At 9:30am every day, after dropping her child off at school, Joy (born 1986) drives to a client's home in Sydney to begin her cleaning and housekeeping work.

Originally from HCMC, Joy married seven years ago and decided to relocate to Australia with her husband. During her first days in Australia, she faced significant language barriers. 

To improve her local language skills, she worked as a server at a restaurant near Balmoral Beach, a famous tourist destination in Sydney, while spending her free time watching movies and local news.

However, just a few months into her restaurant job, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, forcing her to take a temporary leave. Thanks to her sewing skills, she secured a short-term contract through an intermediary to sew body bags under government orders.

Due to the demands of caring for her young child, she held that role only briefly. In 2023, after moving to a new house, Joy noticed a massive demand for house cleaning services on online forums.

Having a natural love for cleanliness and order, she decided to try her hand at the profession. "In Australia, I work as an hourly housekeeper," she shared.

"The job requires no formal degree, but it demands meticulousness and thorough attention to detail to satisfy clients. During my early days, I faced many hurdles, such as not knowing how to use specialized cleaning chemicals or equipment."

"I also lacked experience in organizing a cleaning workflow for maximum efficiency. On top of that, there were times when payment was delayed after completing a job, or homeowners felt unsatisfied without offering feedback," she added.

Lacking experience at first, Joy charged just 20 AUD (nearly 400,000 VND) per hour. As her skills and experience grew, she raised her rate to 60 AUD (over 1 million VND) per hour.

Today, Joy executes her house cleaning services with full professionalism. After extensive experience, she can accurately estimate the time required for each area, including bathrooms, kitchens, and living rooms, tailoring workflows to meet specific client requests.

"Every area of a house requires a different approach; you must know what to tackle first, which chemicals to apply, and how to manage your time," she explained.

"For example, if a client hires me to clean two bathrooms, sanitize the kitchen, vacuum, and mop floors, I typically address the bathrooms first, move to the kitchen, and save vacuuming and mopping for last."

"Time management is critical because client demands vary. I practiced extensively in my own home to figure out the fastest, most effective methods," she noted.

She said that different stains demand specific techniques. For long-standing grease build-up, she uses a damp cloth soaked in a specialized cleaning solution or paste, scrubbing gently in circular motions until the grease lifts away, followed by a wipe with a damp cloth and a final polish with a clean, dry towel.

For calcium deposits on shower glass, she applies appropriate descaling agents, scrubs in circular movements, and rinses with clean water. Bathrooms affected by mold or yellowing grout require an even more meticulous routine.

Respected and appreciated

Joy's working day usually starts at 9:30 am and ends at 2 pm, when she goes to pick up her young child from school. Each job typically lasts around three hours and can sometimes take up to five hours. However, she usually accepts only one client a day so she has enough time to care for her family.

Rather than constantly looking for new clients, she focuses on serving her existing customer base. By maintaining consistent service quality, she has retained 10 to 15 loyal clients for many years.

With this stable client base, she earns AUD5,000-6,000 a month, equivalent to around VND94-112 million.

To earn that income, Joy has to put in many hours of high-intensity physical work. During each shift, she is constantly standing, bending over and even kneeling to clean, do laundry, vacuum and perform other tasks. The job also means she is frequently exposed to cleaning chemicals.

“Although the work is demanding, I enjoy it and am always proud of what I do. Here, I always feel loved and respected by my clients. Whenever I come to work, they often offer me drinks. If they see me working continuously for four or five hours, they ask how I am doing or bring me food and drinks,” she said.

Ha Nguyen