How to Start a Cleaning Business in Australia in 2026: Licences, Insurance, Pricing and Staff

Cleaning is one of the easiest businesses to start in Australia: there's no general licence, the set-up costs are low, and demand comes from homes, offices, strata buildings, rentals and builders. That low barrier is also why so many new cleaners underprice, skip insurance or get caught out when they take on their first staff member or subcontractor. This guide is for anyone starting a residential or commercial cleaning business in 2026 — as a sole trader or a small company. It covers the registrations, the licence traps (especially in Victoria), insurance, award pay, the TPAR, pricing in A$ and a realistic start-up budget.

Quick answer

To start a cleaning business in Australia, get a free ABN, register a business name if you won't trade under your own name, take out public liability insurance, and buy commercial-grade equipment. No general cleaning licence exists, but in Victoria you need a labour hire licence if you supply workers to clean commercial premises. Register for GST once turnover reaches A$75,000, and pay staff under the Cleaning Services Award.

• ABN free; business name A$47 for 1 year or A$108 for 3

• Victoria: unlicensed labour hire penalties can exceed more than A$660,000 for a company

• Cleaning Award Level 1: A$27.08 an hour (casual A$33.85 an hour) from 1 July 2026

• Using subcontractors? Lodge a TPAR by 28 August

• Solo start-up budget: roughly A$2,000–A$5,000 (estimate)

Do you need a licence to start a cleaning business?

For general cleaning — houses, offices, end-of-lease, windows at ground level, carpets — no state or territory issues a cleaning licence. The registrations you need are the same as any other small business: an ABN, a business name if you use one, GST once you pass the threshold, and payroll registrations when you employ. The quickest way to confirm nothing else applies to your exact services and location is ABLIS, the Australian Business Licence and Information Service, which lists federal, state and council requirements for a chosen activity.

There are, however, five situations where cleaning does come with extra legal requirements:

Clients can also set requirements that go beyond the law. Hospitals, government buildings and large property managers commonly ask for police checks, specific insurance limits and written safe work procedures before they'll award a contract.

Victoria's labour hire licence for commercial cleaning

This is the one most guides miss. Under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic), a business that supplies workers to perform cleaning at commercial premises — shops, restaurants, factories, offices, schools, construction sites — is a labour hire provider and must hold a licence. Businesses that use those cleaners must only engage licensed providers. Penalties for providing or using unlicensed labour hire may exceed more than A$660,000 for a corporation and more than A$160,000 for an individual, and advertising labour hire services without a licence is also an offence.

The rule doesn't catch everyone. The Labour Hire Authority's own example is a sole trader who cleans homes with one employee and personally does her commercial jobs: she isn't supplying workers to another business, so she doesn't need a licence. Cleaning private residences doesn't need a licence either. The line is crossed when your workers — employees or subcontractors — are sent to clean a client's commercial premises. Note that the definition of providing labour hire services was amended from 1 October 2026, so if you set up a commercial cleaning business in Victoria, check the updated rules and the regulations on the Victorian Legislation website before you quote. Queensland, South Australia and the ACT run their own labour hire licensing schemes, so check those regulators too if you'll be supplying workers to other businesses there.

Step 1: Choose your niche and structure

The cleaning market splits into niches with very different economics. Choosing one first shapes your equipment, insurance, pricing and whether the Victorian licence matters.

Cleaning niches compared

Niche	Typical clients	What to watch
Regular home cleaning	Households, often weekly or fortnightly	Travel time between jobs; key holding and trust
End-of-lease / bond cleans	Tenants, property managers	Agent checklists; re-clean guarantees eat margin
Office and commercial	Offices, shops, medical suites	Night work, contracts, labour hire licence in Vic
Strata and common areas	Owners corporations, strata managers	Higher insurance limits; tender processes
Specialist: carpet, windows, pressure, builders' cleans	Homes, builders, real estate	Equipment cost; working at heights; White Card

Regular home cleaning

Typical clients

Households, often weekly or fortnightly

What to watch

Travel time between jobs; key holding and trust

End-of-lease / bond cleans

Typical clients

Tenants, property managers

What to watch

Agent checklists; re-clean guarantees eat margin

Office and commercial

Typical clients

Offices, shops, medical suites

What to watch

Night work, contracts, labour hire licence in Vic

Strata and common areas

Typical clients

Owners corporations, strata managers

What to watch

Higher insurance limits; tender processes

Specialist: carpet, windows, pressure, builders' cleans

Typical clients

Homes, builders, real estate

What to watch

Equipment cost; working at heights; White Card

Most new cleaners start as a sole trader. It's cheap, there's no separate company tax return, and you can switch to a company later. The downside is personal liability: if a client sues over damage and your insurance falls short, your personal assets are exposed. A company costs A$636 to register plus an annual review fee of A$342, but it separates business debts from you and can look more established to commercial clients. Our sole trader guide compares the two.

