Home-Based Beauty Businesses

You must get development consent before you can start operating a home-based beauty and skin penetration business from a residential premises.

You can get development consent through a Development Application (DA). If you need development advice please phone Council’s duty planner on (02) 4227 7111 between 9am to 5pm on work days.

Applications submitted to Council will be assessed based on risk. Council Town Planners and Environmental Health Officers will only approve low risk home-based beauty and skin penetration businesses as defined in the Local Environmental Plan (LEP).

Low risk activities allowed at home based businesses

Home-based ‘Beauty Procedures’ that are allowed under the LEP include the following low risk activities:

• waxing
• cosmetic tattooing
• electrolysis
• acupuncture
• lancets
• microblading
• dermaplaning/skin needling
• piercing (ears and nose using piercing gun only)
• microdermabrasion.

High risk activities not allowed at home-based businesses

If you intend to carryout high-risk services, you must operate out of a commercial premises. These cannot be done at a home-based business.

Activities considered high risk include:

• Tattooing
• Body piercing
• Botox injections
• Blood testing
• Dermal fillers
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) facials
• Colonic lavage
• Body art including implantation, branding and scarification
• Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) / light therapy.

You also cannot any business from home that:

• requires an Operator and/or Tattooist Licence under the Department of Fair Trading's Tattoo Parlour Licencing Information
• undertakes any procedures requiring a registered medical practitioner.

All beauty and skin penetration businesses, including those based in home environments, must comply with the relevant parts of the Public Health Act 2010 and Public Health Regulation 2012.

The construction and fit out of the premises must comply with the Local Government Regulation 2005 Schedule 2 – Part 3.

For a home-based beauty and skin penetration business to be approved, it needs to be of a suitable nature and scale. Your premises should be designed and fitted out to ensure the health and safety of your customers.

There are several things to consider when setting up a home-based beauty and skin penetration business. At all times you must meet the following conditions:

• The treatment room must be a separate room, protected from contamination where there is no risk of contamination from household members, visitors and or pets.
• Floor, walls and ceilings in the treatment room must be finished to a smooth, even, impervious surface which is easy to clean. Carpet is prohibited in treatment areas.
• Adequate washing facilities must be provided, including:
  • A hand basin within the treatment room with warm water from a suitable mixing device and soap and single-use towels from dispensers.
  • An equipment sink provided on the premises with warm water, large enough for cleaning equipment.
• Fixtures and fittings including storage cabinets, cupboards, work benches and the like must be finished in a smooth, impervious material, free of cracks, gaps, crevices or exposed joints and capable of being easily cleaned.
• Adequate ventilation must be provided within the premises to remove and/or prevent chemical vapours, dust and odours. This may include:
  • Providing nail service tables with an embedded exhaust vent; and/or
  • Providing a ceiling or wall-mounted exhaust system to vent the chemical contaminants to the outdoors.
• A high standard of cleanliness, with suitable cleaning products and disinfectants etc. provided.
• Adequate waste storage including waste receptacles made of impervious material and provided with lids must be available for the storage of soiled linen and general waste. A waste receptacle must be placed within treatment rooms to dispose of waste immediately after a procedure.
• An appropriate sharps container to be provided in the treatment room for the disposal of sharps waste.
• All equipment that penetrates the skin and is reused must be cleaned and sterilised in a Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) approved autoclave. Autoclaves must be tested, serviced regularly and calibrated at least once a year by a qualified service technician. Details and documents of the services as well as details and documentation of items sterilised must be provided and available at all times at the premises.
• Adequate storage facilities provided for the storage of cleaned equipment and utensils, linen, cleaning materials and office materials. Shelving and storage units must be impervious and constructed to enable easy cleaning.

If approved, you will need to notify Council before you start operating any beauty or skin penetration business from your home.

Once you are logged in, select Lodge an Application, then Permits & Licences and select your business type.

Council’s Environmental Health Officers conduct random inspections of beauty and skin penetration premises across the Wollongong local government area. These inspections will check the health and hygiene requirements and ensure operators have appropriate skills and knowledge.

Fees apply as shown below.

Hairdressing inspection fees

Skin penetration inspection fees

• Make sure you read the information that applies to all home-based businesses.
• A home-based beauty and skin penetration business must not create environmental nuisances or affect the amenity of adjoining properties / neighbours (e.g. noise, odour, fumes, waste, dust etc).
• If your home-based business is located in an unsewered area, you must have an approved licenced On-Site Sewage Management System (OSSM). See Council’s OSSM page for more information.

• See the Skin penetration industry page on NSW Health's website
• Phone the local Public Health Unit on 1300 066 055
• Wollongong City Council’s Beauty and Skin Penetration Premises – Construction, Fit-out and Operation Guide PDF, 381.32 KB