How much do you charge for office cleaning in Australia?
Commercial cleaning in Australia costs between $35 and $65 per hour for most office and business premises, with the national average sitting around $45 to $55 per hour in 2026. For per-square-metre pricing, standard office and commercial cleaning commonly sits around $2 to $6 per square metre depending on facility type, cleaning scope, frequency and service complexity. In Adelaide specifically, rates run 10 to 15 percent below Sydney and Melbourne equivalents for comparable work. A small office under 100 square metres on a daily cleaning schedule costs approximately $80 to $150 per visit, or $600 to $1,400 per month.
Office cleaning pricing in Australia uses two main models: hourly rates ranging from $35 to $65 per cleaner per hour, and per-square-metre monthly rates ranging from $2 to $6. Under the Cleaning Services Award 2020 (MA000022), the base rate for a commercial cleaner is approximately $28.25 per hour as of 2026. The charge-out rate a cleaning company applies to clients must cover this award wage plus superannuation at 11.5 percent, workers compensation insurance, public liability insurance, equipment, chemicals, travel, supervision and a profit margin — which is why commercial cleaning rates sit well above the individual cleaner’s hourly wage. The biggest pricing variable across Australian states is location, with Sydney and Melbourne CBD rates sitting 15 to 25 percent above Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth equivalents.
You get three office cleaning quotes. One is $38 an hour. One is $55. One is $70.
They all say the same things — “experienced team,” “fully insured,” “flexible scheduling.”
So what is the actual difference?
If you’re a business owner trying to decide what’s fair to pay, you need to understand what’s behind each of those numbers. If you’re a cleaner trying to figure out what to charge, you need to know which number makes you money and which one quietly costs you the business within six months.
This guide gives you both answers. Real 2026 rates for Australia. A working pricing formula. A complete price list. Adelaide-specific numbers. And the single biggest mistake people make on both sides of the transaction.
The Two Questions This Guide Answers
Before diving into numbers, let’s be clear about who’s reading this because the question “how much to charge for office cleaning” gets asked by two very different people with two very different needs.
If you are a business owner or facilities manager: You want to know what a fair market price looks like so you can evaluate quotes accurately, understand what drives cost variation, and avoid paying too much or hiring someone too cheap to do the job properly.
If you are a cleaner or cleaning company owner: You want to know how to set your rates correctly high enough to be profitable, competitive enough to win the work, and compliant with the Fair Work Act so you do not end up with a wage underpayment investigation.
This guide covers both in detail. Jump to the section that applies to you — or read both, because understanding the other side makes you better at your own.
Office Cleaning Rates in Australia 2026
Let’s start with the actual numbers. These are real market rates, not marketing estimates. They reflect what professional, insured, WHS-compliant cleaning companies charge across Australian markets in 2026.
Hourly Rates — By State
These rates reflect the charge-out price from a licensed, insured cleaning company — not the wage paid to an individual cleaner.
