has to be in the cot.
  • Allergies and medication. What triggers a reaction, where the EpiPen or puffer lives, and the dose and timing of anything due while you are out.
  • House rules. Screen limits, snacks that are fine and snacks that are not, whether the back door stays locked, which rooms are off limits.
  • Comfort and quirks. Who gets shy with new people, who will test the boundaries in the first half hour, what actually calms each child down.
  • The practical stuff. Where nappies, spare clothes and the first aid kit live.
  • How you want to hear from them. Some parents love a photo mid evening. Others want silence unless something is wrong. Just say which.

Write it on the fridge or send it through the day before. That is the only homework we would ever hand you.

Frequently asked questions

What questions should I ask a babysitter from an agency?

Ask about your children, not their credentials. Safety, checks, First Aid, insurance and references are all settled by us before you ever meet a carer. Your time is far better spent on routines, allergies, house rules and personalities, and on the one thing only you can judge, which is whether the person feels right for your family.

What do you ask carers during screening?

Interviews cover their experience with specific age groups, their approach to behaviour and boundaries, and live safety scenarios such as injuries, illness and allergic reactions. Alongside that we verify First Aid and CPR, the Working With Children Check or Blue Card, police checks and identity, and we phone families they have worked with recently.

How much does a babysitter cost?

Our casual babysitting is $56 per hour Monday to Saturday for one or two children, with a three hour minimum, and $70 per hour on Sundays. Rates step up gently with more children, and overnight care from 7pm to 7am starts at $275. Screening, training and insurance are all included in the rate.

What happens if our carer is unwell on the day?

We get straight to work finding you another screened carer. Because our carers are employees rather than independent contractors, we have a team to draw on, so an illness on our side does not have to become a cancelled evening on yours. Our FAQs cover the rest of the practical details, from booking notice to changes of plan.

Ready when you are

You went looking for questions to ask a babysitter. We hope you are leaving with something better: the knowledge that they have already been asked, answered and checked, by people who take it as seriously as you do.

All that is left for you is the lovely part, deciding whether the person in front of you feels like an extension of your family. You can book a sitter online in a few minutes, or get in touch for a chat with our team on 0451 394 018. We would love to lighten your load.