Best Virtual Assistant Agency in Australia: How to Choose the Right Fit for Your Business

If you are searching for the best virtual assistant agency in Australia, you probably want more than a list of companies. You want to know who will help you find someone capable—and whether hiring them will actually make your life easier. 

I’m Amber, founder of Social Friends, an Australian agency working with VAs in the Philippines. I have a clear view on what good support looks like, shaped by building my own business with VAs and helping other owners do the same. 

Here is what I would look for, and how to decide whether our approach suits you. 

My view started with being the business owner 

I started Social Friends in 2020 as a digital marketing business. Hiring my first Filipino VA changed how I thought about building a team and helped shape our move into VA support in 2023. 

We worked closely together. I explained how the business ran, we improved processes as we went, and over time she took ownership of whole areas, including funnels and marketing systems. 

That taught me something I still come back to: ownership develops when you hire the right person, give them context and keep investing in the partnership. 

These days, I hear from owners who want that same relief. They want enquiries followed up, marketing happening consistently and important work moving without everything coming back to them. 

The agency you choose should understand that outcome and help you build towards it. 

Will they help you work out who you actually need? 

“I need help with marketing” is a starting point. It is not yet a role you can recruit for. 

Are enquiries going quiet? Is useful content sitting unused? Are existing clients hearing from you regularly? Do you need someone to execute an agreed plan, or someone with specialist skills to build your automations? 

Those answers change who you need, how you assess them and how much time the work requires. 

On discovery calls, I often help owners separate the immediate priority from everything they might eventually delegate. Expecting one person to handle every marketing channel, executive support and technical project straight away can make a role unrealistic. 

At Social Friends, we build the role with you before recruitment. We clarify priorities, essential skills, tools, working style and what can be learned over time. You get help turning the backlog in your head into a job someone can succeed in. 

How do they check the person can do the work? 

For specialist work, I care about demonstrated capability. Years on a CV do not tell me whether someone can build the automation, manage the client follow-up or meet the deadline you need them to. 

Our recruitment process includes relevant skills testing, reference checks and technology checks, alongside assessing how the person communicates and fits the role. 

For an advanced GHL role, for example, I want to understand what the candidate has built and how they would test it. I also want someone who asks thoughtful questions and flags when they need your input. 

A confident interview is useful, but it should not be the whole assessment. 

What support do you get after hiring? 

This is where I would look particularly closely. Some agencies focus on finding and introducing the person. Others remain involved in onboarding and the ongoing relationship. Understand what is included and what still sits with you. 

I regularly hear that “VAs don’t work.” My first instinct is to look at what happened: was the person right for the role, were they set up properly, and was the partnership supported afterwards? 

A capable VA still needs to understand your business, priorities and boundaries. They need access, a way to track work and clarity on when to ask a question. 

At Social Friends, structured onboarding helps establish those foundations. Your Client Success Partner and our team remain involved, helping with communication, priorities and challenges as the role develops. 

When something is not working, I want to hear from both the owner and the VA. Sometimes the issue is capability. Sometimes priorities, deadlines or expectations have not been clear enough. We work through the cause, then decide what needs to change—including reassessing the match where appropriate. 

You have someone to help you have that conversation and move forward. That is a meaningful part of what you are investing in. 

If that is the support you have been looking for, book a Discovery Call with Social Friends. 

Compare the investment and the work left on your desk 

I have hired Australian freelancers at rates from $55 to $195 an hour. The person at $195 was amazing, but the cost was not sustainable for the ongoing support I needed. The person at $55 could do less than my offshore VA. 

That is my experience, not a verdict on local talent. It is why I look at capability, scope and sustainability together. 

When comparing VA agencies, check the hours, skills, recruitment costs and support included. Then consider how much hiring, onboarding and ongoing management you will be doing yourself. 

An agency fee can make commercial sense when you value that support and do not have the time or experience to build the partnership alone. Our Marketing and Executive VA cost guides explain the investment in more detail. 

A good partnership should create opportunity on both sides 

This is one of the things I care about most. The impact of a good VA partnership reaches beyond the owner and the person they hire. 

An Australian business owner gets skilled, affordable support and more capacity to serve clients, employ people and contribute to families and communities here. In the Philippines, meaningful work with fair pay, care and support can create opportunities for the VA, their family and their wider community. 

That is the win-win I want Social Friends to help create. We get to support growing businesses here while helping build better opportunities for people in the Philippines. How we care for our VAs is part of that responsibility. 

One client wrote to us after just over a week with her VA. Previously, her laptop went everywhere, her phone kept ringing and work was always on her mind. That weekend, she took her son swimming, enjoyed a mum-and-son lunch and caught up with friends she had not seen in a year. 

What she valued most was having more time to simply be a mum. She told us the difference reached beyond her business into her family. That is the kind of feedback that stays with me. The work being handled matters; so does what you get to do with the time and headspace it creates. 

We have also had a client win a marketing award while working with their Marketing VA. That is a different kind of result, but it matters too: capable support can contribute to work an owner is genuinely proud of. 

These are individual experiences, not a promised timetable or outcome. They show why I look beyond the number of tasks completed. I want to understand what the partnership is making possible in the owner’s business and life. 

For our VAs, the impact can be just as practical. Working from home has given a parent more than four hours a day back with their young child. Others have been able to improve their family’s living arrangements, build a home or help a partner establish a business. 

We have also helped a team member rebuild after a typhoon. And the opportunities extend beyond individual households: members of our team mentor upcoming VAs and speak in schools about building a career in the industry. 

These examples are why I care about the model so much. Business owners get support to build stronger businesses here, while VAs gain opportunities to support their families and contribute to their communities in the Philippines. The partnership needs care on both sides for that potential to become real. 

If an agency’s rate looks extraordinarily low, ask what the VA receives, how payment works and what hours and responsibilities are expected. You should be able to understand the arrangement you are supporting. 

For ongoing roles, I generally recommend at least 20 hours a week. With only a handful of hours, someone may need several brands to earn an income, and competing priorities can become difficult to manage. 

Consistent time gives them room to learn your business and contribute. Invest in your team and give them the time to invest back in you. That is how a commercial decision can also have a positive human impact. 

Who is Social Friends the right fit for? 

Our approach suits established Australian service-business owners who need ongoing marketing, administration or executive support and want help building a successful VA partnership. 

You work directly with your VA. We help define the role, find and assess the person, support onboarding and stay involved. You still provide business context and make decisions; you have experienced support around the process. 

If you have the time and confidence to recruit and manage someone yourself, direct hiring may suit you. Our agency-versus-direct hiring guide explains that choice. 

Amber AI can also walk you through defining the role, hiring, onboarding and nurturing the partnership. She is built around my experience, IP and SOPs, with free access for 7 days through Telegram. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Choose support that helps your business rely on you less 

The best VA agency for you should help you move towards the business you want to run—with capable people, realistic expectations and support that continues after hiring. 

That is what I have built Social Friends around, because I know the difference a strong VA partnership can make. 

Book a Discovery Call with Social Friends. We will talk about what keeps landing on your desk and the support that would make a difference.