| State / City | Standard Office | Medical / Specialist | After-Hours Loading |
| Sydney CBD | $50 — $80/hr | $65 — $95/hr | +15 to 20% |
| Melbourne CBD | $48 — $75/hr | $60 — $90/hr | +15 to 20% |
| Brisbane | $42 — $68/hr | $55 — $80/hr | +10 to 15% |
| Adelaide | $38 — $65/hr | $50 — $75/hr | +10 to 15% |
| Perth | $40 — $68/hr | $52 — $78/hr | +10 to 15% |
| Regional Australia | $35 — $55/hr | $45 — $65/hr | +10 to 15% |
Per-Square-Metre Monthly Rates — Australia 2026
| Facility Type | Rate Per Sqm Per Month |
| Standard open-plan office | $2.00 — $3.50 |
| Office with multiple rooms and bathrooms | $3.00 — $4.50 |
| Medical centre or healthcare facility | $4.50 — $6.50 |
| Childcare centre | $4.00 — $6.00 |
| Restaurant kitchen (commercial clean) | $5.00 — $8.00 |
| Industrial or warehouse office | $1.50 — $3.00 |
Per-Visit Cost by Office Size — Adelaide 2026
| Office Size | Frequency | Cost Per Visit | Monthly Total |
| Under 100 sqm (1 — 2 rooms) | Daily | $80 — $140 | $800 — $1,400 |
| Under 100 sqm | 3 x per week | $90 — $150 | $600 — $1,000 |
| 100 — 300 sqm | Daily | $130 — $250 | $1,300 — $2,500 |
| 100 — 300 sqm | 3 x per week | $140 — $270 | $900 — $1,600 |
| 300 — 600 sqm | Daily | $220 — $420 | $2,200 — $4,200 |
| 600 — 1,000 sqm | Daily | $380 — $650 | $3,800 — $6,500 |
| 1,000+ sqm | Daily | Quoted on site | $7,000 — $18,000+ |
Section 3 — The Fair Work Act Rates Every Cleaner Must Know
If you are a cleaner setting your rates in Australia, this is the most important section in this guide. Skip it and you risk underpaying your staff, receiving a Fair Work underpayment notice, or driving yourself out of business inside 12 months.
The Cleaning Services Award 2020 (MA000022) sets the legal minimum wages for cleaners employed in Australia. The Fair Work Commission updates this annually in July.
2026 Cleaning Services Award — Key Rates
| Classification | Base Hourly Rate 2026 | Saturday | Sunday | Public Holiday |
| Cleaner (Level 1) | $28.25/hr | $34.51/hr (casual) | $49.44/hr | $63.56/hr |
| Cleaner (Level 2) | $29.80/hr | $36.35/hr (casual) | $52.15/hr | $67.05/hr |
| Cleaner (Level 3 / Leading Hand) | $31.20/hr | $38.05/hr (casual) | $54.60/hr | $70.20/hr |
Note: Casual employees receive a 25% loading on top of base rates. These figures are approximate — always verify current rates at fairwork.gov.au before setting wages.
Why this matters for your pricing:
You cannot charge $35 an hour for commercial cleaning and pay your cleaner the legal minimum wage while also covering superannuation, insurance, equipment, travel and your own time. The maths does not work. Operators who quote $32 to $35 an hour in 2026 are either underpaying their staff, cutting corners on insurance, or working unprofitable jobs that will force them out of business.
Pricing office cleaning work correctly is not simply a matter of matching a competitor’s rate. A quote set without accounting for the Fair Work Commission’s Cleaning Services Award 2020 (MA000022) minimum wage obligations, superannuation, workers’ compensation insurance, and operational overhead will generate revenue that does not sustain a professional cleaning operation.
Section 4 — The Pricing Formula: How to Build Your Rate From the Ground Up
This is the section that separates profitable cleaning businesses from ones that stay busy but barely break even. Here is the exact formula to work out what you need to charge.
Step 1 — Calculate your labour cost
Start with the Award rate for the level of cleaner you employ.
Example: Level 1 cleaner, weekday evening = $28.25/hr
Add superannuation: $28.25 x 11.5% = $3.25
Add workers compensation insurance: approximately $2.50 to $3.50 per hour depending on your state
Add casual loading if applicable (25%): adds $7.06 per hour
Total labour cost per hour (casual evening cleaner) = approximately $37 to $42 per hour
Step 2 — Add overhead costs
Overhead covers everything that is not a direct labour cost but is still real.
- Equipment depreciation: typically $1.50 — $3.00 per cleaning hour
- Cleaning supplies and chemicals: $1.00 — $2.50 per cleaning hour
- Vehicle and fuel: $2.00 — $4.00 per cleaning hour
- Public liability insurance: $1.00 — $2.00 per cleaning hour
- Management, admin, invoicing, quoting time: $3.00 — $6.00 per cleaning hour
Total overhead per cleaning hour: approximately $8.50 — $17.50
Step 3 — Add your margin
A sustainable cleaning business runs on a margin of 20 to 30 percent. Below 15 percent, you have no buffer for anything going wrong.