Step 2: Register — ABN, business name and GST

Apply for an ABN through the Business Registration Service; it costs free and is often issued immediately online. You'll need to describe your main business activity — "cleaning services" or "building and other industrial cleaning services" are typical descriptions. If ATO checks are needed, processing can take up to 20 business days. Our ABN registration guide walks through the application and common rejection reasons.

If you'll trade as anything other than your own name — "Sparkle Clean Co" rather than "Jane Smith" — register a business name with ASIC for A$47 for one year or A$108 for three. Check the domain name and social media handles at the same time.

GST becomes compulsory once your turnover reaches A$75,000 a year, and you must register within 21 days of going over. Many commercial clients prefer to deal with GST-registered suppliers because they claim the GST back, while households can't — so registering early can suit a commercial cleaner but make a residential cleaner look 10% dearer. Our GST registration guide covers the trade-off.

Step 3: Insurance — what's legally required and what clients demand

business.gov.au lists the insurances most commonly required by law as workers compensation (once you employ), compulsory third party for vehicles (usually included in registration) and, for some occupations, public liability. For general cleaning, public liability isn't a legal requirement, but in practice you can't win much work without it. Real estate agencies, strata managers, offices and shopping centres generally ask for a certificate of currency before you start.

Insurer data gives a sense of the cost. Broker upcover's study of policies arranged between 2022 and 2026 puts public liability for cleaners at roughly A$455 to A$842 a year, with domestic work often covered at A$5 million or A$10 million and commercial and strata contracts commonly asking for A$10 million or A$20 million. Treat those as indicative only; your premium depends on turnover, services and claims history. Look closely at the "care, custody and control" sub-limit: if you damage a client's expensive rug or a tenant's belongings, that clause decides whether you're covered.

Once you employ anyone, workers compensation insurance is compulsory in every state and territory, with exemptions for very small payrolls in some. NSW, for example, exempts employers paying A$7,500 or less in wages a year (with no apprentices and not part of a group). As a sole trader you aren't covered by workers compensation, so consider personal accident or income protection insurance: a back injury can stop a cleaner working for weeks. Our workers compensation guide compares the state schemes.

Step 4: Equipment, chemicals and safety

Start with what your niche needs and upgrade as jobs come in. A residential cleaner's core kit is a commercial-grade vacuum (backpack vacuums are popular for speed), a mop system with colour-coded heads, microfibre cloths, a steam or spray-extraction unit if you offer carpet or upholstery work, and a reliable vehicle. Commercial cleaners add floor scrubbers or polishers, wet-dry vacuums and bulk chemical dispensing.

Chemicals are where WHS law bites. Under the model WHS laws adopted in most states, you must keep the safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical you use, label any decanted product properly, store chemicals safely, and give workers the training and protective equipment the safety data sheet calls for. Never mix chlorine-based products with acids or ammonia. If you employ staff, you're responsible for managing manual handling risks (vacuum weight, repetitive mopping), slips, working at heights and working alone at night.

Asbestos is a hard stop. Bathrooms, eaves and vinyl floors in homes built before the mid-1980s can contain asbestos; if a job involves disturbing building materials, don't touch it — asbestos removal is licensed work under WHS laws.

Step 5: How much to charge — pricing in A$

Underpricing is the most common reason cleaning businesses fail. Your hourly rate has to cover far more than the time you spend cleaning: travel between jobs, quoting, invoicing, chemicals, equipment wear, insurance, vehicle costs, super for yourself, holidays and sick days you won't be paid for, and tax.

Worked example: a solo residential cleaner

Priya wants to earn the equivalent of A$45 an hour before tax for her own labour. She works 30 billable hours a week but spends about 8 more hours travelling, quoting and doing admin. Her annual costs are about A$9,000: A$650 insurance, A$2,400 chemicals and consumables, A$4,500 vehicle running costs, A$900 phone, software and advertising, and A$550 equipment replacement.

Over 46 working weeks, she bills about 1,380 hours. To pay herself A$45 for all 38 hours she works each week (A$78,660 a year) and cover her costs, she needs about A$87,660 in revenue — roughly A$63.50 per billable hour. If she sets aside 11% for her own super, the figure rises to about A$70. And because her turnover now exceeds A$75,000, she must register for GST and charge A$77 including GST — or absorb the 10% and keep about A$64.

