Cleaner
Cleaners keep homes, offices and other buildings clean and hygienic, working through a routine set for each space they visit.
- Median salary
- $69,800
3.9%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 14,300
0.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +3.8%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 42/wk
+2h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Cleaners work in homes, offices, schools, hospitals and construction sites, usually following a routine set for each property or contract. Many work solo and move between several properties in a shift, often before a household wakes or after an office empties. The role sits close to housekeeping, but a housekeeper stays with one household or hotel while a cleaner generally moves between clients.
How much do cleaners earn?
The median full-time salary for a cleaner is $69,800 per annum, before tax, up $14,500 since 2018.
Pay depends heavily on who employs you and when you work: award rates under the Cleaning Services Award 2020 include penalty rates for early mornings, evenings, weekends and public holidays, and a lot of cleaning hours fall in those windows. Cleaners employed directly by a building, school or hospital often earn more than those subcontracted through a cleaning company, and security clearance or site allowances lift rates on some government contracts.
What does a cleaner do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Working through a checklist of bathrooms, kitchens, floors and surfaces within the time the job has been quoted at
- Loading and unloading equipment and chemicals between properties, often in your own car
- Mixing and using cleaning chemicals safely, with gloves and ventilation where a product needs them
- Noticing and reporting damage, pests or anything unusual to the client or site manager
- Resetting the plan when a property turns out dirtier or bigger than the booking suggested
What skills do cleaners need?
Employers look for cleaning and grounds maintenance, backed by Vacuum cleaner fluency and strong attention to detail.
Specialist skills
- Cleaning and grounds maintenance
Software and tools
- Vacuum cleaner
- Mop and bucket
- Microfibre cloths
- Cleaning chemical products
- Pressure washer
General skills
- Attention to detail
- Safety and compliance awareness
- Physical stamina and dexterity
- Customer service
- Problem solving
Is the job growing?
About 14,300 people work as cleaners in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 3.8% over the decade to 2035. That's modest growth: demand is steady rather than booming.
How do you become a cleaner?
Here's the path most cleaners take, step by step.
- 1Get a police check before you apply
Most cleaning jobs need no qualification to start, but employers and agencies ask for a national police check. Schools, childcare centres and aged care sites also require a Working with Children Check or NDIS worker screening, so it helps to have these in place before you look.
- 2Learn the chemicals and equipment on the job
Safe dilution, surface types and equipment handling are usually picked up in the first few weeks, with a site induction covering the products used on each contract. A short course in cleaning operations is worth it if you want to move into specialist work such as carpet, window or hospital cleaning.
- 3Add a White Card for construction sites
Cleaners working on building sites or after-hours construction jobs need the general construction induction card, and larger sites usually run their own induction as well.
- 4Consider a Certificate III in Cleaning Operations
This qualification covers supervision, chemical safety and specialist cleaning, and it is the usual credential employers look for in team leader and site supervisor roles.
- 5Go out on your own if you want to
Many experienced cleaners get an ABN, public liability insurance and their own client list, which pays more per job but brings quoting, invoicing, chasing payment and no paid leave.
Ready to apply as a cleaner?
Whether you're working toward becoming a cleaner or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a cleaner move to?
Moving into Aged Care Worker typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $21,800 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged Care Worker Cleaners bring practical hygiene and routine skills to aged care, though a certificate in individual support is needed.Known move | +$21,800 | 9% | reskill |
| Disability Support Worker Cleaners bring patience and practical support skills to disability work, but a certificate in disability support is required.Known move | +$21,800 | 9% | reskill |
| Caretaker Cleaners bring building upkeep and cleaning experience to caretaking, with a short course covering maintenance tasks. | +$2,100 | 58% | short course |
| Restoration Technician Cleaners bring cleaning and damage assessment skills to restoration work, though further training in restoration techniques is needed. | +$400 | 33% | reskill |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a cleaner?
The typical cleaner is 42 years old; 82% are men, 54% work full-time, and full-timers average 42 hours a week.
- 42
- Median age
- 18%
- Female share
- 54%
- Full-time
- +2h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a cleaner?
