Step 1 — Register the business: ABN, GST, name and structure
Get the legal foundation right before your first delivery. It is cheaper and faster than most founders expect.
Every delivery business needs an Australian Business Number (ABN), which is free from the Australian Business Register. A business name costs AUD $39 for one year or AUD $92 for three. Then choose a structure: a sole trader is the cheapest and simplest start (low cost, personal tax return) but leaves you personally liable, while a Pty Ltd company registers with ASIC from AUD $576, limits your liability and reads as more credible to corporate clients — with realistic first-year running costs of about AUD $2,000-$10,000+. On GST, registration is compulsory once your GST turnover reaches AUD $75,000 in a 12-month period or you expect to cross it; below that it is optional, though some register voluntarily to claim input credits.
Step 2 — Licences, vehicles and the insurance you must carry
There is no single national courier licence — but there are non-negotiables you cannot skip.
For bikes, cars and vans up to 4.5 tonnes, a standard class C car licence is enough; bicycle and e-bike couriers may need no motor-vehicle licence at all. Larger trucks need an LR, MR or HR licence and possibly heavy-vehicle accreditation, and niche cargo (dangerous goods, refrigerated medical items, alcohol) carries extra permits — check your state transport authority and council. On insurance, public liability of AUD $5-$20 million is standard and often demanded by clients; you also need commercial vehicle insurance (a private policy will not cover paid delivery), goods-in-transit cover for the parcels you carry, and mandatory workers' compensation the moment you hire employees.
Step 3 — Understand the new 2025 gig-economy rules before you engage riders
If you'll run riders or drivers through an app, the law changed — and your software has to keep up.
From 26 February 2025, the Digital Labour Platform Deactivation Code requires a fair process — advance notice, a real human contact and a right to respond — before you deactivate 'employee-like' workers. The Fair Work Commission can now set enforceable minimum standards on pay and conditions for delivery riders and drivers, with the Fair Work Ombudsman enforcing them. Practically, your dispatch system needs deactivation workflows, notice records and audit logs built in. Treat this as a feature requirement, not an afterthought: platforms that bolt compliance on later pay for it twice.
Step 4 — Budget the technology: build cost vs white-label
This is the single biggest line item — and the one with the most room to save.
A fully custom platform — customer app, driver app and dispatch dashboard — typically costs AUD $62,400-$468,000 (broadly $40,000-$300,000+) built from scratch in Australia, and cloud, store and compliance fees can add 20-50% in year one. Store fees themselves are small: Apple Developer is AUD $150/year and Google Play Console a one-off AUD $35. The smart move for most new operators is a white-label platform: the same three apps, your brand, live tracking and payments — launched in weeks for a fraction of a custom build, with the option to customise as you scale.
Step 5 — Know the numbers: profit, earnings and market size
Demand is strong, but margins are thin — so efficiency and owning your platform matter.
Employed courier drivers earn around AUD $61,000-$80,000 a year; owner-drivers commonly gross AUD $1,000-$3,000+ per week (roughly $95,000), but typical net margins are only 7-10% after fuel, vehicle, insurance and platform fees. The market more than supports it: Australia Post handled 262 million parcels in H1 2025, e-commerce is now over a fifth of retail, and about 9.5 million households (~82%) shopped online last year. Profit comes from route density, volume and dispatch software — and from keeping the commission you would otherwise hand to someone else's app.