Step 4 — Calculate your minimum viable rate
| Component | Per Hour |
| Labour (Award + super + workers comp) | $37.00 — $42.00 |
| Overhead | $8.50 — $17.50 |
| Total cost | $45.50 — $59.50 |
| 25% margin on total cost | $11.40 — $14.90 |
| Minimum charge-out rate | $57 — $74/hr |
If you look at that number and think it seems high — it is not. It is the minimum rate at which a properly structured cleaning operation can operate legally and sustainably. The operators charging $38 to $42 per hour in 2026 are either sole traders with no employees (no payroll overhead), are cutting corners on insurance, or are working at a loss.
Mid-Content Hook
The most expensive cleaning quote you will ever accept is the one that seems cheapest right now.
A cleaner charging $38 an hour either has very low overhead (a sole trader with no staff), is cutting something (insurance, training, actual hours worked), or will not be in business in 18 months and you will be finding a new cleaner anyway.
A properly structured cleaning company charging $55 to $65 an hour in Adelaide in 2026 costs you more per invoice. But they show up reliably, do not cut corners, and do not leave you scrambling when they disappear.
The total cost of switching cleaning providers three times in two years — lost management time, new inductions, inconsistent results during transition periods — is almost always higher than the premium you paid to a quality provider from the start.
Commercial Cleaning Price List for Australia 2026
This is the price list format that business owners and cleaners are searching for. Here are standard market rates for the most common commercial cleaning services in Australia in 2026.
Standard Office Cleaning
| Service | Rate |
| Daily office clean (per sqm, ongoing contract) | $2.00 — $3.50/sqm/month |
| Weekly office clean | $3.00 — $5.00/sqm/month |
| Fortnightly office clean | $4.00 — $6.50/sqm/month |
| Minimum call-out fee (any job) | $60 — $90 |
| After-hours or weekend loading | +10 to 20% |
| Annual contract discount vs month-to-month | 8 to 12% less per month |
Specialist Cleaning Services
| Service | Rate |
| Carpet steam cleaning | $2.50 — $5.00/sqm |
| Commercial window cleaning | $60 — $95/hr |
| Hard floor strip and seal | $7.00 — $14.00/sqm |
| End-of-lease deep clean | $5.00 — $12.00/sqm |
| Medical grade cleaning | $4.50 — $7.00/sqm/month |
| Post-construction clean | $6.00 — $12.00/sqm |
| Kitchen deep clean (commercial) | $150 — $400/session |
| High-pressure washing | $80 — $150/hr |
Office Cleaning Cost Calculator — Work It Out for Your Space
Use this step-by-step approach to estimate what you should pay (or charge) for a specific office.
Step 1 — Measure your floor area
Measure the total floor area of all rooms that need cleaning. Include corridors, bathrooms and kitchen in your estimate. Do not include rooms that are always locked or not part of the cleaning scope.
Step 2 — Estimate cleaning time
Use these time benchmarks per area type:
| Area | Time Per Visit |
| Open plan workstation area | 1 min per 10 sqm |
| Private offices | 5 — 8 minutes each |
| Meeting rooms | 8 — 12 minutes each |
| Kitchen / tea room | 15 — 25 minutes |
| Bathroom (1 toilet, 1 basin) | 12 — 18 minutes |
| Entry and corridors | 1 min per 15 sqm |
Step 3 — Apply your hourly rate
Take the total cleaning time from Step 2 and multiply by the applicable hourly rate for your state and facility type.
Worked Example — 200 sqm Adelaide Office
| Area | Time Estimate |
| Open plan (120 sqm) | 12 minutes |
| 3 private offices | 18 minutes |
| 1 meeting room | 10 minutes |
| Kitchen | 20 minutes |
| 2 bathrooms | 28 minutes |
| Entry and corridors | 5 minutes |
| Total | 93 minutes |
At $55/hr (mid Adelaide rate): 93 minutes = 1.55 hours x $55 = $85.25 per visit
On a daily Monday to Friday schedule: 22 visits per month = $1,875 per month
This aligns with the market range for this office type and size in Adelaide in 2026.
