How to win work from schools

Who they are

Schools are some of the steadiest buyers in any suburb, because the buildings, ovals and computers need looking after whether enrolments go up or down. There are three kinds and they buy in different ways. State schools belong to the state education department and follow its purchasing rules. Most Catholic schools sit inside a diocesan system, such as Brisbane Catholic Education, which checks suppliers centrally for all its schools. Independent schools are run by their own boards and set their own rules.

The person you want is usually the business manager. In a Queensland state school the business manager reports to the principal and looks after the budget, facilities projects and dealings with outside contractors. Independent schools often have a business manager or bursar doing much the same job, sometimes with a facilities manager working under them. A small primary school may have neither, and then the principal or the office manager makes the call.

Cleaners, landscapers and maintenance trades win most of the regular work. The bigger jobs, like repaints, line marking and floor resealing, tend to land in the school holidays when the grounds are empty.

Getting on their list

State schools in Queensland follow the department's purchasing and procurement procedure. The first stop is a supply arrangement, which is a pre-approved group of suppliers set up by the department or the Queensland Government, and where an arrangement is mandatory the school has to use it. Where no suitable arrangement exists, the school needs at least one quote up to $10,000, two written quotes from $10,001 to $20,000 and three written quotes from $20,001 to $250,000, all exclusive of GST. So on most everyday jobs a small local business can quote directly, and on anything over $10,000 the school needs other businesses to quote against, which is a fair reason for it to welcome a new name. Building and maintenance work has an extra step, because the school has to talk to the department's regional infrastructure team first.

Other states run more of it centrally. From 2026 the NSW Department of Education manages the whole-of-government cleaning contracts for public schools, cleaners in the Hunter and Central Coast are being moved onto the department's payroll, and specialist work like carpet and high-access window cleaning is contracted separately. The government said that last change would open more work to local businesses, particularly in regional NSW.

Catholic systems tend to check suppliers once for all their schools. Brisbane Catholic Education verifies suppliers through a platform called Felix, runs purchasing through a buying platform and verifies bank details before it pays, and its checks cover child safety, insurance and work health and safety. Independent schools are the simplest to approach because each one decides for itself, but that also means each has its own forms. The guide to preferred supplier lists covers the paperwork side.

Working with children checks depend on your state and on the work. In Queensland a school cleaner or groundskeeper needs a blue card, and so does a business providing services at a school while children are present, but most tradespeople doing repairs with only incidental contact with students don't. Working inside an outside school hours care service or a state kindergarten on the school site can change that, so ask where you'll be working. In NSW the Office of the Children's Guardian says a tradesperson who only meets children incidentally doesn't need a check, and it lists cleaning services to a school as not needing one either. In WA the education department says contractors who don't need contact with children to do their job don't need a check, but contractors who attend one school regularly and become known to the children may.