It answers when you’re up a ladder or under a house, tells callers it’s your assistant and sends you the job. Urgent ones get texted straight away. We set it up by phone from Wagga Wagga.
OffsiteMate is an AI receptionist for Geelong tradies. It answers your calls any hour you can’t, tells callers it’s your assistant and takes down the job. Routine work gets booked when you’re free. Emergencies get texted to you straight away, then it rings you.
It’s A$299 a month for a sole trader, with 100 minutes and 150 texts included, plus A$299 once to set up. No GST is added, and it’s month to month.
We’re in Wagga Wagga, NSW, not Geelong, and we set tradies up by phone. You keep your number and never touch the software.
The first two are the ABS’s. The third is the council’s, and builders will want it.
ABS Regional population 2024-25 (Significant Urban Area, preliminary) and ABS Data by Region for the Greater Geelong Local Government Area; the City of Greater Geelong’s Asset Protection Permit page. All read October 2026.
We set the questions with you on the first call. For most trades they look like this, and the answers come to you with the job.
The City of Greater Geelong wants an Asset Protection Permit before demolition, construction or other building works start on a property. Its list includes new homes, major renovations and additions, house removals, and pools and spas. Front or side fences next to council land, like a footpath, need one too if they need a building permit.
The builder applies for a new home, the pool company for a pool or spa, and the demolition contractor for a demolition. The council asks for the application at least three weeks before works begin, and the fee is A$265, paid when you apply. Any damage to footpaths, roads or drains has to be fixed by the permit holder, including old damage the job makes worse.
Applications go through the council’s ePathway system, which you register for separately from myGeelong, and the account takes 2 to 3 business days to confirm. The final inspection also has to be requested by email, even after the Certificate of Occupancy is issued.
When a caller wants the pool in before Christmas, the start date is the first thing you’ll want to see. Tell us and your assistant asks for it.
The council looks after its kerb, channel, pipes and pits from the legal point of discharge, the spot where a property’s stormwater is allowed to leave it. Upstream of that is the owner’s: roof, gutters, downpipes, pits and underground drains, even where they run under a road reserve or through a neighbour’s easement.
It recommends a licensed plumber for drainage and stormwater problems on private property. It also says it doesn’t hold plans of private underground pipes, because plumbers don’t have to give them to it. Its legal point of discharge report comes within 10 business days of applying.
So the customer with water pooling against the back wall has rung the right person when they ring you.
Three companies look after Geelong’s wires, gas mains and water. Each says its faults line is open around the clock. Want your assistant to point callers to one? Text us and we’ll add it.
| What they look after | Fault line | |
|---|---|---|
| Powercor (power) | The poles and wires across western Victoria, plus the street lights in Geelong’s CBD and suburban streets | 13 24 12, 24 hours |
| AusNet (gas) | The gas network in western Melbourne, Geelong and parts of western Victoria | 13 67 07, 24 hours |
| Barwon Water | Water and sewerage faults and emergencies. Its head office and customer care team are in Geelong | 1300 656 007, 24 hours, every day of the year |
From Powercor’s help page, Energy Victoria’s find your distributor page, the City of Greater Geelong’s street lighting page, AusNet’s contact and what we do pages, and Barwon Water’s contact page, read October 2026. Not sure which network a street is on? Powercor’s site has a postcode locator for all of Victoria.
AusNet says it has upgraded 356 km of Geelong’s gas network to high-pressure pipe since 2007. In June 2025 it said works on Aberdeen Street, due to finish that month, would complete the swap of all of Geelong’s low-pressure mains.
Its winter advice tells people to get gas appliances serviced by qualified gasfitters. Handy, if you’re one. For a leak or no gas, it says ring 13 67 07, and you don’t need to turn the meter off first.
Your assistant picks up on every one of these at the usual price. Jobs only get booked on the ones your hours include, so text us the days you’re off.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Thursday 1 January | Friday 1 January |
| Australia Day | Monday 26 January | Tuesday 26 January |
| Labour Day | Monday 9 March | Monday 8 March |
| Good Friday | Friday 3 April | Friday 26 March |
| Saturday before Easter Sunday | Saturday 4 April | Saturday 27 March |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday 5 April | Sunday 28 March |
| Easter Monday | Monday 6 April | Monday 29 March |
| Anzac Day | Saturday 25 April | Sunday 25 April |
| King’s Birthday | Monday 8 June | Monday 14 June |
| Friday before the AFL Grand Final | Friday 25 September | The Friday before the 2027 Grand Final |
| Melbourne Cup | Tuesday 3 November | Tuesday 2 November |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December | Saturday 25 December, plus Monday 27 December |
| Boxing Day | Saturday 26 December, plus Monday 28 December | Sunday 26 December, plus Tuesday 28 December |
From Business Victoria’s 2026 and 2027 public holiday pages, read October 2026. Melbourne Cup is a holiday across Victoria unless a council outside Melbourne has arranged a local holiday instead. Daylight saving runs from 2am on Sunday 4 October 2026 to 3am on Sunday 4 April 2027, and your assistant keeps to your local clock. We add the next dates as they’re announced.
Energy Safe Victoria licenses electricians and keeps public registers, including a Certificate of Electrical Safety search. The Building and Plumbing Commission licenses plumbers, gasfitters and builders, and its Compliance and Enforcement Register shows disciplinary action.
Text us your licence number and your assistant gives it to anyone who asks.
A Geelong builder gets asked about start dates, and a Geelong plumber about stormwater. Each trade page shows where we start.
Priced by the size of your crew, and the same everywhere in Australia.
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, and you won’t need one. We’re in Wagga Wagga, NSW, and set everything up with you over the phone. Ring us on 0468 075 000 and a human picks up.
Yes. Geelong landlines are 03 numbers, and the national numbering plan puts local numbers starting 32, 42 and 52 in the Colac and Geelong charging districts. Your number stays with your phone company and forwards to your assistant’s own Australian mobile number. Landlines forward differently to mobiles, so ring us and we’ll sort it out with you and your provider.
It answers from what you’ve told us, so permit questions come to you. What it can do is ask for the address and the start date and send both to you with the job.
If you want it to. Text us what you’d like it to say about outages, bursts and blocked sewers, and we’ll add it. If someone’s in danger, it tells them to hang up and ring triple zero.
Ours is A$299 a month for a sole trader, with 100 minutes and 150 texts included, plus A$299 to set up. It’s A$449 a month for 2 to 4 people and A$799 for 5 to 10. No GST is added.
Ring us on the number below, or email. Either way, a human gets back to you.
0468 075 000Or email hello@offsitemate.com.au
