How to find a good cleaner when there's no licence register
House cleaning has no public licence register to search, so a website badge tells you less than a few minutes of your own checking.
It's worth doing. WA's Consumer Protection received complaints from 87 tenants about vacate cleaning over two years to August 2025, and most said the cleaner failed to use due care and skill. The WA Government's advice was to check the cleaner's ABN and references, and never pay upfront.
Four checks before you hire a house cleaner
Look up the ABN
ABN Lookup lets you search by ABN, ACN or name, see whether an ABN is active or cancelled, and see the business type and GST status. The name there should line up with the name on the quote.
Ask for the public liability certificate
business.gov.au says this insurance covers a business if someone dies, gets injured or has their property damaged because of its negligence. Read the business name and the dates on the certificate, and make sure it runs past the day of the clean.
Get the job in writing
Ask for what's covered room by room, and which extras (the oven, inside windows, carpets, walls) sit on top. For a move-out clean, get the re-clean terms too. Many businesses come back to fix items on the agent's list, but terms differ: some set a time limit, want the inspection report and cover only what was booked.
Ask who comes into your home
Ask whether the same person comes each time, whether they're staff or subcontractors, and what checks the business runs on its own people.
Asking a cleaning business about police checks
Ask the business what it does, how recent its checks are, and whether subcontractors go through the same process. A straight answer tells you plenty.
The AFP describes a National Police Certificate as a summary of a person's offender history in Australia. It can include court outcomes and pending charges, and depending on state or territory law it may leave out spent convictions. It belongs to the person it's about: the AFP says you can't apply for one for someone else without their consent.
Cleaner Scout finds a local cleaning business for the clean you need. The business does the work, so these questions go to them.
Before you book a cleaner, ask these
- What's your ABN, and what name is it under?
- Can you send me your public liability certificate?
- What does the quote cover, room by room?
- Which extras cost more, and what's the quote based on?
- What are your re-clean terms, in writing?
- Who will actually come, and will it be the same person each time?
- What checks do you run on the people you send?
- Can you give me a recent reference?
- How and when do I pay, and will I get a receipt?
Signs a cleaning business isn't right for you
- No ABN, a cancelled one, or a name that doesn't match the quote.
- A promise that you'll pass the inspection. Nobody but the agent or landlord decides that.
- Claims that an agent requires this particular cleaner. In Queensland, a lessor or agent can't require you to buy from a person they nominate.
- A request for full payment before the work is done.
- No written list of what's included.
- Fumigation offered as part of the clean. That's pest control, a job for a licensed pest controller.
Checks you can run on a cleaner yourself
Worth doing yourself
- Run the ABN through ABN Lookup.
- Read the dates on the insurance certificate.
- Ask for a reference, then use it.
- Check the work when it's done, before you pay the balance.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- A written list of what's covered.
- Their certificate, sent without any fuss.
- Clear answers about who's coming.
- A receipt. WA's government says to get one, especially for carpet cleaning.
If something goes wrong with a cleaning job
Under Australian consumer law, rights apply automatically to services: they must be provided with due care and skill, be fit for purpose, and be done within a reasonable time.
Put your complaint to the business in writing first. If that doesn't fix it, go to your state or territory consumer affairs agency. A written quote and a receipt make either step much easier.
How we'd find a cleaner: ABN first
Do the ABN check before the first phone call ends. It only takes a moment. Then ask for one thing in writing: the list of what's covered, with the extras and any re-clean terms. A business that answers those two without fuss has usually got the rest sorted, and if it won't, that's your answer.