How Much to Charge for Cleaning a 3,000 Square Foot Office
This is one of the most searched questions in this space. Note that square feet is the American convention — Australia uses square metres. Here is the conversion and the pricing.
3,000 square feet = approximately 279 square metres
This is a medium-sized office by Australian standards — roughly the size of a 20 to 25 person open plan workspace with a kitchen, two to three bathrooms and a meeting room or two.
Estimated Cleaning Costs for a 279 sqm Office
| Frequency | Estimated Time Per Visit | Cost Per Visit (Adelaide) | Monthly Total |
| Daily | 2.5 — 3.5 hours | $140 — $195 | $1,400 — $1,950 |
| 3 x per week | 2.5 — 3.5 hours | $150 — $210 | $975 — $1,365 |
| Weekly | 3 — 4.5 hours | $165 — $250 | $660 — $1,000 |
Per-square-metre monthly rate alternative:
At $2.80/sqm/month on a daily schedule: 279 sqm x $2.80 = $781 per month — this looks significantly lower because many per-sqm calculations use a per-visit figure multiplied by visit frequency separately. Always confirm whether a per-sqm quote is per visit or per month when comparing quotes.
Airbnb Cleaning Rates in Australia 2026
Airbnb cleaning sits in its own category. Hosts pay a cleaning fee that covers the cleaning company’s cost of a full property reset between guests. Here is how the pricing works.
How Airbnb cleaning pricing differs from office cleaning:
- Airbnb cleaning is always a per-clean fixed fee rather than hourly or monthly
- The scope includes linen change, staging, restocking supplies and property inspection — not just surface cleaning
- Turnover time pressure is real — a short-stay property may need a complete clean in 2 to 3 hours
- Weekend and public holiday premiums apply because peak checkout days fall on weekends
Airbnb Cleaning Rates — Australia 2026
| Property Size | Typical Cleaning Fee | What’s Included |
| Studio or 1-bedroom | $80 — $150 | Full clean, linen change, restock |
| 2-bedroom | $110 — $200 | Full clean, linen x 2, restock |
| 3-bedroom | $150 — $280 | Full clean, linen x 3, restock |
| 4-bedroom | $200 — $380 | Full clean, linen x 4, restock |
| Luxury or large property | $350 — $600+ | Full service including premium staging |
What Airbnb hosts pay a cleaning company vs what a cleaner receives:
The host pays the cleaning fee shown above. The cleaning company invoices the host this amount. After covering the actual cleaner’s wages (2 to 3 hours at award rates), supplies, linen management, travel and admin, the company retains a margin of roughly 25 to 40 percent.
If you are an individual cleaner offering Airbnb services directly to hosts, a small office under 100 square metres represents approximately 1 to 1.5 hours of cleaning time. Most professional operators set a minimum call-out fee of $60 to $80 for any commercial job, regardless of size, to ensure travel and setup time is covered. The same logic applies for Airbnb — never quote below your minimum profitable amount regardless of how small the property sounds.
Per Square Foot vs Per Square Metre — What’s the Difference?
This confuses a lot of people, particularly when reading US-based cleaning pricing guides alongside Australian ones.
Australia uses square metres (sqm). All Australian Fair Work calculations, lease agreements, building certificates and cleaning quotes use square metres.
The United States uses square feet (sq ft). If you have read that commercial cleaning costs “50 cents to $1.50 per square foot,” that is a US figure.
The conversion: 1 square metre = 10.764 square feet
So a US rate of $0.80 per square foot converts to approximately $8.60 per square metre — which is significantly above Australian market rates and reflects the different labour cost environment in major US markets.
What this means in practice:
If a cleaning company quotes you per square foot in Australia, ask them to restate it per square metre. Per-square-foot quoting in Australia is unusual and sometimes a sign that the quote template is borrowed from overseas resources without local adjustment.
