Buying Guides
Advice from people who order this every day
The questions our team fields most often, answered properly — with the actual numbers rather than a sales pitch. Written for the person doing the ordering, whether that's a practice manager checking first aid compliance, an office manager choosing a shredder, or anyone who has ever stood in front of a printer wondering which cartridge it takes.
Most of what gets bought wrong is bought wrong once, then reordered for years. A few minutes reading beats a cupboard of the wrong thing.
Compliance & obligations
Where the law sets the answer. What you must do, what the numbers actually are, and where the common advice is overstated.
First aid requirements for Australian workplaces
How many kits and where they go, the recommended minimum contents, first aider ratios for low and high risk sites, and when you also need a defibrillator or eyewash.
Read the guide →How long to keep business records
Three laws, three different clocks. Tax records five years, employee records seven, company financial records seven — plus when each clock actually starts, and how to destroy records properly afterwards.
Read the guide →Paper shredder security levels explained
What each DIN 66399 level means in particle size, which one an Australian office actually needs, and what the Privacy Act says about binning versus destroying paper records.
Read the guide →Choosing the right product
Where the specs decide it. What the numbers on the box mean, which ones matter, and where paying more genuinely buys something.
How to find the right ink or toner cartridge
Match your printer to the right cartridge code, compare standard against high yield on cost per page, and know the extras — drums, waste toner, fusers — that stop a machine just as firmly.
Read the guide →Copy paper: GSM, brightness and opacity
What the three numbers on a ream actually measure, which weight suits double-sided printing, what your printer will take without jamming, and what FSC certification really requires.
Read the guide →Choosing an office chair for 8 hours a day
What AS/NZS 4438 and AFRDI Blue Tick Levels 4, 5 and 6 mean, why the 110kg standard rating catches people out, and the three adjustments that decide comfort at 4pm.
Read the guide →Whiteboard surfaces compared
Why boards ghost, which surface suits daily or classroom use, warranties from melamine to porcelain, the magnetic trap on glassboards, and what permanently ruins a board.
Read the guide →Washroom systems: jumbo, conventional or interleaved
Why sheets per roll beats roll count every time, how the dispenser locks in your format for years, and getting hand towels and soap right for your traffic.
Read the guide →Ready to order instead? Shop for Your Business has curated lists by workspace and by industry — health clinic, retail, cafe, home office, on the road, legal, real estate, accounting, government, education and hospitality.
Question we haven't covered?
Our team has been specifying office, education and first aid supplies for Australian businesses for years. Ask us — we'd rather you bought the right thing once.
