Introduction

If you've requested a cleaning quote in Perth recently and noticed the price is a little higher than it was last year, you're not imagining it, and it's not a company padding its margins. A real, industry-wide change has just taken effect, and it's worth understanding exactly what happened and why it matters, both as a customer and as someone who cares about who's actually cleaning your home or business.

From the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review lifted the <cite index="19-1">national minimum wage rate for award-reliant workers by 4.75%, a change reaching roughly 2.8 million workers across sectors including cleaning, security and support services</cite>. At the same time, the <cite index="15-1">minimum award wage rose so that the lowest ongoing rate under any award reached at least $1,004.90 per week, or $26.44 per hour, with an entry-level rate of at least $978.10 per week, or $25.74 per hour, for the first six months of employment</cite>. Here in Western Australia specifically, the <cite index="20-1">State Minimum Wage for employees 21 and over increased by 4.75% to $998.30 per week</cite>, with all rates of pay in WA awards rising by the same amount.

For an industry like cleaning, where labour is the overwhelming majority of the cost of delivering a service, that kind of increase flows through to pricing in a very direct way. This guide breaks down what actually changed, why it's a fair and necessary shift rather than an excuse to overcharge, and what it means for the quality and reliability of the cleaning service you book.

What Actually Changed in 2026

Two Separate Increases, Announced Together

The Fair Work Commission handed down its Annual Wage Review decision on 2 June 2026, and it's worth understanding that <cite index="19-4">it treated the safety-net national minimum wage and the modern award minimum rates as two separate questions, moving them by different amounts in the same review</cite>. The national minimum wage moved to $26.44 per hour, while award rates specifically — including the Cleaning Services Award — rose by 4.75%.

Cleaning Was One of the Sectors Most Directly Affected

This isn't a marginal change for the cleaning industry. Cleaning is specifically named among the sectors with a <cite index="19-2">higher-than-average share of award-reliant staff, meaning the increase reaches a large proportion of the workforce directly rather than through separate enterprise bargaining</cite>. In practical terms, that means most professional cleaners working under standard industry conditions saw a genuine pay rise this year, not a token adjustment.

This Follows a Pattern of Rising Award Costs

This year's increase isn't a one-off spike either. Industry reporting has noted that the <cite index="13-2">4.75% award rise for 2026 is larger than the 3.50% increase applied in 2025 and the 3.75% increase in 2024, though smaller than the 5.75% rise recorded in 2023</cite>. For cleaning businesses, that means labour costs have been climbing steadily for several years running, and pricing has needed to reflect that trend consistently rather than catching up all at once.

Why This Is Genuinely Good News for You as a Customer

You're Paying for a Fairly Treated Workforce

A cleaning industry built on underpayment isn't sustainable, and it isn't something most customers actually want to support once they understand what's happening behind a cheap quote. Wage compliance in this sector is a known issue — enough of one that industry guidance for workers specifically flags that <cite index="14-3">the cleaning industry is considered high-risk for sham contracting, where employees are misclassified as independent contractors to avoid paying proper entitlements</cite>. A price that reflects the correct, legally required wage is a price that reflects a business actually doing right by the people doing the work.

Fair Pay Supports Better Retention and Better Service

Cleaning businesses that pay fairly and consistently tend to retain experienced staff for longer, which directly benefits customers through more consistent quality, fewer scheduling gaps, and cleaners who genuinely know a property rather than a rotating door of new faces learning the job on your time.

The Alternative Is a Race to the Bottom

When a cleaning company keeps prices artificially low year after year despite rising award costs, something has to give — and it's rarely the business owner's margin. It's usually staff hours, quality of consumables, or, in the worst cases, wage compliance itself. A fair, transparent price increase in line with a legitimate wage ruling is a far better sign than a company that never seems to adjust its pricing at all.

 What This Means for Your Next Booking

Quotes Reflect Current Award Rates

Any professional cleaning company operating properly in 2026 should be pricing its services in line with current Cleaning Services Award rates, not last year's numbers. If a quote hasn't moved at all since before July 2026, it's worth asking how that business is managing its labour costs.

Transparency Matters More Than Ever

A reputable cleaning company should be able to explain a price change in plain terms, tied to a real industry change, rather than a vague reference to "rising costs." The wage review that took effect this year is public, documented, and applies across the entire industry, which is exactly why it's a straightforward thing for any business to explain honestly.

The Value of Working With an Established, Compliant Provider

Choosing a cleaning company with a stable, properly paid team also reduces risk on your end, particularly for commercial and strata clients who carry some exposure if a contracted service provider is later found to be non-compliant with award obligations.

 How SAS Cleaning Service Approaches This

We've built our pricing around properly paying our team in line with current award requirements, because a cleaning business that cuts corners on wages inevitably cuts corners somewhere a client can see too. When our rates reflect a wage review like this year's, it's because the people cleaning your home or business are being paid what they're legally and fairly owed — not because we're using a genuine industry change as cover for an unrelated price hike.

Book With a Team That Does It Properly

At SAS Cleaning Service, fair pay for our team isn't an afterthought, it's the foundation of how we price and deliver every job. If you'd like a transparent quote that reflects real, compliant industry rates, get in touch today.

📞 Phone: 0478 367 089 📧 Email: contact@sascleaningservice.com 📍 Location: 11/10 Morley Drive, Tuart Hill, WA 6060 — servicing Perth and all surrounding suburbs