Labour Hire
Concreting Labour Hire Melbourne (2026)
Concreting labour hire Melbourne is the fastest way to fill a slab pour, footing or driveway crew when your regular concreters are booked. On Yakka Labour you post the suburb, pour date and AUD band, and ticketed concreters and slab labourers across Greater Melbourne apply directly — usually the same day. Yakka Labour is the marketplace, not the workwear brand with a similar name. Rates below are market observations; confirm the award on Fair Work.
Melbourne pours are unforgiving: the truck is booked, the pump is on the clock and Tullamarine weather changes by lunch. That is why builders from Werribee to Cranbourne keep a second channel for labour. This guide covers who to hire, indicative 2026 costs, Victorian tickets and how to write a brief that gets replies within an hour.
Who do you actually need on a Melbourne pour?
A concreting crew is not one job title. For most residential and light-commercial slabs you are hiring three layers of skill, and mixing them wrong is the usual reason a pour runs late.
| Role | Does | Indicative Melbourne band (AUD/hr) |
|---|---|---|
| Slab labourer | Wheelbarrow, rake, shovel, vibrate, strip forms | $40–55 |
| Concreter / finisher | Screed, bull-float, edge, trowel, cure | $55–80 |
| Formworker | Set boxing, pegs, levels, steel placement | $50–75 |
| Pump operator | Runs the line pump or boom (licensed) | $65–95 |
Bands are 2026 market observations for Greater Melbourne and move with pour size, start time and travel. Compare against the national picture in the 2026 labour hire rates guide and confirm the Building and Construction General On-site Award on Fair Work before you agree a number.
How much does concreting labour hire cost in Melbourne?
For a standard 100 m² house slab in Melbourne's growth corridors, budget roughly $1,400–2,400 in labour for a four-person crew across a six-hour pour, excluding the concrete and pump. That works out to slab labourers at $40–55/hr and finishers at $55–80/hr in 2026 market terms. Early starts before 6am, Saturday pours and CBD or Docklands sites with restricted access sit at the top of the band or above it. Agencies typically add a margin on top of the worker's pay; on Yakka Labour you agree the AUD rate directly with each worker, so the band you post is what you pay through the platform. Always add allowances the award requires and confirm current minimums on Fair Work — the bands here are observations, not legal rates. Our labour hire cost breakdown explains margins versus marketplace pricing.
Which tickets do concreters need in Victoria?
Every person on a Victorian construction site must hold a general construction induction card — the White Card (CPCWHS1001). That covers slab labourers and finishers. Anyone operating a concrete pump, boom or other plant needs the relevant high-risk work licence or plant competency, and a worker driving the agi or tipper needs the correct truck licence class. Melbourne builders should also check that workers understand WorkSafe Victoria's silica and manual-handling requirements — cutting and grinding cured concrete generates respirable crystalline silica, and dust control is now a live compliance issue on inspections. On Yakka Labour, ask applicants to list their card numbers in the reply and photograph the physical cards at induction. Keep a copy with your site records; it is the first thing an inspector asks for after an incident. For a broader checklist see labour hire compliance in Australia.
Writing a brief that gets replies
- Suburb and access: "Point Cook, pump on street, 6:30am truck".
- Pour type and size: 120 m² waffle-pod slab, 100 mm, exposed edge finish.
- Roles and count: 2 finishers, 2 labourers, 1 formwork strip after lunch.
- AUD band per role and whether travel is paid.
- Tickets: White Card mandatory; finishers to list recent slab references.
Briefs with an AUD band and a start time get roughly three times the replies of "need concreters ASAP" posts. If you are also short on excavation or trench labour before the pour, the same approach works on our excavation labour hire guide — the ticket and brief logic is identical in Victoria.
Melbourne areas where concreting labour is in demand
Volume sits in the outer growth corridors — Wyndham, Melton, Hume, Casey and Cardinia — where estate slabs pour every week. Inner suburbs like Brunswick, Richmond and Footscray skew to renovation footings, polished floors and driveways, which need more finishers than labourers. Yakka Labour lets you filter concreters by home suburb, so a Sunbury builder is not paying travel for a Frankston crew. Browse the concreters available on Yakka or the wider labour hire Melbourne guide for other trades.
Paying and keeping records
Agree the AUD rate in writing inside the platform before the first shift, confirm hours at knock-off and pay through Yakka's flow so both sides have a record. Casual loading, allowances and minimums come from the award, not from this article — see how to pay labourers for the mechanics.
Also see: concreting labour hire Sydney.
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