Everything we get asked, in plain language. If the answer you need isn't here, email us and we'll add it.
Handballed matches small and medium Australian businesses with verified experts in HR, work health and safety, business coaching, operations, and automation. You describe the problem, we match you with two experts who can help, and you work through the platform with your payment held safely until the job is done.
Three things. Everyone here has been verified, so you are not taking a stranger's word for their credentials. Your money sits in escrow rather than going out on an invoice and hoping. And you get matched to two people who actually work in your problem area, instead of scrolling profiles at 11pm trying to work out who is any good.
Five categories: HR and people, work health and safety, business coaching, business operations, and automation.
In practice that covers a first hire, a tricky performance conversation, a safety audit, a compliance gap, a delivery process that keeps breaking, or the busywork you want automated away.
Describe it in your own words and pick the closest option. Most people start there, and your expert will help you shape it properly. Getting the category slightly wrong is not a problem.
Say what is happening, what you want to be different, and roughly when you need it. You do not need to have it figured out, and you do not need to know the answer.
“Two staff are constantly at each other and it is affecting everyone, I need it sorted before Christmas” is a perfectly good brief.
You can post a brief as a guest. If you create an account you can track the brief, message your experts, and see everything in one place. There is no password to remember either way, we send a sign-in link to your email.
As soon as two verified experts in your category respond. That is usually quick, but it depends on the category and how many experts are free that week. You will be notified as each expert is matched.
We will tell you rather than leave you wondering. Nothing is charged until you agree a job with an expert, so an unmatched brief costs you nothing.
You get matched with the first two verified experts in your category who respond, and you choose between them. Look at both profiles, message them both, and go with whoever feels right. You are never obliged to proceed with either.
Because a long list is a job in itself. Platforms that send your details to six businesses turn you into a lead to be chased, and turn the experts into people racing each other to the bottom on price. Two is enough to have a choice and not enough to become a project.
Yes, and we would encourage it. Bring them the next job through the platform and you keep the escrow protection and the record of what was agreed.
Six checks, and they have to clear all of them:
It does not mean we are recommending them, and it does not mean we can promise you a result.
We check documents and registers, and we check them properly. What we cannot check is whether someone will give you good advice. Verification confirms facts, not judgment. Handballed is also not a party to your engagement, so the advice is theirs and so is the responsibility for it.
Meet both experts, ask them hard questions, and back your own read.
We keep checking. Insurance expiry is tracked continuously with a reminder at 30 days and the badge suspended if it lapses. ABNs are re-checked monthly against the Australian Business Register. Everyone is fully re-verified every 12 months, and any dispute or complaint triggers a manual review of the whole file.
Mostly there is no licence to hold. HR, safety, coaching, operations and automation are largely unregulated in Australia, unlike a trade where you can check a licence number.
That is exactly why we lean hard on references and demonstrated experience, and why we check professional registrations against the register when someone does hold one.
Yes, professional indemnity insurance is required and we sight the certificate. PI covers the expert's liability if their advice or work causes a client financial loss through negligence or error. It is the right route if you believe advice you acted on caused you a loss.
No. We verify that your expert carries their own professional indemnity cover, and we hold your payment in escrow until you are satisfied. We do not underwrite the work itself and we do not pay compensation beyond the funds we are holding for that job.
Yes. Australian-based, Australian ABN, and working under Australian law. For HR and safety work in particular, local knowledge is not a nice-to-have.
Reviews can only be left by a client who actually paid for and completed a job, so there are no anonymous drive-by reviews. Experts cannot delete or edit a review.
We remove a review only if it breaches our conduct rules, for example if it contains abuse or personal information, and never because the expert did not like it.
A single dispute is normal and is not held against anyone. A pattern is different. Repeated disputes trigger a review of the account and can lead to restricted categories, suspension, or removal. We also suspend anyone whose insurance lapses or whose ABN is cancelled.
The price you agree with your expert is the price you pay. Our 8% fee comes out of the expert's side, not added to yours, so there is no surcharge and no booking fee. Posting a brief and getting matched is free.
Experts set whether their rates display inclusive or exclusive of GST, and it is shown on their profile and in the quote. If an expert is registered for GST, their invoice will include it. Always check the quote before you agree.
Yes. Your expert invoices you through the platform and you get a tax invoice you can claim.
You fund the agreed job before work starts. The money is held by Stripe, not by the expert and not by us. When you confirm the work is done, it is released.
It means your money is committed but not handed over. The expert can see it is there, which is why they will start work, but they cannot touch it until you say the job is done. If something goes wrong, the money is still sitting there while it gets sorted out.
