Buying a tutoring franchise in Australia: centres, online models and working with children checks

• FranchiseScope's analysis of 24 tutoring and academic learning centre franchisors on the Register (captured 19 August 2026) found median setup estimates of $65,000 to $127,700, against $146,984 to $400,000 across all categories.
• Contract terms are tight: 21 of 22 profiles include a restraint of trade, and 8 of 22 (36.4%) let the franchisor change the agreement on its own, compared with 27.6% across all categories.
• Working with children checks are run by each state and territory and aren't transferable between them, and 'banned in one, banned in all' laws now apply across Australia.
• Online tutoring services covered by the Privacy Act may have to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Code, which must be registered by 10 December 2026.
• Demand follows school terms and exam periods, so plan cash flow around holidays and the summer break.

The brand may be the same, but the daily work, the costs and the risks differ by model. Decide which one you are buying before you compare prices.

• Learning centres: a leased shopfront or office where students attend sessions. Rent, fit-out and signage add cost, but a centre can run several groups at once.
• Home-based or mobile tutoring: tutors visit students' homes, or you teach from yours. Costs are lower, but travel time limits how many sessions each tutor can deliver.
• Online tutoring: sessions run through video and learning platforms. Territory matters less, so ask how the franchisor shares online enquiries between franchisees.
• Hybrid models combine a centre with online sessions, which can help keep students engaged through holidays and absences.
• Curriculum-led systems supply programs, worksheets and assessment tools, and often charge ongoing fees per student or per subject.
• Tutor or manager: decide whether you will teach yourself or recruit and manage tutors, because that changes your hours, skills and staff costs.

FranchiseScope analysed the Register profiles of 24 tutoring and academic learning centre franchisors, captured on 19 August 2026. They are the tutoring centres within its wider education and tutoring category, which also covers music, drama, art and children's activity programs. The answers are self-reported by franchisors.

• Setup costs: the median low estimate was $65,000 (19 profiles) and the median high estimate was $127,700 (17 profiles), against $146,984 and $400,000 across all categories.
• System size: the median system reported 8 franchisees (23 profiles), compared with 9 across all profiles.
• Restraint of trade: 21 of 22 profiles (95.5%) include one, compared with 90.5% across all categories.
• Goodwill: 3 of 19 profiles (15.8%) say franchisees have any rights to goodwill they generate, compared with 10.5% overall.
• Supply restrictions: 14 of 23 profiles (60.9%) restrict where you can buy goods or services, compared with 70.2% overall.
• One-sided changes: 8 of 22 profiles (36.4%) let the franchisor vary the agreement on its own, compared with 27.6% overall.
• Arbitration: 11 of 18 profiles (61.1%) provide for arbitration of disputes, compared with 63.8% overall.

There is no single national check. Each state and territory runs its own scheme, so confirm the rules with the screening agency wherever your tutors work.

• The checks are called Working with Children Checks in NSW, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, and Working with Vulnerable People checks in the ACT and Tasmania. Queensland's is known as the blue card and the Northern Territory's as the Ochre Card.
• Tutoring is named as child-related work in some schemes: NSW covers private coaching or tuition of children, and the ACT regulates coaching and tuition.
• Checks aren't transferable between states and territories, apart from limited exemptions, so a business with tutors in more than one jurisdiction needs to meet each one's rules.
• Checks last for set periods that vary by jurisdiction and involve ongoing monitoring, so keep a register of expiry dates.
• Employer duties vary. In NSW, for example, employers in child-related work must register with the Office of the Children's Guardian and verify each worker's check.
• 'Banned in one, banned in all' laws, announced in August 2026, mean a person refused a check in one state or territory is refused in all of them.
• A check is a minimum, not proof of safety. Pair it with interviews, reference checks and child safe policies for supervision and online sessions.

• Premises: rent, fit-out, furniture and signage for a centre, or equipment, software and platform fees for online delivery.
• Tutor costs: whether tutors will be employees or contractors, and the pay, super and leave that follow. Get advice before you rely on contractors.
• Pricing: session fees, term packages and prepaid plans. Your enrolment terms with families are usually standard form consumer contracts, and since 9 November 2023 including unfair terms in them has been prohibited and can attract penalties.
• Utilisation: revenue depends on how many paid sessions each tutor hour carries, so ask current franchisees how full their timetables are across the year.
• Seasonality: school holidays and the summer break reduce sessions, while exam periods lift them, so model cash flow month by month.
• Ongoing fees: royalties, marketing levies, curriculum or per-student fees and technology fees.
• Working capital to cover rent and wages while enrolments build.

• Enrolment or earnings projections that aren't in the disclosure document as earnings information, or have no reasonable basis.
• A franchisor that can't explain how it screens and supervises tutors, or leaves child safety entirely to you.
• Wide rights to change the agreement on its own. The disclosure document must list one-sided changes made in the last 3 years.
• Online territories with no clear rules for sharing enquiries between franchisees.
• A restraint of trade so broad that it would stop you tutoring at all after you leave. Ask exactly what it covers.
• Many transfers, closures or terminations in the disclosure document, or former franchisees who won't talk.
• Pressure to sign quickly. The franchisor can't sign until 14 days after you receive the disclosure document, a copy of the Code and the agreement in its final form, and must refund any payment made in that window within 14 days of your written request.

• Choose your model (centre, home or online) and check how the franchisor allocates territories and online enquiries.
• Compare the franchisor's Register profile with its disclosure document, remembering that Register answers are self-reported.
• Confirm the working with children check rules in every state or territory where your tutors will work.
• Ask for the franchisor's child safety policies, tutor screening process and supervision rules.
• Build a month-by-month cash flow that includes school holidays and the summer break.
• Read the restraint of trade, the one-sided change clause and the fees for curriculum and technology.
• Call current and former franchisees about enrolments, seasonality and support.
• Get independent legal and accounting advice before you sign.