Your First 8 Weeks as a Contractor PT: A Checklist

If you have just finished your Cert IV and signed on at a commercial gym, there is a good chance you are not an employee. You are a small business. Most personal trainers at Australian clubs work as independent contractors. You pay the club rent or a licence fee for floor time, and the clients, the income and the paperwork are yours.

A lot of clubs soften the start. One Anytime Fitness club in Brisbane advertised eight weeks rent-free for new trainers in 2026, followed by a month at half rent. That is a generous runway, and it goes quicker than you would think. This is a checklist for using it well, roughly in the order you will need it.

Week 1: sort the paperwork

• Get an ABN. It is free and done online through the Australian Business Register at abr.gov.au. Most clubs ask for one before your first shift, and you need it to invoice.
• Get insurance. You will usually need public liability and professional indemnity cover. Each club sets its own minimums. One Gold Coast gym listing from August 2026 asked for $10 million public liability and $5 million professional indemnity. Ask your club for its requirements in writing.
• Keep your certificates current. That means your Cert III and IV in Fitness, plus first aid and CPR. Put the renewal dates in your calendar now, while you are thinking about it. Some clubs also ask for registration with an industry body such as AUSactive.
• Read the licence agreement slowly. Look for what rent you pay after the free weeks, when it can go up, the notice period, and what happens to your clients if you leave.

Week 1: do your rent maths

There is one sum worth doing before you sign anything. Divide your weekly rent by the price of one session. The answer is how many sessions you need each week just to pay the club.

Here it is with made-up numbers, so plug in your own: $300 rent divided by $60 a session is 5 sessions a week before you earn anything. That number is only break-even. Tax, insurance, super and your phone bill all sit on top of it, and early clients cancel and go on holidays.

It is worth knowing how thin the margins can be. The last full survey of the Australian fitness workforce, from Fitness Australia in 2016, found exercise professionals worked about 19 hours a week on average, and a third earned less than $10,000 a year from fitness. That data is old, but it is the most recent full workforce survey we could find, and it is a reminder that the first few months decide a lot.

Weeks 1 to 4: set up your money habits

• Keep a separate account for the business and move a set share of every payment into it for tax. An accountant can tell you what share makes sense for you.
• Super is now your job. The ATO does not require sole traders to pay super for themselves, which also means nobody will do it for you.
• Watch the GST threshold. Once your turnover reaches $75,000 in any 12 month period, you need to register for GST.
• Keep every receipt. Insurance, courses and equipment may be deductible. Check with your accountant.

Weeks 2 to 8: fill the diary

The rent-free weeks are for building a client list, and most of that happens on the gym floor.

• Be on the floor when the gym is busiest, and talk to people.
• Offer a free intro session, and book the next session before they leave.
• Follow up within a day. People forget quickly.
• Ask every new client who else they know who trains.
• Share client wins, with their permission.

Before client 5: set up your system

A notes app and a spreadsheet are fine for three clients. By twenty they are a mess. Programmes, check-ins, session notes, your schedule and payments are easier to keep in one place from the start than to move later.

Wherever you keep it, make sure it lives in your own account. Some franchise clubs give their trainers a client app, and that can be handy, but it is worth asking whether your clients and their history stay with you if you change gyms. Your client list is the thing you are building in these eight weeks, so it should belong to you.

None of this is complicated. It is just a lot of small things arriving at once, at the same time as you are trying to be good at the actual job. Getting them done early leaves you free to spend the rest of the runway on the part that matters, which is the people you train.

Sources and references

• Anytime Fitness Indooroopilly, Personal Trainer listing (Employment Hero, 2026). 8 weeks rent-free, then 50% off rent for the following month; ABN and PT insurance required. employmenthero.com
• Gold Coast Recreation Precinct Gym, Personal Trainer listing (SportsPeople, 23 August 2026). Public liability minimum $10,000,000 and professional indemnity minimum $5,000,000. sportspeople.com.au
• Fitness Australia (2016), Profile of the Fitness Industry in Australia: Fitness Industry Workforce. Average hours, full-time share and earnings of exercise professionals. PDF
• Australian Business Register, apply for an ABN (free, online). abr.gov.au
• Australian Taxation Office, registering for GST and super for sole traders. ato.gov.au

This is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Check your situation with the ATO, an accountant or your club before you sign anything.