Running a business from home is one of the easiest ways to start. There is no rent, no commute and no lease to sign. But there is one problem most people only notice later: your home address starts turning up in places you never meant it to, from invoices and your website to public business registers.
This guide covers the NSW planning rules for a home based business, the insurance questions to ask, and where your address really ends up. It also explains what a separate business address can fix, and what it can’t.
Do You Need Council Approval for a Home Based Business in NSW?
Often, no. NSW has a state planning policy, the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008, that lets many home businesses run as “exempt development”. Exempt development does not need planning or building approval, as long as you meet the rules.
According to the NSW Government’s home-based enterprises fact sheet, a dwelling may be used for a home business, home industry or home occupation as exempt development.
A “home business” and a “home industry” follow similar rules. The main difference is that they may employ up to 2 people who don’t live in the home. A home business or home industry must also stay within the maximum floor area set in clause 5.4 of your council’s local environmental plan, which will be no less than 30 m².
When the exempt rules don’t cover you
The fact sheet says exempt home businesses cannot involve manufacturing food products or skin penetration procedures. Making food for sale at home is handled as complying development instead, with its own standards. The policy does allow one business sign of up to 1 m² in a residential, rural or conservation zone.
The business.gov.au home-based business guide also lists situations where you may need council approval, such as:
- regular client or supplier visits that create more vehicle traffic
- employing other people (generally more than 2) at your home
- signs outside your home, or changes to the building
- noise, fumes or vibrations that could disturb neighbours
- significant waste, or high use of water, electricity or gas
Planning controls vary by property, and exempt development can’t be done on certain land. If you are unsure, call your council before you start.
Insurance When Running a Business From Home
This one catches people out. business.gov.au warns that “standard home insurance policies often do not cover business activities.” If you run any part of your business from a home you own, it says to tell your home insurer and check your cover.
If clients visit your home, the same guide notes you may need public liability insurance. Equipment, stock and business data are worth raising with your insurer or broker too.
Renting? Check your lease. business.gov.au points out that many residential leases say tenants can’t use the property for commercial activities, so let your landlord know about your business.
The Address Problem: Where Your Home Address Shows Up
When you work from home, your business address and your home address are the same thing. That address then gets copied into a lot of places.
Some of these are your choice: your website contact page, your invoices and quotes, your email signature and your letterhead. Others are government registers, and the rules there differ.
| Register | What the public can see |
|---|---|
| ABN Lookup (Australian Business Register) | Only the state and postcode of your main business address. The full business address is not publicly available. |
| Business names register (ASIC) | Your principal place of business is shown. If it is your home and you operate as an individual, ASIC only shows your suburb, state and postcode. |
| Companies register (ASIC) | The company’s registered office and principal place of business can both be seen by people who search or buy information from the register. |
For a home based company, the last row matters most. ASIC defines the principal place of business as “the main address where your company conducts business.” If that is your home, your home address goes on the public companies register.
ASIC does let company officeholders ask to hide their residential address, but only if they believe their safety, or their family’s safety, is at risk. That option covers officeholders’ residential addresses. It is not a general privacy setting for business addresses.
What a Separate Business Address Can and Can’t Fix
business.gov.au says you can use a post office box or a virtual office service “for convenience or privacy”, especially if you run your business from home and don’t want to give out your home address. Here is where that helps.
What it can fix
- Your website, invoices and marketing. You can show a business street address instead of your home.
- Your mail and parcels. Business post and couriers go somewhere other than your front door.
- Your company’s registered office. ASIC says the registered office doesn’t have to be where the company does business. It must be a physical street address, not a PO box, and you must keep a record of the owner’s written consent to use it.
What it can’t fix
A virtual address does not hide a home that is your principal place of business. ASIC needs the real address where the company conducts business, and that address is visible on the companies register. The ABR also needs the physical street address of your business as its main business address.
If you want the public principal place of business to be somewhere other than home, you need to actually run the business from that other place. Our guide to the principal place of business vs registered office goes into the detail.
One more trap: Google does not allow virtual offices as Google Business Profile locations. If you serve customers at their place, the right setup is a service-area profile with your address hidden.
A Simple Setup for a Home Based Business
- Check the planning rules. Make sure your work fits the home business or home occupation definitions, or talk to your council.
- Call your insurer. Tell them you run a business from home and confirm what is and isn’t covered.
- Decide which address goes where. Use a business address on your website, invoices and mail. Keep your registers accurate about where the business is really run.
- Pick a place for client meetings. A bookable meeting room keeps clients out of your living room.
- Track your costs. Our post on working from home tax deductions explains what you may be able to claim.
If you are weighing up a PO box against a street address, see street address vs PO box for your business.
Running a business from home works well for most sole traders and small companies. Get the planning and insurance basics right, then separate your business address from your home wherever the rules allow.
This is general information, not legal, planning or insurance advice. Check your situation with your council, your insurer, ASIC or your accountant.
Keep your home address off your invoices
A Hunters Hill business street address, with mail and parcels handled, from $20/week + GST.
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