Funds release automatically seven days after the expert marks the work complete. You will be told when that clock starts. Raise an issue during those seven days and the clock stops immediately.
Yes. Larger engagements can be structured as milestones, each with its own agreed scope and its own escrow payment, so you are never funding the whole thing up front. Talk to your expert about splitting it when you agree the scope.
Because everything that protects you disappears the moment you do. No escrow, no record of what was agreed, no dispute process, and nothing we can do to help.
If an expert asks you to pay them directly, say no and tell us at hello@handballed.com.au.
Raise an issue through the platform within the seven day window. That stops the release clock so nothing moves while it is being sorted. Most problems turn out to be a scope misunderstanding and get resolved directly between you and the expert within a few days.
Three stages, and we publish the clock.
Worst case, start to finish, is about 18 business days. Full detail here.
Yes. Nothing leaves escrow while a dispute is open.
Three questions. What was agreed, going by the brief, the quote and your platform messages. Whether it was substantially delivered by the date agreed. And whether we can actually see the evidence, which is why we ask you to keep the conversation on the platform.
Whether the advice was any good. We rule on scope and delivery, not on professional judgment. We are a matching platform, not a tribunal, and we are not qualified to decide whether a safety audit reached the right conclusion.
If your complaint is about the quality of the professional judgment, we will say so and point you to the expert's professional indemnity insurer, which is what it exists for.
Yes, where the finding supports it. Refunds go back to the card you paid with. On a full refund you receive the entire amount you paid and we keep none of our fee. On a partial split, our fee reduces in the same proportion.
Agree the change in writing through the platform, including any change to the price. Verbal variations are the single most common cause of disputes, and if it is not written down we usually cannot help you enforce it.
Before work starts, you get a full refund. Once work has started it depends on what has been done, and a proportional split is the usual outcome. Raise it through the platform and we will help you land somewhere fair.
If work was never marked complete, you can raise a dispute any time up to 60 days after the agreed delivery date. There is no automatic release in that situation, so your money is not going anywhere.
The expert. Handballed is a matching platform and is not a party to your engagement. We verify, we hold the money, and we run the dispute process. The professional advice, and the responsibility for it, belongs to the expert you engage.
Our decision only settles how the money we are holding gets released. It does not remove any right you would otherwise have.
Australian Consumer Law still applies, including the guarantee that services are provided with due care and skill. You can also go to your state or territory fair trading body, the ACCC, the expert's professional indemnity insurer, their professional body, or a court or tribunal.
Verified experts in the relevant category see your brief so they can decide whether to respond. Your contact details are shared only with the two experts you are matched with, and only once they are matched.
Yes. Experts are required to keep anything you share confidential and to use it only for your engagement. That covers the sensitive material this work involves, like payroll data, incident reports and performance file notes.
You do, once you have paid in full. Policies, templates, reports and documents produced for your engagement are yours to use, keep and adapt.
Experts keep ownership of their own pre-existing templates and methods, but you get the right to use anything delivered to you.
See our privacy policy for the detail. In short, we store your account information, your briefs and your platform messages. Payments are handled by Stripe and we never see or store your card details.
We will never ask you for a password, because there isn't one. We use a sign-in link sent to your email. We will never ask you to pay an expert outside the platform, and we will never ask for card details by email, text or phone.
Anything that does is not us, so forward it to hello@handballed.com.au.
Email hello@handballed.com.au. If it involves a live job, raise it through the platform as well so the release clock stops.
An ABN, photo ID, evidence of the credentials you want to display, demonstrated experience in your category, a current professional indemnity insurance certificate, and two referees. Referees submit directly to us through a link, you never handle the reference yourself.
We work through six checks: identity, ABN and trading status, credentials, category experience, insurance, and references.
Most of the wait is on referees replying, so choosing people who will actually respond is the fastest thing you can do.
Three years in the category you are applying for, or five for business coaching, which can be a recognised coaching accreditation plus three years practising. Each category is assessed separately, so being approved for one does not carry you into another.
Adjacent experience is the most common reason for rejection, so be specific about work you have actually done in the field.
Because we tell business owners you are insured, and we are not willing to say that without seeing it.
It also matters when something goes wrong: if a client says your advice caused them a loss, that is a professional indemnity question, and your cover is what stands between you and paying it personally.
Yes, and plenty of experts here are. Consult under your own ABN, hold your own insurance, use your own time and equipment, and do not do Handballed work during hours your employer is paying you for.
