How to start a painting business in Australia

Start a painting business in Australia by registering an ABN, checking whether your state requires a painter licence (mandatory in QLD, NSW, WA and the ACT, not required for standalone painting in VIC, SA, TAS or the NT), taking out public liability and workers compensation insurance, setting up a quoting and invoicing system, and building your first client pipeline through Google Business Profile and referrals. Most new painters fail not on the brushwork but on the admin: slow quoting, no follow-up, and licensing claims that do not match their state.

Updated 18/09/2026.

Do I need a painter licence, and which state am I in?

Australia has no national painter licence. Each state sets its own rules, and getting this wrong is one of the fastest ways to draw an Australian Consumer Law finding. The ACCC has said: If a representation is misleading, the fact that the person who made it did not intend to mislead is no defence.

Here is the licensing position for standalone painting work as at September 2026:

If your state requires a licence, you will generally need a Certificate III in Painting and Decorating (CPC30620) plus, in QLD, the Business Management Course for Trade Contractors. If your state does not require a licence, do not advertise as "licensed": claiming a licence that does not exist is misleading under ACL s18 (misleading or deceptive conduct). Instead, state what you do hold: your ABN, your insurance, and your qualification.

What insurances do I need before taking on work?

Insurance is not optional in practice, even where it is not strictly mandated by law. Most commercial sites, property managers and builders will not engage you without a current certificate of currency.

• Public liability. Covers damage to a client's property and injury to third parties. $5 million to $20 million is the typical range (industry standard for AU trades). Premiums for a sole-trader painter generally sit between $500 and $1,500 per year depending on turnover and claims history.
• Workers compensation. Mandatory in every state once you employ staff, including most working directors depending on your business structure. Each state runs its own scheme (icare in NSW, WorkSafe in VIC, WorkCover in QLD).
• Home warranty / statutory warranty. In NSW, home building compensation (HBC) cover is required for residential work over $20,000 (NSW Home Building Act 1989). In QLD, the QBCC Home Warranty Scheme covers insurable residential work above the threshold. In VIC, domestic building insurance kicks in above $16,000 (VBA domestic building insurance threshold), though standalone painting rarely triggers it.
• Tools and equipment cover. Optional but worth it. Spray rigs, scaffolding sets and vehicle fit-outs add up quickly.

How do I register my painting business?

The registration steps are the same for most trades. Work through them in order:

1. Apply for an ABN through the Australian Business Register (free, takes minutes).
2. Register for GST if your turnover will exceed $75,000 per year (the GST registration threshold, ATO), or register voluntarily to claim input credits on paint and materials.
3. Open a separate business bank account. Mixing personal and business funds makes BAS time painful and creates audit risk.
4. Apply for your state painter licence or registration where required (see the table above).
5. Set up your accounting software. Xero and MYOB are the two most common among Australian tradies. Both integrate with job management apps and handle GST, BAS and payroll.

If you plan to employ staff, you also need to:

• Register for PAYG withholding with the ATO.
• Set up superannuation. The superannuation guarantee rate is 12% of ordinary time earnings, effective from 01/07/2025 (ATO). From 01/07/2026, Payday Super requires SG to be paid each payday rather than quarterly.
• Register for workers compensation in your state.
• Lodge TPAR (Taxable Payments Annual Report) if you pay subcontractors for building and construction services. This is mandatory and the ATO data-matches it.

What quoting and invoicing system should I use from day one?

Most painting businesses start with handwritten quotes or a Word template. That works until you are juggling five jobs and realise you quoted one of them below cost. A structured quoting system pays for itself on the second job.

The two most common options for Australian painters:

• Tradify. Room-by-room quoting templates with pre-loaded labour rates, materials and markup. Quote on site in under five minutes. Handles job scheduling, timesheets and invoicing with Xero/MYOB sync.
• ServiceM8. Full job management: quoting, scheduling, dispatch, photo capture, invoice and payment. Strong for crews doing residential and light commercial. AI quoting features added recently.

