It answers when you can’t, Newcastle Show day included, says it’s your assistant and books the routine work. The urgent calls get texted to you. We set it up by phone from Wagga Wagga.
OffsiteMate is an AI receptionist for tradies across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland. It picks up when you can’t, says it’s your assistant, gets the job details and books routine work at times 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. We’re based in Wagga Wagga and set you up over the phone. You keep your own number.
The ABS counted 2,526 construction businesses in the Newcastle council area at 30 June 2025, 3,734 in Lake Macquarie and 1,158 in Maitland (ABS Data by Region, read October 2026). The Newcastle and Maitland urban area had 541,634 people at 30 June 2025 (ABS estimate). That’s a lot of customers with other numbers to try when yours rings out.
Your assistant answers on every one of these at the same price. It only books jobs on a day off if your hours include it, so text us the days you take.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Thursday 1 January | Friday 1 January |
| Australia Day | Monday 26 January | Tuesday 26 January |
| Newcastle Show (local event day, City of Newcastle only) | Friday 27 February | Friday 26 February |
| Good Friday | Friday 3 April | Friday 26 March |
| Easter Saturday | 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, plus Monday 27 April | Sunday 25 April, plus Monday 26 April |
| King’s Birthday | Monday 8 June | Monday 14 June |
| Labour Day | Monday 5 October | Monday 4 October |
| 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 |
Dates from the NSW Government’s public holidays and local event days pages (NSW Industrial Relations), read October 2026. NSW 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 either side of the change.
The Newcastle Show day is a local event day. NSW says plainly that a local event day isn’t a declared public holiday for work purposes, and this one only covers the City of Newcastle council area. Lake Macquarie was on the list with Newcastle up to 2022 and isn’t now. Maitland isn’t on it.
So on that Friday some of your customers are at the show and some are at work wondering why the hot water’s gone cold. Whether you open is your call. Text us and the assistant books around it.
NSW’s declared local public holidays in the Hunter for 2026 and 2027 are further up the valley, in the Upper Hunter Shire and Muswellbrook council areas. None of them fall in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie or Maitland.
The NSW SES calls the Maitland council area one of the most flood-prone regions in NSW. Its page for Maitland says the 1955 flood claimed 11 lives and inundated 2,200 homes, and that the levees, floodgates and drains built afterwards reduce flood damage but don’t offer complete protection.
Then come the checks. The SES says anything electrical that’s been in water should be inspected by a licensed electrician before it’s used again, and gas appliances and gas bottles that sat in floodwater should be checked before use.
That can mean a lot of people ringing in the same week. Your assistant answers when you can’t, takes each job down properly and texts you the urgent ones, so you’re working down a list instead of a full voicemail box.
Some faults are the network’s to fix. These are the numbers your customers need for them.
| Ring them for | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| Ausgrid (power) | Outages, fallen or arcing powerlines, shocks and tingles, and loss of hot water. 24 hours | 13 13 88 |
| Jemena (gas) | The smell of gas or a suspected leak, any time of day, 7 days a week | 131 909 |
| Hunter Water | Water and sewer faults and emergencies, 24 hours. General enquiries are 1300 657 657, 8am to 5pm weekdays | 1300 657 000 |
From Ausgrid’s contact, network and shocks pages, Jemena’s gas network and gas safety pages, and Hunter Water’s contact page, read October 2026. Ausgrid’s network covers the Hunter Valley along with Sydney and the Central Coast, and Jemena lists Newcastle among the areas its gas network supplies. After a shock, Ausgrid says keep everyone away from the spot until Ausgrid and a licensed electrician have said it’s safe.
This is the order Hunter Water gives its customers. Step two is the one that rings your phone.
It’s a round opening, usually set in concrete, and it may have a white plastic or metal lid. It’s usually at the lowest point of the block. If it’s full or overflowing, Hunter Water says ring its 24/7 line straight away.
A licensed plumber works out whether the blockage is in the property’s drains or in Hunter Water’s network, at the owner’s expense. If the plumber thinks it’s Hunter Water’s, the customer contacts Hunter Water and it arranges the work.
Pour a bucket of water down the inspection shaft. If it drains away quickly, Hunter Water says its system is likely clear and the blockage is in the internal plumbing.
That’s the tap on the meter, not the garden tap. Hunter Water will rewasher one, but says it can take up to 10 working days. A path tap with no handle may need a licensed plumber.
Building Commission NSW issues trade licences, from electrical to plumbing, draining and gasfitting. Customers can look one up on the Contractor and tradespeople register on Verify NSW, Service NSW’s licence check.
On properties connected to Hunter Water’s sewer, Building Commission NSW audits the plumbing and drainage work, the same as in Sydney and the Illawarra. Where Hunter Water doesn’t provide the service, Lake Macquarie and Maitland councils set the inspections. Newcastle’s council declined that role, and Building Commission NSW lists inspections there as not required.
Your assistant answers from what you’ve told us. Text us your licence number and it can give it to anyone who asks.
A Maitland sparky the week after a flood and a Newcastle tiler want very different calls texted to them. Each trade page shows where we start.
Same price anywhere in Australia. 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 set up tradies anywhere in Australia over the phone. Ring us on 0468 075 000 and a human answers.
Yes. It answers every day, public holidays and local event days included, at the same price. Whether it books jobs that Friday depends on the hours you give us.
Yes. In the national numbering plan, Newcastle charging district numbers start (02) 49, (02) 40, (02) 41 or (02) 30. Your number stays with your phone company and forwards to your assistant’s own Australian mobile number. A landline forwards differently to a mobile, so ring us and we’ll sort it out with you and your provider.
If you want it to. Text us what it should say about sewer overflows, outages or shocks, 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, 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 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
