When you’re under a house and the phone goes, it answers as your business, says it’s your assistant and books the job in. The urgent ones get texted to you.
OffsiteMate’s AI receptionist answers the phone for Port Macquarie tradies when they can’t. It says it’s your assistant, gets the caller’s name, street and what’s wrong, books routine work at times you’re free and texts you emergencies straight away, then 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 in Wagga Wagga, so it’s all done over the phone, and it’s live within a few days.
Port Macquarie has a few local things worth knowing, starting with the purple pipes the council switched on in September.
Port Macquarie Hastings Council turned on recycled water to connected homes in Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills on Wednesday 30 September 2026. Connected homes in Thrumster are next, some time in 2027 (council recycled water page and news release, read October 2026).
It comes through purple pipes, taps and meters that are kept separate from the drinking water. The council says it’s fine for toilets, the cold-water connection on the washing machine, the garden and washing the car. It isn’t for drinking, cooking, showers, pools, spas, kids’ water toys or rainwater tanks.
Before it connects a new house, the council inspects the plumbing for cross-connections. It also suggests owners check their own every year. If that check turns up something wrong, it’s plumber work.
Your assistant takes those calls like any other job. Tell us what you want it to ask, such as whether the tap or the meter is purple, and it asks.
The council looks after the sewer up to the property’s connection point, which is often on the boundary. Its sewer page sets out who does what.
The vertical inspection shaft has a flat PVC cover and sits near where the property’s drains meet the council sewer. If it’s empty, the blockage is on the property side and it’s a plumber’s job.
If it’s full or partly full, the blockage may be the council’s. Report it on (02) 6581 8111 and the council will inspect and say whose it is.
The council says it doesn’t automatically pay a plumber’s bill for unblocking its pipes if it didn’t authorise the work. If you’re not sure whose pipe it is, ring first.
That’s a surcharge, and the council asks people to ring it directly on (02) 6581 8111.
When it’s the network’s problem, these are the lines. Want callers pointed to one of them? Text us and we’ll set it up.
Essential Energy, 13 20 80. The call centre is in Australia and never closes. Essential Energy’s head office is in Buller Street, Port Macquarie.
Port Macquarie Hastings Council, (02) 6581 8111. Outside business hours the call goes through to the council’s after-hours call centre.
Once the power is back after a cut, the council says silence the alarm, stop using water and wait an hour. If the warning light is still on, contact the council. In a fault, the tank holds up to about two days of normal use.
From Essential Energy’s contact page and the council’s contact, sewer and pressure sewer pages, read October 2026. There’s no gas line here: none of the regions on the NSW Government’s list of gas networks covers Port Macquarie. From October 2026 Essential Energy may also shift controlled load hot water heating on some days, Port Macquarie included. Our Coffs Harbour page has the details.
Calls on these days get answered like any other, at the same price. Jobs only get booked on them if your hours say so, so text us the ones you take off.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Summer and Easter | ||
| New Year’s Day | Thursday 1 January | Friday 1 January |
| Australia Day | Monday 26 January | Tuesday 26 January |
| 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 |
| Autumn to spring | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 page, read October 2026. Port Macquarie-Hastings has no local public holiday or local event day on the NSW lists for 2026 or 2027. Kempsey’s show and cup afternoons are local event days in 2026, and NSW says those aren’t public holidays for work purposes.
The ABS counted 1,610 construction businesses in the Port Macquarie-Hastings council area at 30 June 2025, more than any other industry. Health care was next, with 927 (ABS Data by Region, read October 2026).
The count has gone up every year since 2021, when it was 1,440. That area takes in Wauchope and Laurieton as well as the town, which had 53,369 people at 30 June 2025 (ABS estimate).
With that many in one council area, an unanswered call is an easy one for someone else to win. Your assistant picks up instead, gets the job details and books routine work into ServiceM8, Fergus, Google Calendar or Outlook. If you’d still like first go at each call, it can ring your phone first and pick up only when you don’t.
Building Commission NSW looks after trade licences, and anyone can check one on Service NSW’s Verify.licence. Builders and tradespeople need an individual contractor licence for building work where labour and materials come to more than A$5,000 (NSW Government, read October 2026).
Once we have your licence number, a caller who asks for it gets it.
A plumber fielding purple-pipe questions and a painter chasing quotes need different calls flagged. Pick your trade to see the setup we start from.
Port Macquarie pays what everyone else pays. Which card is yours comes down to headcount.
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 setup is done over the phone, so nobody has to drive anywhere. Ring us on 0468 075 000 and a human answers.
Yes, if you’d like it to. Send us the wording for blocked drain calls and we’ll add it. Either way, it gets the details and texts you anything urgent.
Yes, any hour, every day, at the same price. It keeps NSW time, including daylight saving from 4 October 2026 to 4 April 2027, and only books jobs on a holiday if your hours include it.
Yes. In the national numbering plan, 02 covers most of NSW. The number stays with your phone company, and you set it to forward to your assistant’s own Australian mobile number. On a mobile that’s a short code. Landlines and phone systems work differently, so ring us and we’ll work it out with you and your provider.
It does the job of one. It’s an AI assistant with an Australian voice that tells callers who it is and that the call may be recorded, then books the work in. We set it up and read what it says.
Ours is A$299 a month for a sole trader, with 100 minutes and 150 texts included, plus A$299 to set up. Teams pay A$449 a month for 2 to 4 people or A$799 for 5 to 10. No GST is added, and it’s 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