The Australian market standard for ongoing commercial cleaning is:
- Standard office: $2 to $4 per square metre per month
- Specialist environments: $4 to $8 per square metre per month
When Business Owners Pay Too Much (and When They Do Not Pay Enough)
Both problems are real. Here is how to identify which one you have.
Signs you are paying too much for office cleaning:
- You have never had a competing quote in more than 18 months
- Your invoice includes line items for tasks not in the original scope without prior discussion
- You are paying a day-rate premium for a service that runs on a simple fixed schedule
- You are in a long-term contract with no annual CPI review clause and rates have not changed since 2022
Signs you are not paying enough:
- A different cleaner shows up every week
- You find areas regularly missed that you have pointed out before
- The company cannot provide a certificate of currency for public liability insurance
- Your cleaner takes considerably less than the quoted time on every visit
- The cleaning company cannot answer basic questions about what products they use
In commercial cleaning, the cheapest quote often turns into the most expensive mistake you can make. The cost of switching cleaning providers — new inductions, transition management time, inconsistent results for the first six weeks, and the management overhead of chasing problems — adds up to far more than the saving per month on a cheaper quote.
A fair price in Adelaide in 2026 for a 150 sqm office cleaned five nights per week from a professionally structured cleaning company runs between $1,200 and $1,800 per month. If you are paying significantly below that, ask the questions in Section 8 of this guide before assuming you have found a bargain.
FAQs — How Much to Charge for Office Cleaning Australia
Q1. How much should I charge for an hour of office cleaning in Australia?
In Australia in 2026, the market rate for commercial office cleaning sits between $38 and $65 per cleaner per hour depending on your state, facility type and time of service. Adelaide and Brisbane sit at the lower end of this range. Sydney and Melbourne CBD sit at the higher end. Under the Cleaning Services Award 2020, the base rate for a commercial cleaner is approximately $28.25 per hour as of 2026. Your charge-out rate must cover this award wage plus superannuation at 11.5 percent, workers compensation insurance, public liability insurance, equipment, chemicals, travel, admin and a profit margin. A sustainable minimum charge-out rate in most Australian markets in 2026 sits between $52 and $68 per hour for a properly structured cleaning operation.
Q2. How much will it cost to clean a 3,000 square foot office?
A 3,000 square foot office equals approximately 279 square metres. In Adelaide in 2026, cleaning this size office on a daily schedule costs between $140 and $195 per visit, or $1,400 to $1,950 per month. On a three-nights-per-week schedule, expect $975 to $1,365 per month. These figures assume a standard open-plan office with two to three bathrooms, a kitchen and a meeting room. Specialist requirements — medical grade disinfection, after-hours access in a secured building, or specific compliance needs — push the price toward the higher end of the range.
Q3. How much does office cleaning cost in Sydney compared to Adelaide?
Based on current market rates across the Sydney metropolitan area, hourly rates for general office cleaning run AU$40 to $65 per hour. Small office under 100 sqm cleaned three times per week runs AU$300 to $600 per month. Medium office 100 to 500 sqm cleaned daily runs AU$800 to $2,500 per month. In Adelaide, the equivalent figures run approximately 10 to 15 percent below these Sydney benchmarks, reflecting lower operating costs and a less competitive labour market for cleaning staff.
Q4. How much do Airbnb hosts pay a cleaning company in Australia?
Airbnb hosts in Australia typically pay $80 to $200 for a one to two bedroom short-stay property and $150 to $380 for a three to four bedroom property per clean. This cleaning fee covers the full property reset including surface cleaning, linen change, supply restocking and a property condition inspection. Most professional Airbnb cleaning companies set a minimum fee of $80 to $100 regardless of property size to cover travel and setup. Hosts who try to negotiate below this minimum typically find they cannot retain a reliable cleaning provider.
Q5. What is the commercial cleaning rate per square metre in Australia?
