Register first, then worry about paperwork
You need an ABN before you invoice anyone. It is free from the Australian Business Register, it takes about fifteen minutes, and anyone charging you for it is charging you for a form. You register for GST once your turnover crosses the registration threshold, or straight away if you drive a taxi or a rideshare. The threshold moves, so check it on ato.gov.au rather than trusting a number in a blog post.
That part is admin. The part that costs people money is what happens after, when the work starts and nothing is in writing.
The five documents, in the order you will need them
Most new businesses need the same short stack. Not twenty documents. Five.
One. A service agreement, or quote terms for smaller jobs. This is the one that says what you are doing, what it costs, when you get paid, and what happens when the customer asks for more. It goes out before you start, not after the argument.
Two. Website terms. If you have a site that takes enquiries, bookings or orders, your terms set the rules for using it and, for a store, the rules of sale under the Australian Consumer Law. An American template will tell your customers they have thirty days to return a product. Australian consumer guarantees do not work that way and you cannot contract out of them.
Three. A privacy policy. If you collect names, emails or phone numbers through a form, you are handling personal information. Small businesses under the turnover threshold in the Privacy Act have historically been exempt from parts of it, but that exemption has been under active review and plenty of the platforms you use will demand a policy anyway. Shopify, Meta and Google all ask for one.
Four. A contractor agreement, if you are putting anyone on. This is the one that defines control, tools, insurance and the right to delegate. Skip it and you have a handshake arrangement that the Fair Work Ombudsman may read as employment.
Five. Invoice terms. Not a separate document so much as a line that has to appear on every invoice: the due date, the method, and what happens if it is late. Put it on the invoice and in the agreement so they match.
If you want the first four in one go, that is what the Starter Kit is. Same documents, one price, filled in with your details once instead of four times.
What each one actually stops
A service agreement stops scope creep and stops the argument about when payment was due. The concrete version: a designer agrees a logo for a fixed fee, the client asks for a second round, then a third, then wants social tiles too. With an agreement there is a line that says two rounds are included and anything else is quoted. Without one it is your word against theirs.
Website terms stop a customer claiming a refund policy you never offered. A privacy policy stops the awkward moment where a customer asks what you do with their data and you have no answer in writing. A contractor agreement stops a worker turning around six months later and claiming leave entitlements. Invoice terms are the reason you can send a letter of demand referring to a date the other side agreed to.
The 2023 unfair contract terms rules changed the stakes
From 9 November 2023, proposing, applying or relying on an unfair term in a standard form contract is not just unenforceable. It carries civil penalties under the Australian Consumer Law, and the ACCC can act on it. Standard form means the contract you hand to every customer without negotiating it, which is exactly what a template is.
The small business contracts covered got wider at the same time. The test now looks at whether a party employs fewer than 100 people or has annual turnover under a set figure, and the old contract value cap was removed. Check the current numbers on accc.gov.au before you assume you are outside it.
An unfair term is one that creates a significant imbalance, is not reasonably necessary to protect your interests, and would cause detriment. In plain terms: a clause that lets you change the price whenever you like, cancel with no notice, or bind them to something you can walk away from. Old templates are full of them. That is the main reason a document downloaded from a US site is worse than no document, because it looks like protection while exposing you to a penalty.
When a lawyer is worth paying for
A template is the right tool for ordinary work. It is the wrong tool once real money or a real fight is involved.
Pay a lawyer when you are signing a commercial lease, when you are taking on investment or bringing in a partner, when a regulator or an insurer is involved, when the contract value is large enough that losing it would hurt, when you are dealing with someone else's intellectual property, or when a dispute has already started. A couple of hours of advice on a lease is cheaper than the year you spend stuck in the wrong shop.
Everything below that line is paperwork, and paperwork you can do yourself.