Equipment hire: say what exactly you’re looking for

Equipment hire in Australia: prices, licences and delivery

Updated 4 November 2026

Equipment hire in Australia costs from about A$40 for a small hand tool to A$500–A$1,200 a day for a long-reach excavator in dry hire. Prices depend on the machine, hire length and delivery, so the fastest way to see your exact price is a free request on BlaBlaPrice.

Licences for machines you operate

Some machines need a licence to operate in Australia. A rental industry glossary names cranes, forklifts and elevated work platforms as examples. Ask the hire company before you book whether your operator needs one, and who is allowed to drive the machine on your site.

Dry hire and wet hire

Heavy machines are priced two ways. In the price guide, a long-reach excavator costs A$500–A$1,200 a day dry and A$700–A$1,500 a day wet, so the wet rate is A$200–A$300 a day higher. Say in your request which option you need, because the two prices are not comparable. Also ask about the minimum hire period, which differs from machine to machine.

Season and timing

November is late spring. The Australian summer runs from December to February, so a job planned for those months is worth booking in November, while you still have a choice of machines. Weekend pricing is worth asking about too: some hire companies offer two days for the price of one on weekends, which can cut the cost of a short job that runs across a weekend.

Delivery and metric sizes

Hire companies in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide price delivery by location and transport requirements, so give your suburb, not only your city. Quote sizes and weights in metres and kilograms, and compressor output in litres per minute or cfm, as the listing shows. Ask whether the price includes delivery and pick-up.

To get offers for your job, describe the machine, the number of days and your suburb in a request on BlaBlaPrice. The request is free and your contact details stay hidden. BlaBlaPrice's AI looks through hire companies' websites and price lists in Australia and shows the prices it finds, while registered sellers reply in the chat with their own price and delivery terms. For smaller jobs, see tool hire or rentals and hire.