Standard commercial and office cleaning in Australia commonly sits around $2 to $6 per square metre per month in 2026, depending on facility type, cleaning scope, frequency and service complexity. Standard open-plan offices sit at $2 to $3.50 per sqm per month on a daily or near-daily schedule. Medical, childcare and specialist environments sit at $4.50 to $6.50 per sqm per month. Per-square-metre rates decrease as office size increases because of efficiency gains on larger sites.
Q6. What does an office cleaning price list look like?
A comprehensive office cleaning price list for Australia in 2026 includes: standard daily office clean from $2 to $3.50 per sqm per month; carpet steam cleaning from $2.50 to $5.00 per sqm; commercial window cleaning from $60 to $95 per hour; end-of-lease deep clean from $5 to $12 per sqm; hard floor strip and seal from $7 to $14 per sqm; kitchen deep clean from $150 to $400 per session. Minimum call-out fees apply on most jobs — typically $60 to $90 — to cover travel and setup time regardless of job size.
Q7. What are the cleaning rates per hour under the Fair Work Act in Australia?
The Cleaning Services Award 2020 (MA000022) sets legal minimum wages for commercial cleaners in Australia. As of 2026, a Level 1 commercial cleaner earns a base rate of approximately $28.25 per hour on weekdays, $34.51 per hour on Saturdays (casual rate), and $49.44 per hour on Sundays. Public holidays attract $63.56 per hour. These are minimum wages — the actual charge-out rate to clients must be significantly higher to cover superannuation, workers compensation, insurance, equipment, chemicals, admin and a margin. Always verify current Award rates at fairwork.gov.au as the Commission updates them annually in July.
Q8. What is the difference between hourly pricing and per-square-metre pricing for office cleaning?
Hourly pricing charges you based on the actual time a cleaner spends in your office. It works well for small offices, variable-scope jobs and one-off cleans where the time is genuinely unpredictable. Per-square-metre pricing charges a fixed monthly amount based on your floor area and an agreed scope. Ongoing contracts reduce setup time and allow cleaners to maintain the space more efficiently. Office cleaning typically costs $1.50 to $3.50 per square metre depending on cleanliness level, amenities and frequency of service. For most ongoing commercial cleaning contracts, per-square-metre or fixed monthly pricing gives you more budget certainty and removes disputes about shift length.
Actionable Takeaways
Whether you are a business owner or a cleaner, here are the five things to act on today.
For business owners:
- Get three quotes for the same written scope — not verbal descriptions — and compare them line by line
- Ask every provider for a certificate of currency on their public liability insurance
- Ask whether their cleaners are direct employees or subcontractors
- Request a written cleaning plan before signing anything
- If you are paying below $80 per visit for a daily clean of a standard Adelaide office, ask what is being cut
For cleaners and cleaning business owners:
- Download the current Cleaning Services Award from fairwork.gov.au and calculate your true labour cost before quoting anything
- Never quote below $52 to $55 per hour in Adelaide — at that rate with all costs included, your margin is already thin
- Quote monthly fixed amounts for regular clients, not hourly — it stabilises your income and your clients’ budgets
- Set a minimum call-out fee of $70 to $90 and enforce it — small jobs below this are often not worth doing
- Review your rates every July when the Fair Work Commission updates Award rates — your labour cost increases whether or not you raise your prices
What Ms Clean Charges for Office Cleaning in Adelaide
We believe in being transparent about pricing because it helps you compare quotes fairly. Here is where Ms Clean sits in the Adelaide market.
Standard office cleaning adelaide: From $38 to $55 per hour, or from $2.80 per sqm per month for ongoing contracts
Minimum visit fee: $75 for any commercial job
Small office daily clean (under 150 sqm): From $90 per visit
Medical and specialist environments: Quoted individually after a free site assessment
After-hours scheduling: Standard across all contracts — the loading is built into the monthly fixed price, not added as a surprise line item
All Ms Clean quotes are fixed price, confirmed in writing before work begins. The figure we quote is the figure on your invoice.
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Address: 71 Alexandra Street, Prospect, SA-5082
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E-Mail: contact@msclean.au