Whichever you choose, build a per-square-metre rate card from your own completed jobs so every quote is consistent. For a detailed breakdown, see our guide to pricing a painting job.

How do I get my first painting clients?

A new painting business without a reputation needs to win trust fast. The three highest-return channels for a new operator:

1. Google Business Profile. Free, local, and the first place most homeowners check. Upload finished-job photos (before and after shots of the same wall or room), list every suburb you serve, and ask every happy client for a review. A profile with ten real reviews will outrank a paid ad for most local painting searches.
2. Referrals from other trades. Builders, plasterers and real estate agents need painters regularly. Introduce yourself, do one job well, and the referrals compound.
3. Speed of response. Businesses that respond within one hour are nearly seven times more likely to qualify a lead than those that wait longer (Harvard Business Review, 2011). Yet roughly half of all tradies never follow up a quote even once (ServiceScale). Reply fast, follow up at 48 hours and again at seven days, and you will win work that other painters leave on the table.

For more detail on building a pipeline, see our guide to getting more painting jobs.

What compliance traps catch new painting businesses?

The three mistakes that draw regulatory attention fastest:

• Claiming "licensed and insured" in the wrong state. If your state has no painter licence, the claim is misleading under ACL s18. ACL civil penalties for corporations can reach the greater of $100 million, three times the benefit obtained, or 30% of adjusted turnover for the breach period (ACCC, for conduct on or after 28/03/2026). For individuals, the statutory maximum is up to $2.5 million per contravention (ACL, ACCC). These are statutory maxima for context, not predictions. The point is not to scare you: it is that getting your public claims right before you advertise is far cheaper than fixing them after a complaint.
• Ignoring lead paint on older homes. Any home built before 1997 may contain lead paint (lead content capped at 0.1% from 1997; pre-1970 homes may contain up to 50% lead by weight in paint layers) (AS/NZS 4361.2:2017). Dry abrasive blasting and dry mechanical sanding of lead-painted surfaces are prohibited. Use wet methods, HEPA-filtered vacuums and the appropriate respiratory protective equipment. Dispose of lead-contaminated waste through your state EPA's hazardous-waste pathway or through Paintback.
• No written scope or variation process. A verbal agreement that changes mid-job is where disputes start. Put the scope in writing (surfaces, coats, paint brand, prep included, exclusions), and require written sign-off for any variation. This protects both you and the client under the ACL consumer guarantees.

What does a typical first-year budget look like?

A sole-trader painting business can start lean. Here is a directional budget for the first year, excluding paint and materials (which you quote per job):

Total first-year outlay (excluding vehicle and job materials) sits roughly between $3,500 and $9,000 for a sole trader starting with basic equipment (sum of the ranges above, rounded). The variable is the vehicle: if you already have a suitable van or ute, the startup cost drops significantly.

When should I bring on help?

Most painters start solo and bring on a labourer or apprentice when they are consistently booked two to three weeks ahead. Before you hire, make sure:

• Your quoting covers the extra cost. An employee's true cost is their wage plus 12% superannuation (ATO, from 01/07/2025), workers compensation premium, leave entitlements and downtime. A common mistake is quoting at the same rate and absorbing the difference.
• Your systems can handle two people. If you are still running quotes from your phone's notes app, adding a second person doubles the chaos. Get your quoting and scheduling system working before you scale.
• You understand the sham-contracting line. Paying someone on an ABN who works set hours, uses your gear and takes no financial risk is likely sham contracting, not genuine subcontracting. The ATO and Fair Work both actively enforce this. If the relationship looks like employment, structure it as employment.

Where to next?

The painting is the skill. The business is the system around it: licensing that matches your state, insurance that is current, quotes that price the prep, and follow-up that does not rely on memory. Get those right and the work compounds.

If you want help building the quoting, follow-up and job management system around your painting business, book a free 15-minute discovery call and we will walk through what fits.