Flat-rate quotes

For end-of-lease cleans, offices and regular home cleans, most clients prefer a fixed price. Time a few jobs carefully, build a pricing sheet by room or square metre, and add a buffer for "first clean" visits, which take longer. Put inclusions and exclusions in writing — oven, inside cupboards, walls, windows, balconies — so re-clean requests don't destroy your margin. Our quotation generator creates a clean, itemised quote in minutes.

Work out your cleaning hourly rateEnter your target income, costs and billable hours to see the rate you need to charge.

Step 6: Hiring cleaners — employees, contractors and the award

The Cleaning Services Award

The Cleaning Services Award 2020 covers employers in the contract cleaning services industry — businesses that provide cleaning under contract, including office cleaners, shopping centre cleaners and house and apartment cleaners employed by a contract cleaning business. It also covers event cleaning, trolley collection, hygiene and pollution control and minor property maintenance incidental to cleaning. It doesn't cover cleaners employed directly by a business that isn't a cleaning contractor (a hotel's own housekeepers, for example), car washers and detailers, or laundry and dry-cleaning.

The 2026 Annual Wage Review raised award rates by 4.75% from 1 July 2026. Payroll providers report the Level 1 adult rate as A$27.08 an hour for permanent staff and A$33.85 an hour for casuals, which includes the 25% casual loading. Weekend, public holiday and early-morning or night work attract penalty rates and shift allowances, and the award sets minimum engagement periods. Check the exact rates for your classifications in Fair Work's Pay and Conditions Tool before your first pay run. Our award wages guide explains how classifications work.

Employing cleaners — numbers to know (2026)

A$27.08 an hour

Cleaning Award Level 1, permanent

from 1 July 2026 — confirm with Fair Work

A$33.85 an hour

Level 1 casual rate

includes 25% loading

12%

Super guarantee

paid with each pay cycle

28 August

TPAR due date

if you pay cleaning subcontractors

When you employ, you also need to register for PAYG withholding, report each pay through Single Touch Payroll, pay super guarantee of 12% with each pay cycle under Payday Super, and take out workers compensation insurance.

Using subcontractors instead

Many cleaning businesses grow by subcontracting. That can work, but two rules matter. First, calling someone a contractor doesn't make them one: if they work set hours under your direction, use your equipment and can't delegate the work, they're likely an employee, and misrepresenting employment as contracting is sham contracting, with penalties of up to A$109,200 for a company. Second, cleaning is one of the services covered by the ATO's taxable payments reporting system.

The TPAR for cleaning businesses

If your business provides cleaning services and pays contractors or subcontractors to do some of that cleaning, you must lodge a taxable payments annual report when cleaning makes up 10% or more of your business income. The report lists each contractor's ABN, name, address and the total paid (including GST) during the financial year, and it's due by 28 August. Payments to employees aren't included. If you're in your first year, use your projected income for the 10% test. Our TPAR guide shows how to lodge it.

Before your first cleaner starts

1. 1

   Decide employee or contractor

   Look at control, equipment, hours and whether they can delegate. If in doubt, employ.

2. 2

   Check the labour hire rules

   In Victoria, supplying workers to clean commercial premises needs a licence.

   Labour Hire Authority — commercial cleaning
3. 3

   Register for PAYG withholding and set up STP

   Do this before the first pay run.

   PAYG withholding guide
4. 4

   Take out workers compensation

   Arrange the policy in your state before the first shift.

5. 5

   Set award pay and give the statements

   Use the Cleaning Award rates; give the Fair Work Information Statement (and the casual statement for casuals).

Contracts with commercial clients

Commercial cleaning runs on contracts, and many are standard-form documents written by the client or property manager. Read them closely for automatic renewals, unlimited liability or indemnity clauses, the client's right to change the scope without changing the price, and long payment terms.

Your business has some protection. Since 9 November 2023, the unfair contract terms law protects small businesses with fewer than 100 employees or annual turnover under A$10 million in standard form contracts, regardless of the contract's value, and businesses that use unfair terms can now face penalties. A term that lets a client cancel at will while locking you in, or vary the price only in its favour, may be unfair. It's still far cheaper to negotiate a clause out before you sign than to argue about it later.

Your own terms matter too. Set out what's included, how keys and alarm codes are handled, what happens when you can't get access, breakage and complaints procedures, and payment terms (7 or 14 days is common). Issue proper tax invoices — our invoice generator includes ABN and GST fields.

Start-up costs for a cleaning business

The government costs are small. The real spend is equipment, insurance and getting found.

