Guide · Australia
Outsourcing web development to India from Australia
You can hire an Indian development team remotely. Check the time difference and agree when you will speak. If your business is covered by Australia's Privacy Act, overseas disclosure rules can apply when you share personal information with a contractor in India. GST can be reverse charged on certain imported services, and India's export rules set conditions for zero-rated supplies. Check the supplier's invoice and payment arrangements, and agree contract terms before work starts. India's data protection provisions discussed below come into force on 13 May 2027.
Checked against official sources on 5 November 2026. General information, not legal advice: confirm the rules that apply to your business with an adviser.
When can you work with a team in India?
IST is 4h30m behind Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart and Brisbane, 4h behind Adelaide and Darwin, and 2h30m behind Perth. Agree call times in advance and check the team's availability before assuming your working hours overlap.
During daylight saving time, from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, IST is 5h30m behind Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart and 5h behind Adelaide. Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia don't change their clocks.
What rules apply when you send personal data to India?
If your business is covered by the Privacy Act, Australian Privacy Principle 8.1 requires you to take reasonable steps before disclosing personal information to an overseas recipient to ensure the recipient does not breach the APPs. Under section 16C, you are generally accountable for the recipient's acts that would breach them.
OAIC guidance says giving personal information to an overseas contractor performing services on your behalf is a disclosure in most circumstances, so APP 8 applies.
India's rules also need attention. From 13 May 2027, when a person based in India processes personal data of individuals outside India under a contract with a person outside India, most Data Fiduciary obligations, the data principal rights in Chapter III and the transfer rule in section 16 do not apply. Sections 8(1) and 8(5), covering responsibility for compliance and reasonable security safeguards against personal data breaches, still apply.
How do tax and invoicing work when you buy services from India?
Australia reverse charges GST at 10% on offshore services and other intangible supplies that are not connected with Australia when the recipient is registered or required to be registered for GST, acquires them for an enterprise it carries on in Australia and does not acquire them solely for a creditable purpose.
India treats exports of services as zero-rated supplies. A service qualifies as an export only when the supplier is in India, the recipient and place of supply are outside India, payment is received in convertible foreign exchange or Indian rupees wherever permitted by the Reserve Bank of India, and the supplier and recipient are not merely establishments of a distinct person.
An Indian export invoice for services must carry the prescribed export endorsement. It must also give the recipient's name and address, the address of delivery and the country of destination.
What should you agree about paying an Indian supplier?
Agree the payment arrangements with your supplier. Under India's Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, an exporter must realise and repatriate the full value of exported services within nine months from the invoice date, or twelve months if the export is invoiced or settled in Indian rupees. Its Authorised Dealer bank may allow more time on request.
If a third party will pay, discuss it with the supplier. An Authorised Dealer bank may permit third-party payment for an export if it is satisfied the transaction is bona fide.
What should your contract say about data and disputes?
For personal information disclosed to an overseas recipient, OAIC guidance says an entity is generally expected to enter into an enforceable contract requiring the recipient to handle it in accordance with the APPs, other than APP 1.
Discuss how disputes will be handled. India signed the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards on 10 June 1958 and ratified it on 13 July 1960, declaring that it applies the Convention only to awards made in another contracting State and to differences considered commercial under its national law.
What should you check before outsourcing to India?
The Privacy Act 1988 applies to most Australian Government agencies and to private sector organisations with an annual turnover above $3 million, among others. Check these points before work starts.
- Agree call times and check the team's availability in India time.
- Check whether your business is covered by the Privacy Act.
- Identify any personal information you plan to disclose to the team.
- Discuss an enforceable contract covering the recipient's handling of personal information.
- Check whether the Australian GST reverse charge applies to your purchase.
- Ask the supplier about its export invoice and payment arrangements.
- Agree how disputes will be handled.
Questions
Does a small Australian business have to follow the Privacy Act?
Some small businesses do. Most with an annual turnover of $3 million or less are not covered, but businesses such as those providing health services or trading in personal information are covered regardless of turnover.
What happens if a data breach is likely to cause serious harm?
An organisation or agency covered by the Privacy Act must notify affected individuals and the OAIC when a data breach is likely to result in serious harm, under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
When must my business register for GST?
An Australian business must register when its GST turnover is $75,000 or more, or $150,000 or more for a non-profit organisation.
Can an Indian exporter supply services without paying integrated tax?
Yes. Under section 16(3) of the IGST Act, 2017, a registered person can make zero-rated supplies without paying integrated tax under a bond or Letter of Undertaking and claim a refund of unutilised input tax credit.