Join Mercando: Where gardening meets social and environmental good (Victoria-wide).

Are you a professional gardener looking for more clients? Maybe you're a gardener ready to start being self-employed?

If you can demonstrate a history of having a positive social or environmental impact in your community, you can apply to join Mercando. Community impact examples could include things like:

• Volunteering for charities
• Running community gardens
• Wildlife conservation
• Educational initiatives.

We will find you new gardening clients and promote you and your social or environmental causes on our platform. You'll also be gardening for a range of clients you might not normally be: people with disability, elderly, primary schools and more socially conscious and inclusive clients in general.

Mercando's Disability employment Gap initiative

Optionally, gardeners on our platform can participate in our initiative set up to create more gardening employment opportunities for people with disability. We currently employ 6 gardeners with disability part-time around Victoria who are all paid above minimum wage at the landscaping and gardening award rate.

These gardeners with disability are skilled and independently complete tasks like mowing, weeding and more. You will go with them to gardening bookings to offer support with training, transport and creating inclusive interactions with the clients.

What you'll be paid:

• $54 p/h for the entire time you're with the gardener with disability. Plus, you'll receive up to 30 minutes extra travel time to pick them up.
• If you already have your own gardening clients outside of Mercando, you can receive an extra $9 per hour to take a gardener with disability with you to complete the booking. E.g. If you usually charge your clients $55 p/h, then you'll receive $64 p/h to take a gardener with disability with you. Plus, you'll be paid travel time to pick the gardener with disability up and also traveling between your different gardening bookings.

Mercando will provide you with disability training and a reimbursement for disability support insurance.

Gardening Services:

You tell us what types of gardening services you specialise in and we will match you with clients who need these. Services include:

• Lawn mowing, edging and maintenance
• Landscaping, soft-landscaping and design
• Weeding, pruning and cleanups
• Sustainable gardening practices
• Specialised services: tree surgery, irrigation, and more

Flexiblility

Do you want 5 days a week? Or maybe you just want half a day? You are your own boss, so get to decide what days, locations and times you want to set your availability to.

Requirements

• Hold a Certificate II, III, or IV in Horticulture or a related field.
• Previous experience in a professional gardening role.
• ABN and gardening liability insurance (we can help you set this up if you're getting started with self-employment).
• A valid driver’s license.
• Work vehicle or trailer capable of transporting tools safely.
• Ownership of basic gardening equipment (mower, line trimmer, blower, etc.).
• Openness to undergoing background checks: police and working with children.
• Physical robustness for manual and outdoor tasks.