Why nobody publishes a price list
You won't find a rate card on a labour-hire website, ours included. The rate moves with the licence class and tickets required, the shift pattern, the location, the length of the job and the crew size. A published number would be wrong for almost everyone who read it, and the ones it was wrong for would be the ones who called.
What you should expect instead is a written quote with the rate stated per electrician, the shift times it applies to, and any overtime, Saturday and Sunday rates set out before anyone starts.
What's inside an all-inclusive rate
The charge rate is not the electrician's wage with a margin bolted on. Most of the gap between the two is statutory cost the provider is legally required to carry:
- The electrician's base pay under the applicable award or agreement
- Casual loading, where the engagement is casual — 25% under most modern awards at the time of writing
- Superannuation guarantee — 12% at the time of writing; check the ATO for the current rate
- WorkCover premium — workers' compensation, run by WorkSafe Victoria and priced by industry risk
- Portable long service where the work falls in scope — in Victorian construction that's the LeavePlus levy
- Public liability and other insurances
- Payroll, PAYG withholding, licence and ticket verification, and account management
Rates and thresholds change. Treat every percentage on this page as a pointer, not a current figure — confirm with the ATO, WorkSafe Victoria and LeavePlus.
What an all-inclusive rate does not cover
"All-inclusive" describes the employment costs, not every line that can appear on an invoice. These sit outside it across the industry, and a provider worth using tells you before the job rather than on the first invoice:
- GST — rates are quoted excluding it, and it's added at invoice
- Overtime, weekend, public holiday and shift loadings — negotiated and written into the quote before the work starts
- Minimum engagement — a minimum number of hours per rostered electrician per day on a confirmed assignment
- Travel and accommodation for regional work, where the distance genuinely warrants it
- Materials, consumables and plant — labour hire supplies people, not equipment
- Supervision, site induction and the safe workplace, which are the host's
How to compare two quotes properly
A cheaper hourly rate is not automatically a cheaper job. Before you compare the numbers, get both providers to answer the same five questions:
- 1Is the rate genuinely all-inclusive, or are super, insurance or admin billed separately?
- 2What are the overtime, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rates, in writing, now?
- 3Is there a minimum engagement per shift, and what is it?
- 4Is there travel, accommodation or a vehicle charge for this site?
- 5What happens to the rate if I need a specific ticket, clearance or licence class?
Then check the other end: what happens when a worker doesn't show, and are you charged? Ask what the notice period is for cancelling a shift, and what the minimum charge is if you cancel late. That clause costs more money in practice than a dollar an hour on the rate.
What moves the rate up or down
- Licence class and competency — HV or specialist competency is a smaller pool and costs more than general A-Grade
- Tickets and clearances — a security clearance or an EEHA competency narrows who can do the job
- Shift pattern — nights, weekends and shutdown windows attract penalty rates
- Notice — a crew for Monday requested on Friday afternoon is a harder fill than one requested three weeks out
- Duration — a long, steady program is easier to staff than four disconnected days
- Location — regional work carries travel and sometimes accommodation, which should be quoted up front
What you actually get invoiced for
Hours worked, and only hours your own supervisor has signed off on site. Nothing reaches an invoice that you haven't already approved, and if a day looks wrong you can query it before it's billed.