// AUSTRALIAN TRADIE RATES AND BENCHMARKS 2026
How much do painters charge per hour in Australia?
As of August 2026, painters in Australia charge $50 to $100 per hour, with averages clustering between $60 and $70. Day rates run $300 to $800, around $500 on average. Fewer than half of painting quotes are hourly; many painters price per job, per day or per square metre.
Last updated: 7 August 2026. Sources: 7 industry datasets.
// THE DATA
Hourly rates in detail
Painter pricing shows the widest definitional spread of any trade on this site. The safe national band is $50 to $100 per hour with averages clustering $60 to $70: ServiceSeeking's 2026 average is $62.95 from $25 (39% of quotes hourly), WhatsTheDamage lists $50 to $100 with $70 typical, and The Quote Yard has metro at $55 to $100 against regional at $50 to $90.
Painters also quote per square metre. ServiceSeeking's average per-square-metre labour figure is $45.13, from the 18% of quotes priced that way. Per-metre definitions mix labour-only and paint-included pricing, so always confirm what a per-metre quote covers before comparing.
| Rate | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National range | $50 to $100 per hour | WhatsTheDamage, updated Aug 2026; The Quote Yard, 18 Mar 2026 |
| Typical rate | $70 per hour | WhatsTheDamage $70 typical; ServiceSeeking average $62.95 |
| Capital city band* | $70 to $110 per hour | Airtasker, updated 04 Jun 2025 |
| Sydney* | $74 to $110 per hour | Airtasker, updated 04 Jun 2025 |
| Melbourne* | $79 to $87 per hour | Airtasker, updated 04 Jun 2025 |
| Brisbane* | $84 to $88 per hour | Airtasker, updated 04 Jun 2025 |
| Perth* | $82 to $87 per hour | Airtasker, updated 04 Jun 2025 |
| Adelaide* | $70 to $85 per hour | Airtasker, updated 04 Jun 2025 |
Rows marked * are single-sourced; treat them as indicative rather than settled benchmarks.
Geographic rows show the average charged (Airtasker, updated 04 Jun 2025).
WhatsTheDamage publishes much lower per-city starting rates (Sydney $57, Brisbane $50; verified August 2026). The gap is definitional, a starting rate versus an average charged, so this table uses the Airtasker averages and labels them accordingly.
Prices are what customers are quoted, including GST where the business is registered.
// CALL-OUT FEES
Call-out fees
Painters rarely charge a fixed call-out fee; minimum charges vary from about $60 to $250, and many painters quote per job instead. The published figures genuinely conflict, $60 to $100 from The Quote Yard (18 Mar 2026) against $150 to $250 from Brushworks (19 Jan 2026), and both are single-sourced, so the honest presentation is the full spread.
Where a minimum exists it covers attendance and setup. Sheeting up, cutting in and cleanup cost the same on a tiny job as a big one, which is what makes very small painting jobs disproportionately expensive per hour.
// DAY RATES
Day rates
Day rates are better evidenced than call-outs for painters. ServiceSeeking's 2026 average is $498.36 per day from $250, with 23% of painting quotes priced by the day, and it sits inside Painters Link Group's published national band.
| Rate | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National range | $300 to $800 per day | Painters Link Group, 22 Jun 2025 |
| Sydney and Melbourne | $400 to $800 per day | Painters Link Group, 22 Jun 2025 |
| Regional | $300 to $500 per day | Painters Link Group, 22 Jun 2025 |
| 2026 average | $498.36 per day | ServiceSeeking, 10 Feb 2026 (23% of quotes daily, from $250 per day) |
// THE COST FLOOR
Why rates are what they are: the cost floor
An employed painter's award minimum wage, including all-purpose allowances, is $31.12 per hour (Fair Work, Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020), 2026). The rate a painter business charges customers is $50 to $100 per hour. The difference pays for the ute, insurance, tools, super, unbillable hours and the business's risk.
At $31.12 an hour under the award, adding 12% super brings the bare employee cost to $34.85 before a brush, a drop sheet or an insurance premium is bought. A painter charging $40 an hour keeps about $5 an hour to run the entire business, which is why quoted rates sit at $50 to $100.
The $34.85 employee-cost figure is a derivation, the award hourly rate multiplied by 1.12 for the Superannuation Guarantee, not a published statistic. Award classification: Level 3 (CW/ECW 3) painter or glazier.
// FREE TOOL
Work out your own rate
A painting business quoting at the bottom of the $50 to $100 band is often subsidising its customers without noticing. Put your own wage, insurance and unbillable hours into the calculator and find the hourly rate your quotes should be built on.
Charge-out rate and day rate calculator Opens with the painter preset loaded// COMMON QUESTIONS
Painter rate questions
Straight answers to the questions people actually search, from the same dataset as the tables above.
Get in touchHow much do painters charge per hour in Australia?
As of August 2026, painters charge $50 to $100 per hour nationally, with averages clustering between $60 and $70. Airtasker's per-city data puts average charged rates at $70 to $110 per hour in the capitals, with Sydney topping the range.
How much do painters charge per day?
Between $300 and $800 per day nationally, averaging about $500. Sydney and Melbourne run $400 to $800 and regional areas $300 to $500. Around 23% of painting quotes are priced by the day.
Do painters charge a call-out fee?
Rarely as a fixed fee. Published minimum charges conflict, from about $60 to $100 in one 2026 source to $150 to $250 in another, and many painters simply quote per job after seeing it. Ask what any minimum covers before booking.
How much do painters charge per square metre?
ServiceSeeking's 2026 data puts average per-square-metre labour at $45.13, with 18% of quotes priced that way. Definitions vary between labour-only and paint-included figures, so always confirm what a per-metre price covers before comparing quotes.
Do painters charge GST on top?
Quoted prices are generally GST-inclusive where the painting business is registered for GST, and this page shows prices as customers are quoted them. On bigger repaints, check that the written quote states GST is included rather than assuming it.
// METHODOLOGY & SOURCES
Sources and methodology
Ranges on this page combine 7 published Australian datasets and cost guides, cross-checked on 7 August 2026; award wage floors come from official Fair Work pay guides effective 1 July 2026. This page is part of the Australian Tradie Rates and Benchmarks dataset. This dataset is reviewed and republished every July following the Fair Work annual wage review.
- ServiceSeeking, house painter prices 2026
Page date: Published 10 Feb 2026. Accessed 7 August 2026.
- WhatsTheDamage, painter cost guide
Page date: Updated Aug 2026. Accessed 7 August 2026.
- Airtasker, house painter cost guide
Page date: Updated 04 Jun 2025. Accessed 7 August 2026.
- The Quote Yard, how much tradies charge per hour
Page date: Published 18 Mar 2026. Accessed 7 August 2026.
- Brushworks, painter per hour rate (Sydney vendor blog, tertiary; Sydney only)
Page date: Published 19 Jan 2026. Accessed 7 August 2026.
- Painters Link Group, how much painters charge per day (vendor blog, tertiary)
Page date: Published 22 Jun 2025. Accessed 7 August 2026.
- Fair Work pay guide, MA000020 (effective 1 Jul 2026)
Page date: Pay guide dated 2 Jul 2026. Accessed 7 August 2026.
// KEEP EXPLORING