The work is physical and largely self-directed: you are given a list and a time and left to get through it, often alone. That suits people who like finishing something visible each day and prefer their own company to a team. The trade-off is that a tight quote sets a fast pace, and much of the work happens before most people arrive or after they leave.
What people like
- A visible result at the end of each job. A room that was grimy when you started is clean when you finish, and the difference is right there to see.
- Working on your own. Most cleaners set their own order of work within a property and have little supervision once they know the routine.
- Shift times that fit around other commitments. Early mornings, evenings and weekend work are common, which can suit study, school pick-ups or a second job.
- You can start without a qualification. Entry is open to people without a certificate or trade background, and a police check is often the only screening.
What people find hard
- The physical toll. Bending, scrubbing, vacuuming and carrying equipment shift after shift wears on knees, backs and wrists, and the effects build over years.
- Early starts and split shifts. Many contracts run before a site opens or after it closes, which can mean a 5am start or a long gap in the middle of the day.
- Time pressure when a quote is tight. The hours allowed for a job are set by the contract price, so a property that needs more work than expected has to be absorbed or rushed.
- Work clients rarely see happen. A good clean often passes without comment, and feedback tends to arrive only about the one thing that was missed.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ cleaners?
Administrative and Support Services employs the largest share of cleaners, followed by Other Services.
Top employing industries
- 1Administrative and Support Services
- 2Other Services
- 3Construction
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Year 12 or below | 54.9% | |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate III/IV | 24.6% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 6.8% | |
| Bachelor degree | 6.7% | |
| Postgraduate | 1.5% |
Will AI replace cleaners?
Cleaning is one of the least exposed jobs to AI and automation, because the work is hands on surfaces in real, messy spaces, and machines that can reliably handle a cluttered bathroom or an unfamiliar kitchen are still far off. Software does change the administration around the job: rostering and scheduling apps assign work and track arrival times, and inspection apps now record quality checks that a supervisor once did on paper.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Cleaning and sanitising bathrooms, kitchens and surfacesChoosing how hard to scrub a stained grout line or which cloth to use on a delicate surface is still done by hand.45%low
- Moving between jobs and keeping to the scheduleRostering and scheduling software now assigns the run and logs arrival times, so a late finish at one property shows up immediately.20%moderate
- Mixing chemicals safely and picking the right productReading a surface correctly and diluting a product for it stays with the cleaner, even though dose charts and safety data sheets are online.20%low
- Reporting damage, pests or low stockPhone photos and inspection apps have largely replaced paper forms for reporting a broken fitting or a run-out of supplies.15%moderate
Common questions about becoming a cleaner
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do cleaners earn?
Median full-time pay for cleaners is $69,800 per year before tax, though actual rates vary with the employer, the site and the shift. Penalty rates for evenings, weekends and public holidays make a real difference to what lands in your account each week.
How do you become a cleaner?
You can start without a qualification, and most employers ask for a national police check plus a Working with Children Check or NDIS worker screening for schools, childcare and care sites. Chemical safety and equipment are taught on the job, and a certificate in cleaning operations helps once you want a supervisory or specialist role.
Are cleaners in demand?
Cleaners are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 3.8% over the decade to 2035 over the decade to 2035. Demand follows buildings rather than the wider economy: new offices, schools, hospitals and aged care facilities all need ongoing cleaning, and most of it is contracted year after year.
Will AI and automation replace cleaners?
Not in any near sense. Handling a cluttered bathroom, a greasy kitchen or an unfamiliar house is the hardest part of the job to automate, and the role's exposure is rated low. What has changed is the software around the work, which now handles job scheduling, quotes and site inspection reports.
What else can a cleaner move into?
Caretaking uses the same building upkeep and cleaning experience and pays $2,100 more. Aged care work and disability support pay $21,800 more and draw on the same hygiene habits, but both need a Certificate III in Individual Support first. Many experienced cleaners instead go out on their own, quoting directly for domestic and commercial jobs, which is often where earnings grow.
Is cleaning work hard on your body?
It can be. Bending, scrubbing and carrying equipment through a full shift adds up, particularly on knees, back and wrists, so technique and the right equipment matter more the longer you stay in the job.
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