What Is a Virtual Office? How It Works and What It Costs

By Bilal Alwan, Manager, Hunters Hill Offices · Updated October 2026

A virtual office gives your business a real street address and mail handling without renting the desk space behind it. If you run a company from home, from client sites or from another state, it is the cheapest way to get a commercial address on your registration, invoices and website. This guide explains what a virtual office is, what it includes, what it costs in Sydney and the rules worth knowing before you sign up.

What Is a Virtual Office?

The word “virtual” refers to the office, not the address. The address is a real building. What you don’t have is a desk there every day. You keep working wherever suits you, and the address does the job a home address shouldn’t have to.

Virtual office vs coworking vs private office

	Virtual office	Coworking desk	Private office
Business address	Yes	Usually	Yes
Mail handling	Yes	Sometimes	Yes
Your own workspace	No, or a few hours a month	Shared desk	Lockable room
Typical commitment	Low	Low to medium	Higher

What a Virtual Office Includes

Packages vary between providers, so read the inclusions rather than the headline price. A typical virtual office includes:

• A street address for your website, invoices, business cards and letterhead.
• Mail receiving and holding, with collection, scanning or forwarding.
• Parcel and courier acceptance during business hours.
• Use as a registered office for ASIC company registration.
• Optional extras such as Wi-Fi, a set number of hours of office access, printing, meeting rooms or call answering.

At Hunters Hill Offices the base package covers the address, mail receiving and holding, parcel acceptance and ASIC registration. A higher tier adds Wi-Fi, five hours of office access a month, printing and kitchen facilities. The full list is on our virtual office services page.

How Much Does a Virtual Office Cost in Sydney?

Price depends mostly on the address. A CBD tower address costs more than a suburban one, and add-ons like mail scanning, forwarding and meeting room hours change the total.

As of October 2026, a virtual office at 53-55 Gladesville Road, Hunters Hill costs $20 per week plus GST for the address package, or $36 per week plus GST with Wi-Fi, office access and printing. Both have a 12-month initial term, then roll month to month with 30 days notice. Forwarding is charged at postage cost.

When comparing quotes, check three things:

1. The minimum term and what happens after it.
2. What mail handling costs, including scanning and forwarding.
3. Whether the address can be used as an ASIC registered office, because not every provider allows it.

Using a Virtual Office Address With ASIC

This is where most of the questions come from, and where the rules matter. ASIC asks every company for two addresses, and they work differently.

Registered office address

According to ASIC’s guidance on company addresses, the registered office must be a physical street address in Australia and cannot be a PO box. It does not have to be where the company works. If your company does not occupy the premises, you need written consent to use the address, must keep a record of it, and must state that consent when you give the address to ASIC.

That is why a virtual address suits this role well: it is a real street address, and the occupier can consent to your use of it.

Principal place of business

ASIC also asks for your principal place of business, which is the main address where the company actually conducts business. It must be a physical address, not a PO box, and it shows when people search the companies register. If you genuinely work from home, renting an address elsewhere does not change this on its own, so check the right setup with your accountant.

Changing addresses

If any company address changes, ASIC must be told within 28 days or a late fee applies. The update is done online.

We cover the registered office side in more detail on our virtual business address page.

Can You Use a Virtual Office on Google Business Profile?

No. Google’s Business Profile guidelines say that if a business rents a mailing address but does not operate out of that location, also known as a virtual office, that location is not eligible for a Business Profile.

Using one anyway risks your listing being suspended. If you visit customers rather than having them come to you, set up a service-area profile and hide your address instead. Use the address everywhere else: your website, invoices, cards and registration.

Who Should Use a Virtual Office?

A virtual office makes sense when you need an address more than you need a desk:

• Sole traders and consultants who work from home and don’t want their street on every invoice.
• New companies that need a registered office from day one.
• Trades and mobile services whose real office is the van.
• Interstate and overseas businesses that want a Sydney address and someone to receive their mail.

It is less useful if your customers need to visit you regularly, or if you need a quiet room every day. At that point a private office is the better fit, if your address is already in the same building you can move in without changing your address.

The Bottom Line

A virtual office is a real street address and mail service without the lease. It costs a fraction of an office, works as your ASIC registered office, and keeps your home address off your website and paperwork. It won’t give you a Google Business Profile location. If that trade-off suits how you work, a virtual office is one of the simplest upgrades a small business can make.