It answers your phone on WA time when you can’t, says it’s your assistant, books the routine work and texts you the urgent calls. It can take the gas changeover questions too.
OffsiteMate is an AI receptionist for tradies, and it answers an Albany business’s calls when nobody else can. It says it’s your assistant, finds out what the job is, books routine work at times you’re free and texts you emergencies straight away.
It’s A$299 a month for a sole trader, with 100 minutes and 150 texts included, plus A$299 to set up. We’re in Wagga Wagga, NSW, set you up over the phone, and you keep your number.
The ABS counted 691 construction businesses in the Albany local government area at 30 June 2025 (ABS Data by Region). It estimates 38,287 people lived in Albany itself at the same date.
ATCO’s Albany gas network carries LPG, not natural gas, through about 160 km of pipe from a tank farm to roughly 8,000 homes and businesses.
On 19 January 2026 ATCO said it would decommission the network, because many of the pipes are nearing the end of their life. The WA Government says ATCO will start in the first half of 2027 and work through it zone by zone over about three years, with the town centre last.
No one gets cut off before they’ve moved to another energy source, the government says. And because the network already runs on LPG, ATCO says customers can switch to bottled LPG without changing their appliances. The separate Supagas network in Bayonet Head isn’t part of it.
From Energy Policy WA’s page on the Albany gas network, last updated 6 October 2026.
Customers don’t need to act until the Transition Program is live in their zone. Most support won’t be paid as a rebate, so the government says wait for that notice.
ATCO has split the network into zones. The program goes live in each one well before ATCO shuts it down there.
For homes and small businesses, the government covers a standard switch to LPG bottles, which it expects to cost around A$1,600. Customers can put that money towards electric appliances instead, and complex cases are handled one by one.
A Trade Capacity Assessment is under way to check there’ll be enough tradespeople for three years of conversion work. The government says local Albany trades will be part of it.
If customers ring about it before their zone comes up, your assistant answers from what you tell us. For example: the WA Government says to wait until the program reaches their zone, and you’ll quote once it does. It takes their name, number and suburb and passes them to you to ring back.
The government also tells customers to be careful with unsolicited sales approaches about their gas, and points them to Consumer Protection. Handy if a customer asks you about a door knocker.
Albany uses the state’s dates. Your assistant answers on every one at the same price, and only books jobs on a holiday if your hours include it.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Thursday 1 January | Friday 1 January |
| Australia Day | Monday 26 January | Tuesday 26 January |
| Labour Day | Monday 2 March | Monday 1 March |
| Good Friday | Friday 3 April | Friday 26 March |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday 5 April | Sunday 28 March |
| Easter Monday | Monday 6 April | Monday 29 March |
| Anzac Day | Saturday 25 April and Monday 27 April | Sunday 25 April and Monday 26 April |
| Western Australia Day | Monday 1 June | Monday 7 June |
| King’s Birthday | Monday 28 September | Monday 27 September |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December | Saturday 25 December and Monday 27 December |
| Boxing Day | Saturday 26 December and Monday 28 December | Sunday 26 December and Tuesday 28 December |
From the WA Government’s public holidays page, last updated 2 September 2026 and read October 2026. WA doesn’t use daylight saving. A bill that would move Labour Day, WA Day and the King’s Birthday still needs the Legislative Council, and nothing would change before 2028.
When the fault is on the network’s side, these are the people your customer needs.
ATCO, 13 13 52, 24 hours, for as long as the network runs. If someone smells gas or hits a gas line, that’s the number.
Western Power, 13 13 51, 24 hours. Its Great Southern depot is in Albany.
Water Corporation, 13 13 75, 24/7. It supplies Albany mainly from the Albany borefield, through the Lower Great Southern Towns scheme.
From ATCO’s, Western Power’s and Water Corporation’s own pages, read October 2026.
Water Corporation is relining old sewer pipes in parts of Albany from early September 2026 to late June 2027. It jets the pipes clean first, and says that can cause odours and, on rare occasions, water spurting from a toilet.
If wastewater does come up a toilet during the work, Water Corporation asks residents to tell the contractor, who organises the clean-up. Worth knowing before you send a plumber to a street that’s mid-relining.
In WA, all gasfitting work has to be done by someone holding a licence from Building and Energy, and that includes disconnecting or moving gas appliances. Customers can check a gas fitter, electrician or plumber on the WA Online Licence Search.
Send us your licence number and your assistant will give it to anyone who asks. Over the next three years, a few people might.
An Albany plumber and an Albany landscaper want different calls texted to them. Pick your trade to see what counts as urgent to begin with.
Albany pays what everyone else pays. Pick the one for how many people work in the business.
Sole traders on the tools
A$299a month
About A$9.83 a day. Plus A$299 setup, once. Month to month.
Talk to the humansA small crew
A$449a month
Plus A$499 setup, once. Month to month.
Talk to the humansA bigger team with more phones ringing
A$799a month
Plus A$499 setup, once. Month to month.
Talk to the humansGo over your minutes or texts and it keeps answering: A$0.49 a minute and A$0.25 a text. It’s month to month, because 12 months is a big commitment to make to a robot. That’s the whole price. Nothing gets added on top. Questions? Ring us on 0468 075 000 or email hello@offsitemate.com.au.
No. We’re in Wagga Wagga, NSW, and we set up tradies anywhere in Australia by phone. Ring us on 0468 075 000 and a human answers.
Only with what you’ve told us to say. It answers from what you’ve given us and only gives the prices you’ve said it can give. Text us your wording, and text us again when the government updates its page.
Yes. The Numbering Plan sets (08) 98 aside for the Albany charging district, along with Katanning, Kondinin, Narrogin and Wagin. Your number stays with your phone company and forwards to the assistant’s own Australian mobile number.
It’s an AI assistant doing that job. It answers in an Australian voice, says it’s your assistant and books the work in. We set it up and check what it says.
A$299 a month for a sole trader, including 100 minutes and 150 texts, and A$299 once to set up. It’s A$449 a month for 2 to 4 people and A$799 for 5 to 10. No GST added, month to month.
Ring us on the number below, or email. Either way, a human gets back to you.
0468 075 000Or email hello@offsitemate.com.au
