How these estimates are calculated
Place, currency and tax. Prices are for Australia, in AUD (A$). They exclude GST. A price shown only to businesses does not have to include GST, and commercial cleaning is sold to businesses. The range is a national average. When you pick your state or territory, the calculator scales the labour share of the range by a local index from 0.85 to 1.11. The calculator does not quote below its minimum price, A$60 at the national average.
Where the range comes from. The market range for this job comes from prices published for Australia by businesses on their own price lists. We name these sources by type, not by company. Where no Australian source prices a job, we derive its range from the US range, scaled to Australian prices, and record it as an assumption. We check the hourly rates against Fair Work award pay rates for cleaning, construction and plumbing. A trade's rate should sit well above what its workers earn, because it also pays for overhead, travel and insurance.
When we checked. We last checked these rates against their sources on 30 September 2026.
Market price and your price. "What pros charge" is the market range for the job you describe. Your own cost figures do not change it. The table under it, "Your costs at this price", uses your figures: time on the job, labour cost, materials, equipment, travel, fees and overhead. Profit is the market price minus those costs.
Commercial cleaning is won on scope and lost on hours. The calculator above works out the cleaner-hours a site needs,
prices them from your own wage and overhead, and shows what the contract leaves you per visit.
How the calculator works
- The site sets the hours. Cleanable area, facility type, restroom count and floor care decide how long a visit
takes.
- One visit a week is the basis. The range prices a visit to a site cleaned weekly. More visits a week means
less accumulated soil, so each visit on a daily contract is shorter and cheaper than the range shows.
- Your state. Six states and two territories, each with its own labour-cost index. New South Wales carries the
highest, about 11% above the national average.
- Your numbers. Open “Your costs and margin” to enter what you pay per cleaner hour, plus supplies, equipment
and travel, and see the margin the visit leaves.
Where the range comes from
The calculator shows a market range for the visit, “What pros charge”, and it is weaker than the ranges on the
other Australian calculators. Say so to yourself before you quote from it.
| What | Figure, GST excluded | Basis |
|---|
| Hourly, low to high | A$35–70 | Cleaning companies’ own pages |
| Typical hourly | A$58 | A marketplace average from real quotes |
| Office, per m² a month, cleaned weekly | A$1.50–3.00 | Cleaning companies’ own pages |
| Medical, per m² a month, cleaned weekly | A$3.00–7.00 | Cleaning companies’ own pages |
| Retail, industrial, restaurant | No Australian figure | The US range, scaled to Australian rates |
| Award floor, Level 1 | A$27.08 permanent, A$33.85 casual | MA000022, from 1 July 2026 |
The hourly figure is the only one an independent source confirms. Every per-square-metre figure traces to a cleaning
company’s own marketing page. Those pages agree with each other, with the award floor and with published
productivity benchmarks, which is enough not to call them invented and not enough to call them measured. So use the
range as a check on your quote, and build the quote from the hours the site takes and what an hour costs you.
Worked example
A 930 m² office with four toilets, cleaned weekly, no floor care. The calculator puts the visit at A$415
excluding GST, inside a range of A$320–510, and at about 7.7 cleaner-hours.
At the calculator’s starting costs — A$28 an hour, A$14 of supplies, A$11 for the drive and 18% overhead — the visit
costs you about A$284. That leaves A$131, a 32% margin. The A$28 sits just above the MA000022 Level 1 permanent rate
of A$27.08, so 7.7 hours at the award floor is about A$208 of wages on its own. If you roster casuals, the floor is
A$33.85 an hour and the same hours cost about A$260 in wages.
The award is the floor, not the price. Superannuation, insurance and the hours you spend supervising, quoting and
chasing invoices all sit on top of it.
Quoting commercial contracts in Australia
- Walk the site before you quote. Restroom count, floor type and bin volume change the hours far more than the
floor area does. A quote given over the phone is a bid on a site you have not seen.
- Put the scope in writing. Windows, floor stripping and carpet extraction are the three items every client
assumes are inside a monthly rate. Name them as included or excluded and the argument never happens.
- Price the roster, not the average week. Public holidays, shutdown periods and school terms all move the
cleaning load, and the contract is where you say what happens when they do.
The calculator gives you the number. For typical rates and how to build a quote, read our US commercial cleaning pricing guide. Its rates are in US dollars.
Frequently asked questions
What is the going rate for commercial cleaning in Australia?
By the hour, about A$58 on average: that is what one Australian marketplace for hiring cleaners reports from its own quotes, with rates from A$25. By area, the only published prices come from cleaning companies' own websites, about A$1.50–3.00 per square metre a month for an office cleaned once a week. The calculator's range for a visit is built from those company prices, because no independent source prices commercial cleaning by area. Check it against your own hours and the award floor below.
Does my price include GST?
No. A price shown only to other businesses does not have to include GST, and commercial cleaning is sold to businesses. So on this page, unlike the other Australian calculators, every figure excludes GST. If you are registered, add 10% GST to the invoice and show it as a separate line. Under A$75,000 of turnover you do not have to register. If you register anyway, you charge GST.
What is the wage floor I have to clear?
The Cleaning Services Award MA000022, in force from 1 July 2026. Level 1 is A$27.08 an hour for a permanent employee and A$33.85 for a casual, once the 25% loading replaces leave. Level 3 is A$29.45 and A$36.81. Superannuation, workers compensation, supervision and equipment all sit on top of those numbers, so the award rate is the start of your cost, not the size of it.
Should I quote per square metre or per hour?
Quote the client whichever way they want to read it, and build the number from hours either way. Hours are the only thing that changes when the site changes. A per-square-metre price with no hours behind it is a guess wearing a unit.
How do I price after-hours and weekend work?
Price the roster you will actually work, and write it into the contract. Most office cleaning happens in the evening, so evening is the baseline rather than a premium. Overnight and weekend shifts cost you more in wages under the award, so they have to cost the client more too — quietly absorbing a schedule change is how a profitable contract turns.
Do I need an annual increase clause?
Yes. Award rates change on 1 July every year. A contract with a fixed price and no escalation clause loses money in its second year by arithmetic, not by bad luck.
