Farewell gift ideas for colleagues, bosses and friends
The best farewell gifts fit what the person is doing next: a new commute, a move, a trip or a long-awaited break. Small gifts like a team photo book fit under $50, and bigger experiences work best when the whole team chips in.
How to choose a farewell gift
Start with where they are going, not where they have been. A gift for the next chapter gets used; a mug with the company logo goes in a cupboard.
- New job: something for the commute or the new desk.
- Moving away: something for the new place, or a way to explore it.
- Travelling or taking a break: an experience, or something small that packs flat.
- Hard to buy for: a voucher they choose, paired with a card full of messages.
- Whole team giving: pool the money for one bigger gift instead of a pile of small ones.
Farewell gifts under $50
Under $50
- Team photo book: Collect photos from work events and lunches into a printed book everyone can add a caption to (from $39.95 at Officeworks, Oct 2026).
- Reusable coffee cup: A good keep cup for the new commute or the new office kitchen (about $28 to $44 at KeepCup, Oct 2026).
- A treat delivered on the last day: A small box of chocolates or a posy sent to their desk on their final morning (treats from $12 at Daily Blooms, Oct 2026).
- Good notebook and pen: A quality notebook for the first week in a new role, with a note inside the cover from the team.
- Framed team photo: One photo of the whole team, framed, with everyone's signature on the mount.
- A guide to their new city: For a friend moving interstate or overseas, a local guidebook with your own tips written in the margins.
- Their favourite snack, in bulk: The biscuits or lollies they were always raiding from the kitchen, boxed up as a joke gift alongside the card.
Farewell gifts from $50 to $150
$50 to $150
- Experience voucher they choose: A voucher lets them pick a class, a day trip or a meal; RedBalloon vouchers start from $25 and are valid for five years (Oct 2026).
- A cooking class: A hands-on class for someone who always brought the best plate to morning tea, such as a two-hour pasta and wine class.
- Whale watching or a day on the water: A good fit for a coastal move or a well-earned break.
- Flowers to their home: Flowers delivered to their home on their last day, so they do not have to carry them on the train (from $65 at LVLY, Oct 2026).
- Restaurant voucher for a farewell dinner: A gift card for a local favourite so they can celebrate with their own people.
- A book bundle from the team: Each person picks one book they loved and writes a short note inside the cover.
- Travel kit: Packing cubes, a good luggage tag and a travel adaptor for someone heading overseas.
Farewell gifts of $150 or more
$150 or more (best as a group gift)
- A bucket-list experience: Something they would never book for themselves, like a hot air balloon flight (Yarra Valley flights from $429 at Adrenaline, Oct 2026).
- A golf lesson with a pro: For the colleague who kept talking about their handicap: a private lesson with a golf pro, the kind of treat few people book for themselves.
- A bigger experience voucher: Pool the team's money into one voucher so they can choose something worth having.
- An annual parks pass: A year of entry to NSW national parks for a bushwalker or someone heading off on road trips (the one-year All Parks Pass is $190 from NSW National Parks, Oct 2026).
- A hardware or homewares gift card: For a friend moving into a new home, a gift card for the store they will be visiting every weekend.
- Good luggage: A quality cabin bag for someone moving overseas or taking a long trip.
- Money toward their next plan: Flights home, a course they are starting or furniture for the new place. A pooled fund lets them put it toward what they actually need.
Farewell gifts by who is leaving
| Who is leaving | Good fits | Skip |
|---|---|---|
| Colleague | Photo book, coffee cup, experience voucher, a card everyone signs | Anything with the company logo |
| Boss or manager | Experience voucher, flowers to their home, a group gift from the whole team | Very personal items from one person |
| Teacher or educator | One class gift bought with the pooled money, such as a book for the classroom, a booked experience or a store gift card | Cash and prepaid debit cards |
| Friend moving away | City guide, travel kit, homewares gift card | Big or fragile items they have to pack |
| Someone made redundant | A warm card and a voucher they choose | Jokes, novelty gifts and "exciting times" framing |
Farewell gifts for a teacher
Schools limit the gifts staff can accept, and the rules differ by state and by school, so check your school's gift policy before you collect. Victorian government school staff cannot accept cash vouchers such as prepaid debit cards, and a gift worth more than $100 must be declared. In Victoria a store gift card is allowed only as a gift of appreciation to a teacher or other member of the teaching service. WA public school staff cannot accept cash or cash vouchers such as prepaid debit cards, and a gift worth more than $100 must come from a group and be declared. The safe choice is one physical gift, a booked experience or, for a teacher, a store gift card: the class pools the money, the organiser buys the gift, and the money itself is never handed over.
How much to put in, and is it compulsory?
Chipping in to a farewell gift is optional. Office collections can come round often, and one Canberra columnist wrote about being asked to chip in 10 times in a year. A small amount per person is plenty, any amount is welcome, and signing the card counts too. The group gift guide explains how a shared collection works. To run one, set up a wishing well for the farewell and share the link.
Planning the whole send-off? The farewell planning guide covers the morning tea and the speech, and farewell card messages has lines for the card. For someone retiring, the retirement gift ideas page has more options.
Make it a group farewell gift
One link shared with the team lets everyone add a little toward one gift that suits their next chapter, and nobody has to chase cash around the office.
- Create a free registry for the occasion.
- Add a wishing well.
- Share one link with everyone who wants to chip in.
- Buy the gift once you know the total.
Setting up a registry with a wishing well is free. Guests can chip in by bank transfer, in cash or in store with no EasyRegistry fee. Card and PayPal contributions are a Premium feature ($39 one time), and card funds are released when the registry closes.
How a group gift wishing well works, and how much to ask each person for
Farewell gift FAQ
Something for what they are doing next: a coffee cup for the new commute, a photo book of team memories or an experience voucher they choose. Pair it with a card everyone has signed; the messages are often what people keep.
A group gift from the team works best, so it does not look like one person is buying favour. Experience vouchers, flowers sent to their home or a bucket-list experience suit most managers.
No. Collections are voluntary, and signing the card is a perfectly good way to say goodbye. If you do put in, a small amount is fine.
Usually yes, within the school's gift policy. The organiser pools the money and buys one gift, such as a book for the classroom, a booked experience or a store gift card, rather than giving cash. Victorian and WA government school staff cannot accept cash vouchers such as prepaid debit cards. In Victoria a store gift card is allowed only as a gift of appreciation to a teacher or other member of the teaching service.
If your employer is paying, ask payroll. A whip-round among staff is separate and simply comes from the people who chip in.
You do not need your own gift. Add a little to the team collection and write a short, kind message in the card.
Collect for one farewell gift
Create a free registry for the farewell, add a wishing well and share one link with the team. Buy the gift once the total is in.