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Setting up your own hair salon has the potential to be a rewarding business. However, it’s essential to follow correct regulations to make sure your business is compliant and well-protected.
In this article, we’ll take a look at Queenslands hairdressing regulations in 2025 (if your hairdressing business operates in NSW, the laws will be slightly different).
We’ll also look into the legal aspects of owning your own hairdressing salon such as Workplace Health and Safety, liabilities and legal documentation.
Keep reading to find out more.
How To Set Up A Hair Salon In Queensland
Setting up your own salon requires some thought and careful planning. Here are some ideas on getting started:
- Create a business plan that addresses future goals, budget, business structure, marketing any anything else important
- Register your business and business name, then open up a separate bank account for your business
- Apply for relevant taxes
- Determine a location for your salon (you can have a traditional salon, open a salon in your home or have a mobile salon).
- Get any building approvals so you can begin designing and constructing you salon
- Market your salon so people can hear about it
What Are The Hairdressing Laws And Regulations In QLD?
In Queensland, there is a strong emphasis on salons maintaining hygienic and safe practices for every client. Hairdressers are required to comply with the Public Health (Infection Control for Personal Appearance Services) Act 2003.
Additionally, the Infection Control Guidelines for Personal Appearance Services 2012 regulate how hairdressing businesses must operate to ensure a safe experience for clients.
We recommend familiarising yourself with these pieces of legislation. If you have any questions, our legal experts are happy to help!
What Is A Higher Risk Service?
A high-risk service is any activity that involves skin penetration, such as tattooing. Additional licensing is required for services that fall into the high-risk category. However, hairdressing currently does not fall under this category.
If your salon is considering offering services that might be classified as high-risk, we recommend contacting the relevant authorities for further information.
What Does The Australian Consumer Law Say?
TThe Australian Consumer Law (ACL) protects consumers who purchase goods or hire services. The law aims to ensure that consumers are treated fairly, addressing the common imbalance of power between businesses and consumers.
Under the ACL, businesses owe certain duties to consumers. Specifically, service providers must:
- Provide services with care and skill.
- Ensure the service is fit for the specified purpose.
- Deliver the service within a reasonable time if no specific timeframe has been agreed upon.
Consumers have the right to seek remedies if they believe their rights have been violated. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand your obligations and ensure compliance with these laws.
How Can I Comply With These Laws?
Compliance with these laws needs to be embedded into your practices. After all, you don’t want customers getting sick after visiting your store. Here are some practical steps to ensure your salon remains compliant:
Implement Hygiene Protocols: Establish and maintain hygiene practices in your salon. This includes the proper sterilisation of tools, the regular cleaning of workspaces and the safe disposal of waste.
Train Your Staff: Provide ongoing training for your staff on infection control procedures and the importance of maintaining high standards of hygiene. This ensures everyone in your salon understands their role in keeping clients safe.
Conduct Regular Inspections: Schedule routine inspections of your salon to ensure compliance with health and safety standards. This proactive approach helps identify potential issues before they become significant problems.
Document Your Procedures: Keep detailed records of your salon’s hygiene practices, staff training sessions, and inspections. Documentation serves as evidence of your compliance and can be helpful if ever required to demonstrate your salon’s commitment to safety.
Engage with Regulatory Bodies: Maintain open communication with relevant authorities, such as local councils or health departments. They can offer guidance and updates on any changes in the law that might affect your business.
Do I Need A Licence For My Hairdressing Business?
You don’t need a specific licence to practise hairdressing in Queensland. However, you are required to be compliant with any legislation that impacts your profession.
Additionally, you may wish to get training to be a hairdresser. Again, there is no legal requirement for this. However, many hairdressers either complete a formal training course or work as apprentices until they are considered a hairdressing professional.
How To Set Up A Hair Salon In Your Home
Hairdressing businesses owners often like to set their salon up at home. It’s convenient and they can be in charge of their availability. If your local zoning allows it, then you may want to consider setting up a hair salon at home.
Work Health And Safety
It’s important to keep in mind that Workplace Health and Safety obligations apply to businesses that operate from home, as well. It is still considered a place of business, so it must adhere to all the compliance procedures a business in a traditionally commercial location would.
As a result, Workplace Health and Safety practices are still required to be upheld. As the owner of the business it is your duty to ensure your salon is a safe place for both yourself and any employees you hire. Managing Workplace Health and Safety can take the form of:
- Hiring someone to specifically oversea workplace health and safety
- Talking to employees individually so they can raise any concerns
- Ensuring the environment is free of any hazards
- Conducting training practices related to healthy and safe practices
- Making sure employees have the correct safety equipment i.e gloves
How Can I Limit My Liability For My Hairdressing Business?
Hairdressers have a duty of care towards their customers, and as the owner of the business, this liability will fall on you. Therefore, it’s important to think about ways to limit your liability in case something doesn’t go the way it was intended to.
Adding an exclusion of liability clause in your agreements with consumers can exclude yourself from being legally responsible when something unforeseen happens. However, this does not cover acts that were negligent to the customer, harmful, fraudulent or illegal in any other way.
The same applies for limitation of liability clauses. Inserting a limitation of liability clause into your contracts can work to place a cap on the amount of damages payable if you are found to be liable. However, this clause cannot come into effect if the liability has stemmed from a breach of regulations.
What Documents Do I Need For A Hairdressing Business?
Legal documentation is also a necessary part of running any successful business venture as they not only cement your relationship with others, but also work to protect your business.
Employment Agreement
As the owner of a hairdressing business, you may consider hiring employees for the business. This is a great way to keep expanding your business and serve more customers.
However, it’s crucial to have a written Employment Agreement with your staff. An Employment Agreement includes matters such as pay, employment obligations, leave, entitlements termination and anything important to your relationship to make sure everyone knows where they stand.
Rent-A Chair Agreement
A Rent-A-Chair Agreement is another way to utilise the benefits of hiring staff without hiring an internal employee. Rent-a-chair employees aren’t internal employees of the salon. Rather, they are contractors who pay a fee or commission from their earnings to operate in your salon (so, it’s important to know the difference between an employee and contractor).
It’s crucial that the agreement between you and your rent-a-chair employee reflects the contractual nature of their hiring. Otherwise, you could end up owing employee entitlements to them.
Do I Need Terms And Conditions For My Hairdressing Business?
If your business has an online presence, it’s important to have good Terms and Conditions.
People who visit your website need to agree to your terms before they can further engage with your business. This means you have the capacity to regulate how people use your site and limit liability, which minimises the risk of loss or damage.
A website’s terms and conditions can also address payment and booking rules you might have in place (it can be catered to your businesses).
Do I Need Anything Else?
Finally, make sure you have a marketing plan for your business. It would be a shame to go through all the work of opening up a salon and no one hearing about it – get the word out there! You can usually use social media or paid advertisements to reach a market base.
The online world is a great tool for marketing and making connections. However, it can have some downsides. Be prepared for instances such as bad reviews or system crashes so you’ll be equipped to handle them if they come around.
Need Help Starting A Hairdressing Salon In Queensland?
Naturally, starting a business involves a lot of careful planning and a hairdressing business is no different. With the right kind of help, the process can be smooth and you can be ready to start serving clients.
To summarise what we’ve discussed:
- Make a business plan for you hairdressing business
- Register your business and apply for all the relevant tax obligations
- Get familiar with all the legislation that applies to your professional and practice strict compliance
- If you’re setting up a home salon, make sure workplace health and safety is still a priority
- Consider and plan for any liabilities
- Have all necessary legal documents in order
- Market your business to get the word out there
If you would like a consultation setting up a hair salon, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.
We'll get back to you within 1 business day.