Cleaning jobs · Working for yourself
How to start a cleaning business in Australia
Quick answer: Get an ABN (it's free), take out public liability insurance, put together a reliable kit, price your time properly, and find your first regular customers. You don't need a licence to clean homes in Australia, but check the business licence finder for your area. Register for GST once your turnover reaches $75,000 a year.
Huy Hoang started Simply Maid in July 2015 with a single booking; it now books cleaners in seven cities. This guide covers the steps, and the parts that decide whether a new cleaning business lasts.
The steps, in order
Most of these take an afternoon. Finding customers is the step that takes months.
Decide what you'll clean
Homes, offices, end of lease, or a mix. Each needs different kit, hours and pricing, and homes are the easiest place to start.
Get an ABN
Apply free through the Australian Business Register. Many new cleaners start as a sole trader, the simplest structure; register a business name with ASIC if you trade under a name that isn't your own.
Check licences for your area
There's no general licence to clean homes, but councils and states can have rules for some activities. The business licence finder (ABLIS) lists them by location.
Get insured
Public liability insurance covers damage or injury you cause in a customer's home. Customers, agents and platforms often ask for it.
Build a reliable kit
A good vacuum, mop, microfibre cloths and a small set of products you know are safe on common surfaces, plus a way to carry them.
Set your prices
Price by the time a job really takes, plus travel, products and the hours you can't fill. Check what households pay in your city before you set a rate.
Find your first regular customers
Regular weekly and fortnightly homes are what make a cleaning business viable. Expect this to take longer than everything above put together.
Register for GST when you need to
Once your GST turnover reaches $75,000 a year, you must register within 21 days. You can register earlier if it suits you.
How to price cleaning jobs
Price the time a job really takes, not the time you hope it takes, and make sure the rate covers more than the hours you're in the home.
A cleaning business's price has to cover travel between jobs, products, insurance, admin and the hours that never get booked. A rate that looks generous per hour can leave you short once those are counted.
Our pricing guide shows what households pay for a clean in each city, read live from our booking calculator. Use it as a check on the market, not as a target: your price has to work for your costs and your area.
Finding customers: the hard part
The hard part of a small cleaning business usually isn't the cleaning. It's finding enough regular customers close enough together.
What works is slow and local: referrals from happy customers, neighbours of the homes you already clean, local community groups, and a simple, honest listing online. Regular customers matter far more than one-off jobs, because a full week of regular homes is what makes the income predictable.
Keep your customers close together. Every half hour of driving between jobs is unpaid time.
Is a cleaning business profitable?
It can be, once your week is full of regular customers close together. Until then, the unfilled hours and travel decide whether it pays.
The costs of a small cleaning business are mostly your own time: travel, quoting, admin, cancellations and gaps between jobs. The business becomes worthwhile when most of your working hours are booked, paid cleaning.
Or start with steady work first
If finding customers is the part that worries you, you can build experience and income through a platform while you decide.
Simply Maid works with solo cleaners, teams and established cleaning businesses as independent contractors. We find the customers, handle bookings and payments, and pay weekly, starting from $45 an hour. Some cleaners use it to fill the gaps around their own clients. Cleaning jobs with Simply Maid explains how it works.
Questions people ask
Do you need a licence to clean in Australia?
No general licence is needed to clean homes, but check the business licence finder (ABLIS) for your council and state, and you'll need extra registrations for specific work, such as NDIS supports.
What type of cleaning makes the most money?
Specialist and commercial work can pay more per hour, but it needs more equipment, training or contracts. Regular home cleaning is the easiest to start and the most predictable once you have customers.
How much do cleaners earn in Australia?
Employed cleaners get at least the Cleaning Services Award minimum, from $27.08 an hour. Contractors and business owners earn more per hour but carry their own costs. Our pay guide compares them.
Do I need to register for GST?
Only once your GST turnover reaches $75,000 a year; then you must register within 21 days. You can choose to register earlier.
Do I need a business name?
Not if you trade under your own name. If you use a different name, register it with ASIC.
When you're ready
Want customers without the chase?
Apply to clean with Simply Maid. Start with your mobile and email; approval is automatic once your checks are complete.
Start with your mobile and email. Your progress saves as you go.
Sources
Government rules are quoted from the ATO, the Australian Business Register and business.gov.au on the date shown. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
- Apply for an ABN, Australian Business Register. Read 6 October 2026. Applying for an ABN is free.
- Registering for GST, Australian Taxation Office. Read 6 October 2026. The $75,000 GST turnover threshold and the 21-day registration rule.
- Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS), business.gov.au. Read 6 October 2026. Licences and permits by activity and location.
- CPP30321 Certificate III in Cleaning Operations, training.gov.au. Read 6 October 2026. Current qualification; no entry requirements; no licensing requirement at endorsement.
Official rates and rules quoted from the government source on the date shown. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.