Have you ever gone down a path with full conviction... only to stop and ask yourself:
Was I wrong?
Late last year, I heard something that I genuinely believed would change everything. The government had made it a criminal offence to underpay someone—not just illegal, criminal.
My first thought was: This is going to blow the commercial cleaning industry wide open.
Surely this would finally be the wake-up call the industry and the clients needed. Surely people would stop and say, “Hang on, we’ve got to do better.” Why such a strong reaction? Because the commercial cleaning industry has a dirty secret—sham contracting.
For those unfamiliar with the term, sham contracting is when a business tries to pass off a worker who should be an employee as an independent contractor. It’s cheaper for the company—no super, no leave, no entitlements—but it’s completely illegal when misused. And in our industry, it’s rampant. You’ll find it hidden behind layers of subcontracting, where a cleaning company wins a contract and then outsources the actual work to smaller operators who might do the same again and again and again....
The result? Cleaners who are underpaid, unsupported, mistreated, and often invisible to the very clients relying on them.
That’s why I thought this new law would be a line in the sand.
A clear message: This ends now.
Now, as we end the first quarter of 2025, I find myself looking around thinking...
Has anything really changed?
Was I wrong?
Let me be clear: I never thought this law would drop like a bomb and immediately level the industry. But I did believe it would be a turning point. That it would finally force people to reckon with their business practices—especially sham contracting.
And while it’s early days, the change I hoped for hasn’t exactly swept through.
Not yet, anyway.
But I have seen glimpses.
I've seen moments where people who knew the system was broken—who knew sham contracting was not only unethical but risky—chose not to act until it affected them directly.
Take this very large civil engineering company. We spoke with someone there who agreed wholeheartedly that their current cleaning company was using sham contractors and this was the cause of the cleaning issues they were experiencing. She took it to the board. She pushed hard to switch to us, even though we were the more expensive option—because it was the right thing to do.
The board didn’t budge.
And then... the cleaners stole from them
Now it was personal.
Now it mattered.
Now they were ready to change.
Or another case I’m working on right now: a client confused about why their team went out to market. Turns out they were getting quotes 30–40% cheaper than ours, so now the question, who they are using and what has been asked?
So why was I not surprised to find out that of course the other quotes were cheaper?
Lucky for me, at least at this stage, my contact is asking me the right questions.
And I hope I can answer them.
Some questions I will try to answer for him are:
Are these other companies offering better value or will they be cutting corners? In other words, are we comparing Apples with Apples or Apples with Sausages?
Do the other companies have employees or contractors? Will they be using sham contracting? Even if there are using employees, will they be supplying vetted cleaners? (Remember the theft story above.) Are the cleaners willing to back up the service? Are they triple ISO certified? Can they prove they do not partake in sham contracting? Do they do regular audits or do they just say they do?
The one thing I do know, is they’re throwing in “free” toilet paper and hand towels—but we all know nothing is free. I can almost guarantee that the toilet paper and hand towel they will be supplying has some sort of Modern Slavery in the supply chain.
Sure, it looks like a bargain upfront. Until something goes wrong. Until someone steals. Until someone slips and there’s no insurance. Until you realise the people cleaning your workplace are strangers—unvetted, unaccountable, and sometimes not even working legally.
That’s when the price (the real price) becomes clear.
Yes, there can be theft. Yes, there can be underpayment but what happens when something goes wrong? Will you be left, like the newly acquired client of In-Tec, totally exposed?
We were recently engaged by one of the three largest aged care providers in Queensland.
You want to know why?
Because they’re done with subcontractors. They’re done with not knowing who’s on-site. They’re tired of trying to figure out who’s accountable when something goes wrong. When I spoke with their procurement manager and said, “We only have employees,” he just nodded. He didn’t even try to argue. He already knew what was the solution.
However, he just didn’t know that a cleaning company that operated like this still existed.
Because here’s the truth: only about 8% of our industry employs their cleaners directly. The rest? Layers of subcontracting. Sham contracting. Shifting accountability.
So, back to the question: Was I wrong?
Maybe not.
Maybe the law alone won’t fix it
But it’s one step.
Maybe clients won’t act until they’re affected. But once they are, they don’t go back. Maybe what we need isn’t an explosion—but a slow-burning fire of accountability, one that forces this industry to face the truth. Because at the end of the day, I don’t just want to say we don’t sham contract.
I want to prove it.
That’s why we have undergone a full sham contracting audit—not because we’re required to, but because we wanted to show our clients, our team, and the industry that we’re not just talking the talk. We’re doing the work.
And if you're a business owner, a new operator to our amazing industry, reading this—especially a new one—let me say this to you:
- You don’t have to do it the wrong way.
- You don’t have to subcontract.
- You don’t have to exploit your workers.
- You can do the right thing and still build a successful business.
Yes, it’s harder. And I will stand against all practices that are illegal even if:
Self-defence even when you're guaranteed to fail is justified...because the resistance of evil is good in and of itself.
But it's possible.
I’m living proof.
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