Caretaker

A caretaker maintains the cleanliness, safety, and functionality of buildings and grounds in residential, commercial, or institutional settings. Working independently or in small teams, they perform routine cleaning, minor repairs, waste management, and security tasks to ensure the premises remain in good condition and compliant with health and safety standards.

Clean and sanitise common areas, corridors, bathrooms, kitchens, and floors using appropriate cleaning chemicals and equipment. Operate floor cleaning machines, vacuum cleaners, and pressure washers to maintain internal and external surfaces. Empty and manage bins, recycling, and waste disposal in accordance with local council regulations. Perform routine inspections of the building to identify maintenance issues, safety hazards, or damage and report to management. Carry out minor repairs and maintenance tasks including replacing light bulbs, fixing leaky taps, unclogging drains, and patching drywall. Maintain grounds including mowing lawns, sweeping paths, clearing leaves, and removing weeds from garden beds and paving. Lock and unlock buildings, monitor access points, and report suspicious activity or security breaches. Test and maintain portable fire extinguishers and check emergency equipment functionality.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate I or compulsory secondary education (ABS skill level 5). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

The pay ceiling is low and won't improve much with experience. You'll also be on your feet most of the day doing physical, repetitive work in all weather. Many positions are part-time or casual, so hours and income can be unpredictable. You're also often invisible to the people in the building, which some find isolating.

In practice, jobs concentrate in major cities across schools, hospitals, offices, and apartment buildings. Regional areas have fewer positions and often require you to travel between sites. Remote work isn't an option for this role.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 8991, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Canon lawcore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Record Managementcore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Accounting techniques
• Active Listening
• Apply conflict management
• Clean rooms
• Clean surfaces
• Conflict Resolution
• Digital Literacy
• Inventory Tracking
• Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
• Supplier Communication
• Team Collaboration
• Written Communication

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Caretaker workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026