Crane

Crane hire in Australia

Updated 4 November 2026

Crane hire in Australia typically costs from about A$170 to A$1,000 per hour, depending on crane type, job complexity, duration and location, according to online hire-rate guides, November 2026. For a price for your exact lift, create a free request on BlaBlaPrice; its AI asks for missing details such as payload and site access, then looks through local sellers' listings and shows what it finds.

Licences for the operator

A crane must be run by a licensed operator, and the class matters. Licences are issued by crane class: C2 and C6 need no earlier slewing licence, while C0 and C1 do, and C1 covers cranes up to 100 tonnes. Before the crane arrives, ask to see the operator's licence and check that its class covers the tonnes you need: a course for cranes up to 60 tonnes does not cover a 100-tonne lift. A new High Risk Work Licence costs about A$113 per class in Queensland and about A$92 in Western Australia, and training courses listed online cost A$1,320 to A$1,600.

Season and the weather

Your request is made in November, at the start of summer. Summer runs from December to February and winter from June to August, so a booking for the new year falls in summer; ask the operator about wind limits and working hours for those dates.

How hire is priced and moved here

Hire is quoted per hour, so the total depends on how long the crane stays on site. Capacity is given in tonnes, as the licence classes are, and reach is given in metres. A crane that has to travel between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide usually needs a low-loader truck, so ask whether transport is included in the rate.

What to put in your request

Give the payload in tonnes, the boom reach in metres, the load to lift, the duration, and the site address with its access. Add the date and whether you need riggers. If a monthly rent suits better than hourly hire, say so in the request.

Describe the job in your own words in the chat on BlaBlaPrice, which is free for buyers, with a photo of the site if you have one. Sellers registered on BlaBlaPrice reply in the chat with their price, terms and delivery, and your contacts stay hidden until you choose who to exchange them with. You can also look at vehicle and heavy equipment hire to compare other machines.