12/04/2026
This is copied from a fellow cleaning business, it explains the cleaning industry perfectly! Its a long read, but very illuminating for those unaware or frustrated as to why they can't keep a cleaner. 😉
Let’s talk about cleaning.
Not the kind you say you’re going to do on a Sunday… and then spend most of the time on your phone crafting the perfect “cleaning post” while casually running the Dyson around.
Now, if you’ve ever hired a cleaner in Australia, there is a very good chance you’ve said or at least thought this sentence:
“$45 an hour? That’s pretty good money.”
And that… is what I’d call:
The $45 an hour myth.
Because here’s the thing. Cleaning is one of the most important jobs in society. It keeps homes hygienic, Workplaces safe
But more than that…
Entire leaps in civilisation have come off the back of cleaning systems. Clean drinking water. Sewerage systems. Waste removal. Food safety regulations. Ventilation and exhaust systems.
Human progress didn’t just come from invention.
It came from figuring out how to deal with the mess we created along the way.
And yet…
Cleaning is treated with the same level of respect as the Terms and Conditions box. You know it matters… but you’re absolutely not engaging with it properly.
Now part of the confusion comes from the fact that cleaning is one industry, but it’s split into very different sectors.
Residential. Commercial. Specialist work like forensic or biohazard. And everything in between.
And within those sectors, you’ve got completely different business models all competing side by side.
Cash in hand operators. Sham contractors. True independents. Legitimate employee based businesses.
All offering “cleaning”… but operating under completely different rules. Which means customers are comparing apples to oranges to something that may or may not be legally employed.
Let’s talk about sham contracting for a second.
This is where someone is labelled a contractor… but treated like an employee.
Which is a bit like putting your dog in the front seat to use the T2 transit lane. Sure, he’s wearing sunglasses. Sure, he has the seatbelt on. But the gig is up the moment the officer asks you to roll the window down no matter how much of a goodboi he is.
These workers often have set hours, wear uniforms, follow company systems… But somehow… No leave. No protections. And superannuation that is non existent.
Because in these setups, the business keeps the control and the worker carries all the responsibility.
Under the Cleaning Services Award, entry level casual cleaners are sitting in the low 30s per hour plus super.
And that's with equipment, travel, insurance and admin provided.
Meanwhile, enforcement bodies are still chasing underpayment cases across the industry, particularly in large contract environments.
So when someone says “$45 an hour sounds generous…”
You’re already standing inside the $45 an hour myth.
Because cleaning is hard.
Not “I did a Pilates class once” hard.
More like repetitive strain, chemical exposure, constant physical movement and a completely different environment every single job.
And on top of that… people management! Shout out to anyone in HR, because if you think managing personalities in an office is tough... Try doing it across multiple homes, clients, standards, preferences and expectations…
Where every job comes with its own version of “just one quick thing while you’re here.”
Cleaning isn’t just physical work.
It’s operational. It’s interpersonal. It’s situational awareness on repeat. It’s a constantly shifting environment where the variables change faster than the tools in your hand.
Now let’s come back to it.
The $45 an hour myth.
Let’s say a legitimate cleaning operator charges $45 an hour.
In most industries, we accept profit as part of the deal. You look at companies on the ASX posting record profits, expanding margins, rewarding shareholders…
And everyone nods along like yes, this is business.
But when it comes to a cleaner…
Suddenly the expectation is they should be in it for the love of the game. No margin. No buffer. No room to build something sustainable.
Just… passion.
Which is a lovely idea.
Until you remember the entire reason cleaners exist is because no one actually wants to bloody do it.
Now take that $45 and start subtracting.
Travel time. Fuel. Equipment. Insurance. Admin. Gaps between jobs. Tax.
At that point, they are not earning minimum wage. They are earning below it. While also carrying the full weight of running a business.
Which is remarkable.
In the same way juggling knives is remarkable.
A great act while it’s running smoothly…
Until it takes your hand off…
And now you’re working twice as hard and only the truly sick people stay engaged.
Now let’s talk about customers.
Because customers are not the core problem.
But as the hospitality industry likes to say…
The problem with the people industry… is people.
Cleaning is subjective.
You’ve got pride, ego, blind spots, and the classic “it’s not that bad.”
No one sees their own home the way someone else does.
It’s like how your nose is in your field of view 100% of the time but your brain stops seeing it… but for grime.
Then you get expectation creep.
“Oh it’s just a quick clean.”
Which somehow includes kitchen, bathrooms, floors, dusting, edges and “while you’re there, could you just do the windows.”
That’s not a quick clean.
That’s a compressed full service operation.
And occasionally… you walk into something even more interesting.
A house full of fragile, high value items…
Positioned in ways that can only be described as structurally optimistic. Where one misplaced elbow could wipe out the GDP of a small island nation.
And if something goes wrong… Suddenly we’re questioning the value of the cleaning service, Not the decision to build a glassware Jenga tower in a high traffic area.
And sitting underneath all of this…
Is the $45 an hour myth.
Cleaning also has a strange problem.
There is no universal definition of clean.
Everyone thinks they agree…
Until you actually test it.
One person’s clean is another person’s missed a spot.
One client wants hotel presentation.
Another is just happy the squashed geckos are gone from the kitchen window sill.
Which is not a metric.
That’s a subjective feeling.
Then there’s risk.
Because many arrangements lack insurance, vetting and accountability.
If something goes wrong, everyone starts pointing at each other like a Spider-Man meme made entirely of invoices.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth.
Cleaning is not easily a lifelong career.
It’s physically demanding.
More like a trade or even an athletic career.
Except without structured support, long term planning or a post career pathway. No sponsorships. No commentary team to join.
Just knees that don’t work anymore.
And people wonder why it’s so hard to find…
And keep…
A good cleaner.
So when people say “it’s just $45 an hour”…
What they’re often referencing is what they’ve seen online.
And as we all know, social media is where reality goes to put on a costume. Everyone’s fully booked. Everyone’s thriving. Everyone’s making great money.
And none of it quite adds up.
Because underneath that… There’s a labour reality.
Where many workers coming from different economic conditions look at $45 Australian dollars and convert it back to their home currency.
And in that moment, it feels like a lot.
But what gets lost is the cost of operating within the Australian economy.
The cost of living. The cost of running a business. The cost of sustainability and god forbid, a little profit. So while it might feel like they’re getting ahead… They’re often unknowingly undercutting themselves…
Until the reality catches up. And by then… It’s too late.
So let’s bring it back.
“$45 an hour sounds fair.”
It’s not malicious. But it is built on an incomplete picture.
Because a cleaner, an actual career cleaner, is not just selling time.
They’re selling skill, physical output, systems, risk and consistency.
And something else we don’t talk about enough…
Reliability in a completely unreliable environment.
And here’s the kicker.
We are watching AI come for admin, marketing and finance roles in real time.
But every time we try to automate cleaning…
We get a robot that at best wanders off like a confused chicken.
And at worst sets the house on fire while waving a knife at you for trying to put it out.
Cleaning is human. Mess is human. And the ability to walk into chaos and make it feel under control again…
Is deeply, uniquely human.
So the next time you hear it…
The $45 an hour myth.
Just remember…
It’s not about whether $45 sounds fair.
It’s about whether you actually understand what you’re asking someone to do for it.
Because if civilization falls apart tomorrow…
It won’t be because we ran out of technology.
It’ll be because we ran out of people to clean the bloody thing.