These are our estimates as at October 2026, built from the insurer data above and typical retail prices for commercial cleaning equipment; your figures will depend on your niche and suppliers. The fees shown as fact figures are official. A commercial team also needs working capital to cover at least one month of wages before clients pay, plus workers compensation premiums. Plug your own numbers into our startup cost calculator.

Common mistakes new cleaning businesses make

Pricing on the cleaning hours alone. Travel, quoting and admin can be a fifth of your week. Fix: price for every hour you work and review your rate every six months.

Supplying cleaners to commercial clients in Victoria without a licence. It exposes both you and your client to penalties. Fix: check the Labour Hire Authority's scenarios before you take on staff for commercial sites.

Treating every helper as a contractor. Fix: test the relationship honestly; employees cost more, but sham contracting penalties and back-pay claims cost far more.

Forgetting the TPAR. Fix: once you pay a subcontractor, record their ABN and payments so the report is easy in August.

Signing a client's contract unread. Fix: look for indemnities, cancellation rights and payment terms, and push back on terms that aren't balanced.

No written scope for end-of-lease cleans. Fix: use a checklist that matches the agent's inspection report, and photograph the property when you finish.

Official links

• Business Registration ServiceABN, business name and GST
• ABLIS — find licences by activityFederal, state and council requirements
• Labour Hire Authority (Vic) — Commercial cleaningWho needs a licence; 1 October 2026 changes
• Fair Work — Cleaning Award summaryCoverage and pay tools
• ATO — Work out if you need to lodge a TPAR10% test and due date
• business.gov.au — Types of business insuranceWhat insurance the law requires

What to do next

Work out the rate you need with the hourly rate calculator, then apply for your ABN and arrange public liability cover before you advertise. If you're setting up a broader business, our guide to starting a business in Australia covers structures, tax and grants in more depth.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a licence to start a cleaning business in Australia?

There's no general cleaning licence in any state or territory. You need an ABN, a business name if you don't trade under your own name, and GST once turnover reaches A$75,000. The big exception is Victoria: if you supply workers to clean commercial premises, you need a labour hire licence. Specialist work such as asbestos removal is licensed separately under WHS laws.

How much does it cost to start a cleaning business?

A solo residential cleaner can start for roughly A$2,000 to A$5,000 — our estimate covering a commercial vacuum, chemicals and cloths, public liability insurance and a basic website. The ABN is free and a business name is A$47 for a year. A vehicle, a carpet extractor or a team of staff pushes the figure much higher.

Is public liability insurance compulsory for cleaners?

It isn't required by law for general cleaning, but most real estate agents, strata managers and commercial clients won't engage you without a certificate of currency. Insurer data suggests cleaners typically pay around A$455 to A$842 a year for cover. Workers compensation insurance is compulsory once you employ staff.

What is the award pay rate for cleaners in 2026?

Contract cleaning businesses are covered by the Cleaning Services Award 2020. From 1 July 2026 the Level 1 adult rate is reported as A$27.08 an hour for full-time and part-time staff and A$33.85 an hour for casuals, including the 25% loading. Check the exact figure in Fair Work's Pay and Conditions Tool before you set wages.

Do cleaning businesses have to lodge a TPAR?

Yes, if you pay contractors or subcontractors to do cleaning for you and cleaning makes up 10% or more of your business income. The taxable payments annual report is due by 28 August each year. Payments to your own employees aren't reported in it — they go through Single Touch Payroll.

How much should I charge for cleaning in Australia?

Work back from your costs: wages or your own target pay, super, insurance, chemicals, travel time and GST. A sole trader who wants A$45 an hour after costs and spends 20% of the day travelling usually needs to quote well above A$55 an hour. Flat-rate quotes for end-of-lease and office jobs should be based on timed walk-throughs, not guesses.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 13 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Cleaning Award [MA000022] summary — Fair Work Ombudsman (Wayback capture 6 June 2026 — live site not reachable) · accessed 13 October 2026
2. 2.Commercial cleaning industry — Labour Hire Authority (Victoria) · accessed 13 October 2026
3. 3.Work out if you need to lodge a TPAR — Australian Taxation Office (Wayback capture 9 July 2026 — live site blocked) · accessed 13 October 2026
4. 4.Types of business insurance — business.gov.au · accessed 13 October 2026
5. 5.Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS) — business.gov.au · accessed 13 October 2026
6. 6.Businesses urged to remove unfair contract terms ahead of law changes — ACCC · accessed 13 October 2026
7. 7.How much does cleaners insurance cost? — upcover (insurance broker — secondary source) · accessed 13 October 2026