What an AI consultant costs in Australia.
Published rates put AI consultants in Australia at about A$1,000 to A$2,200 a day, and focused projects from around A$20,000. What you actually pay depends far more on how the work is scoped than on the day rate.
Published market rates
| Work | Published rate |
|---|---|
| Advisory and strategy | A$1,000 to A$1,500 a day |
| Implementation | A$1,500 to A$2,200 a day |
| Senior generative-AI and agent specialists | A$2,200 to A$4,500 a day |
| Fractional AI advisory | A$8,000 to A$18,000 a month |
| A defined project | From around A$20,000 for a focused build, to A$500,000 or more for an enterprise transformation |
Source: Expert360, read 27 September 2026. These are market rates, not mine.
The four ways the work is priced
Day rate
You pay for time. Flexible, and the hardest to budget, because the scope can grow while the meter runs.
A fixed-scope diagnostic
A set fee for a set piece of work: a map of how the business runs and what to fix first. The cheapest way to find out whether a bigger project is worth doing.
A fixed-scope build
A set fee for a defined result, agreed before work starts. The risk of the scope sits with the consultant, not with you.
A monthly retainer
A fractional arrangement: a set number of days a month, ongoing. Useful once you know what the work is, expensive before you do.
What drives the cost
- How clear the problem is. A vague brief is paid for twice: once to find the problem, once to fix it.
- Whether the consultant advises or builds. A strategy deck costs less than a working system, and does less.
- The state of your systems and data. Tidy, well-kept accounts are quicker to build on.
- Regulated work. Health, finance and legal work needs checks built in, and those take time.
- Handover. A system your team can run needs guides and training, and that should be in the price.
How to keep it down
- Start with a fixed-scope diagnostic rather than an open-ended engagement.
- Fix one workflow first, prove it, then decide on the next.
- Insist that everything is built in your own accounts, so you're never paying to get your own system back.
- Get the scope and the result in writing before any work starts.
How I price
Fixed scope, agreed before the work starts. I quote once I know what we're fixing, so I don't publish a fee: the same number would be too much for one business and too little for another. The first 30 minute call is free, and the usual first step is the Growth Map, two weeks, which tells you whether a build is worth paying for at all.
Common questions
How much does an AI consultant cost in Australia?
Published rates put AI consultants at about A$1,000 to A$2,200 a day, higher for senior generative-AI specialists, with focused projects from around A$20,000 (Expert360, September 2026). The scope decides the total more than the rate does.
Is a day rate or a fixed price better for a small business?
A fixed price, in most cases. It puts the risk of the scope on the consultant and gives you a number to budget against.
What costs come on top of the consultant's fee?
Usually the software itself: subscriptions for the tools the system runs on, and usage charges for AI models. Ask for an estimate of these running costs before you agree to a build.
What do you charge?
I quote after the first call, once I know the scope, and I don't publish a fee. The first 30 minute call is free.
Get a scope, not a guess
Tell me what's going on in a free 30 minute call, and I'll tell you what I'd look at first and what it would take.