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Queensland government tenders for cleaning contractors
School, hospital and council cleaning contracts across Queensland, and the labour costing discipline that keeps them profitable.
Queensland tenders a large and geographically dispersed cleaning market. State schools exist in every town, Queensland Health operates hospitals across sixteen hospital and health services, and 77 councils maintain libraries, aquatic centres, depots and public amenities over enormous areas. That dispersion is the defining commercial feature: a contract that looks straightforward on paper may span several hundred kilometres, and the operators who win sustainably are the ones who price supervision and travel honestly rather than assuming metropolitan productivity rates apply everywhere.
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Where QLD cleaning tenders are advertised
QTenders carries state agency cleaning including school cleaning, Queensland Health facility cleaning and government office accommodation. Queensland school cleaning has historically involved significant direct employment alongside contracted arrangements, so read the specification carefully to understand the actual scope on offer. Councils tender independently — Brisbane City Council, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Cairns and Toowoomba all run separate processes, with smaller sites going out as quotations through VendorPanel. Commonwealth office and Defence base cleaning appears on AusTender. Retenders cluster around the end of financial year.
The primary portal is QTenders. You can also see what is currently open across the state on our QLD tender feed, or narrow it to your trade on the cleaning contractors feed. If you would rather not check portals at all, our guide to finding government tenders covers every jurisdiction and how to watch them together.
What you need to bid
These are the credentials QLD buyers check before they assess anything else. A gap here is a compliance failure, not a scoring deduction — it removes your bid regardless of price.
- Public liability insurance, typically $10m for council sites and $20m for health and education facilities
- Workers compensation through WorkCover Queensland covering all staff including casuals
- Demonstrated compliance with the Cleaning Services Award 2020 including penalty rates and correct classifications
- Blue Cards for all staff attending schools, childcare and youth facilities
- National police checks for staff in health, court and correctional facilities
- A documented WHS system with chemical registers and safety data sheets
- Evidence of supervision capacity proportionate to the geographic spread of the contract
Our guides on ABNs and licences for tenders and tender insurance requirements go through each of these in detail, including how long they take to obtain.
The work that actually comes up
The contracts below recur year after year in Queensland. Knowing the pattern tells you which capability to evidence in your capability statement.
- State school cleaning contracts, often bundled by region or district
- Hospital and health service cleaning with infection control specifications
- Council libraries, aquatic centres, depots and public amenities cleaning
- Government office accommodation and courthouse cleaning
- Periodic works including carpet extraction, hard floor treatment and high-level cleaning
Pricing QLD cleaning tenders
Build the roster first, then the price. Apply correct Cleaning Services Award classifications with weekend, evening and public holiday penalties, add superannuation, leave, workers compensation and payroll tax, then supervision, consumables and equipment before margin. In Queensland the additional variable is distance: multi-site regional contracts need travel time between sites costed as productive-hour loss, and supervision visits budgeted realistically. Long contract terms are common, so an escalation mechanism tied to award movements is essential rather than optional.
For the full method — cost build-up, overhead recovery, contingency and how to sanity-check against published award values — see how to price a tender and the tender response checklist. Before you price anything, run the bid/no-bid scorecard so you are only pricing work worth winning.
Other trades in QLD
Related guides
Live tender feeds
Frequently asked questions
How is Queensland state school cleaning procured?+
Arrangements vary and have historically included both direct employment and contracted services, so read each specification carefully rather than assuming a standard model. Where cleaning is contracted, packages are commonly bundled by region or district, making them larger than single-site operators expect and often better suited to subcontracting into a head contractor.
Do Queensland cleaning staff need Blue Cards?+
Yes for schools, childcare and youth facilities — Queensland's Blue Card system applies to all attending staff. Health, court and correctional sites generally require national police checks instead. Processing takes time, so build screening lead time into your mobilisation plan and the cost into your labour model.
How does distance affect Queensland cleaning tender pricing?+
Significantly. A regional contract can span hundreds of kilometres between sites, which converts travel into unproductive paid hours and makes supervision expensive. Price inter-site travel as lost productive time, budget genuine supervision visit frequency, and include vehicle costs. Contracts priced on metropolitan productivity assumptions routinely fail in regional Queensland.
What insurance do Queensland government cleaning contracts require?+
Public liability of $10m is typical for council work, rising to $20m for health and education sites. Workers compensation through WorkCover Queensland is mandatory and must cover casual staff. Check the insurance schedule during the tender period so your broker has time to adjust limits if required.
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