Check your employment contract for anything about outside work or conflicts of interest. The expert guide covers this in more detail.
Yes, but each is assessed on its own evidence.
You get the specific reason, and where it is fixable, what would fix it. You can respond once with further evidence within 30 days.
If you were declined on experience grounds you can reapply after 12 months, or sooner if your circumstances have materially changed.
When a brief comes in, verified experts in that category are notified. The first two to respond are matched to the customer, who then chooses between them. So you are choosing whether to put your hand up, not bidding against a field.
No. There is no cost to respond to a brief and no credits to buy. We only make money when you do, through the 8% platform fee on completed work.
Yes, and it does not count against you. Declining work outside your competence is a sign of a good consultant, not a bad one.
Ratings and completed work strengthen your profile, which is what the customer sees when choosing between you and the other matched expert. Notifications go to everyone verified in the category.
Yes. Message them through the platform, ask what you need, and scope it properly before you quote. Agreeing a price before you understand the job is how engagements go wrong.
Not without the client's written agreement through the platform. The client chose you on your verified profile, and quietly handing the work to someone unverified breaks that. If you want to bring in a specialist, say so and get it agreed.
The client funds the job into escrow before you start, so the money is confirmed before you do any work. You mark the job complete, and it is released when the client confirms. If they do not respond, it releases automatically after seven days.
No. That is most of the point. The money is already sitting there when you start, and it releases on a clock rather than on someone remembering to pay you.
8% of the job value, deducted automatically. The client pays the price you agreed with no surcharge, so build the fee into your rate rather than treating it as a surprise at the end.
Yes, entirely. Hourly, fixed price, or monthly retainer.
The expert guide has a rate calculator that works backwards from your income goal, expenses and billable hours to a floor rate.
No. Joining, being verified and responding to briefs are all free. The only cost is the 8% on work you actually win, plus Handballed Pro if you choose it.
$49 a month, cancel anytime. It includes the guided portfolio builder, a verified Pro badge, priority brief matching, and profile analytics. It is optional, and plenty of experts do well without it.
Yes. Larger projects work best as sequential milestones, each with its own agreed scope and its own escrow payment. Retainers currently run as monthly payment requests, one escrow payment per period. Talk to us before setting one up so it is structured properly.
They cannot simply sit on it. Funds release automatically seven days after you mark the work complete unless the client raises a genuine issue. If they do raise one, it goes into the dispute process and we decide on the evidence.
$1 million professional indemnity cover for HR, safety, operations and automation. $500,000 for business coaching. Higher if a specific client contract requires it.
Keep it current, because the badge is suspended the day it lapses.
Legal defence costs and compensation if a client claims your advice or work caused them financial loss through negligence or error. It does not cover deliberate misconduct, and it does not cover you for work outside the scope of your policy, so check your policy matches what you actually do.
Only respond to briefs in your verified categories. Keep your insurance current. Keep your credentials accurate. Meet the professional standards of your field. Keep client information confidential. And keep engagements on the platform.
The client owns what you deliver to them, once they have paid in full. You keep ownership of your own pre-existing templates, frameworks and methods, and the client gets the right to use what you delivered.
Because we did the verification, the matching and the payment protection, and the fee on completed work is how that gets paid for.
There is also a practical reason: off-platform, you lose escrow too. You would be back to invoicing and hoping.
An expired insurance certificate, a cancelled ABN, a pattern of disputes, working outside your verified category, taking matched clients off-platform, or a serious breach of conduct.
You get the grounds in writing and 10 business days to respond before a suspension becomes a removal.
The release clock stops and the three-stage process starts. You will be asked for evidence and given three business days to provide it. Decisions are made on what was agreed and what was delivered, not on who complains loudest.
Keep the scope in writing on the platform, confirm any change in writing, and deliver through the platform rather than by private email.
If the substance of the job happened over WhatsApp, we often cannot establish what was agreed, and that helps nobody.
No, the funds stay in escrow until it is resolved. They are not returned to the client either.
Yes. If a client will not confirm completed work or is withholding without a genuine reason, escalate it and we will look at it on the same basis.
Handballed Pty Ltd, ABN 26 699 475 075. Australian owned and operated.
Yes. Australian businesses, Australian experts, Australian law.
Enter your email and we send you a sign-in link. There is no password to create, forget, reuse or have stolen, and it means we never store one. Click the link and you are in.
Email us and we will close it. Some records are retained where we are legally required to keep them, which is covered in the privacy policy.
Ask us. We'd rather answer it before you post a brief than after.
hello@handballed.com.au