Most people hiring a virtual assistant for the first time start with a to-do list. That’s a good start, but it isn’t a role. A list tells a VA what you’d like done this week. A role tells them what they’ll own, how you’ll work together, and what good looks like three months in.
Getting that clear before you advertise does two jobs at once. It attracts the right people, and it steers away the ones who wouldn’t enjoy the work.
Start with outcomes, not tasks
Before you list a single task, ask what you want to be different once your VA is settled in. More time for client work? Invoices out on the same day every week? An inbox that doesn’t follow you into the weekend? Those outcomes shape everything else: the skills you need, the hours involved, and how much responsibility you’re ready to hand over.
Separate what’s needed now from what comes later
Split your list in two: what you need from day one, and what you’d like to hand over once trust is built. Applicants can see whether the role will grow with them, and you avoid advertising for a unicorn.
A “day in the life” summary helps here. Describe a typical week: the tasks, the meetings they’d join, who they’d report to, and whether any work falls outside business hours or across time zones.
Be honest about the level of responsibility
“Follow our process to schedule posts” and “own our social media” are very different roles. The first suits someone early in their VA career. The second needs someone who will make decisions without checking in. Say which one you want, because it shapes both who applies and what they’ll charge.
Name the skills and the tools
List the software they’ll use (your CRM, accounting package, project management tool) and any industry knowledge that matters, such as NDIS, legal, medical, or trades. Then give the soft skills equal weight. Someone who dreads the phone is unlikely to enjoy a customer-facing role, however good their spreadsheets are.
Decide how you’ll measure success
Two or three measures are plenty to begin with:
- tasks completed by the agreed deadline
- response time on client emails
- invoices issued and followed up on schedule
Clear measures show your VA that their work is noticed, which matters when they’re not in the room with you.
Set a realistic budget, and say it up front
The lowest rate is rarely the cheapest outcome. As a guide, around $40 an hour is the entry point for an Australian contractor with no prior experience. At that level you train them and assign set tasks. The more experience, initiative, and ownership you want, the further up the scale you’ll be. Not sure what that hour is worth to you? Our What’s Your Time Worth calculator shows the time a VA could hand back and what it would cost.
If you’d rather hire a remote employee than engage a contractor, say so, because it changes who applies and what you’ll need to budget for. Our guide to superannuation for Australian virtual assistants explains when super comes into it.
💲 FREE DOWNLOAD:
The 2025 Australian VA & OBM Rates Report shows what Australian VAs and OBMs charge across 42 services, from a survey of 217 contractors with active ABNs. Use it to sense-check your budget once you’ve defined the role.
Turn it into a role brief
Our Virtual Role Brief walks you through every question above, one step at a time. It covers your business, the tasks now and later, the tools, the hours, your budget, and what you need in a VA or online business manager (OBM). It takes about 15 minutes.
We proofread your brief and share it with our members as a free listing. There’s no commission when you hire, and applications come straight to you. Would you rather we handled the applications too? See our paid service options.
Short on time? Book a free 15-minute call and we’ll write it with you.
Just ask these business owners…
“My experience with VA Lead Network was wonderful. As a sole trader for whom taking on help was a totally new thing, the thought of finding a VA was overwhelming, but VA Lead Network have an incredibly simple process for identifying what I was looking for in a VA and turning that into an effective listing to be shared in their network.
In two days I had over a dozen high calibre applications, and found my ideal VA easily from that group. VA Lead Network were then able to easily close the listing for me. Couldn’t be happier. Highly recommend this free service to other businesses looking to find VA support quickly and easily.”
Shelly Forceville
Shelly Forceville Equine Services“I found my fabulous VA through the VA Lead Network and I want to keep her forever!
My business wouldn’t run as efficiently without her and I am so happy to have a VA contractor without the stress and worry of paying someone fulltime.”
Marianne Curran
Pet Professor“I used this free service to advertise for a Virtual Assistant Marketing Implementation and Admin role for my No-Code Development Agency. Within 5 days I had a number of enquires from quality candidates, one of whom I have since hired.
Here were the big advantages for me:
1) I was able to limit the enquiries to Australian based VAs – which I wanted in this case. I do have offshore VAs do some work for my business but I wanted someone local for this role.
2) The process of posting was incredibly smooth and seamless.
3) I was about to pay $300 to advertise on another site and avoided that cost for what ended up being a better quality service.
4) The quality of the candidates that applied was very high so I wasn’t spending a lot of time vetting.
I would happily use this service again. Also just to clarify, I didn’t pay anything for this – but given the experience I wouldn’t hesitate to pay for one of VA Lead Network’s other services if it seemed like a good fit.”
Matthew Godfrey
BaseweaveCurrent as at October 2026