Diesel and heavy vehicle mechanic recruitment for regional employers

Motor mechanics, the occupation group that includes diesel specialists, detect and diagnose mechanical and electrical faults, dismantle and repair engines, transmissions and steering, and carry out scheduled servicing.⁵ The Vehicle Repair, Services and Retail Award 2020 describes a plant mechanic as a tradesperson repairing or overhauling wheeled, tracked or tractor-type mobile equipment used in construction, earthmoving, prime movers and agriculture.⁶

The national trade qualification is AUR31120 Certificate III in Heavy Commercial Vehicle Mechanical Technology.⁷ For a field service role, the brief usually adds a heavy vehicle driver licence and the site inductions your equipment needs.

Where the Vehicle Repair, Services and Retail Award 2020 covers the role, a qualified diesel or heavy vehicle mechanic (tradesperson level 1) must be paid at least $1,119.10 a week, or $29.45 an hour, from 1 July 2026. A tool allowance of $13.86 a week also applies if you require the mechanic to provide their own hand tools.^6,18 The award covers businesses principally connected with repairing, servicing and selling vehicles, so a mechanic employed by a mine, a manufacturer or another business with a different main activity usually falls under that industry's award.⁶

For market pay, the closest published figure is for the wider Motor Mechanics group, which includes light vehicle mechanics: a median of $1,622 a week, or $40 an hour, for full-time workers in May 2025, nationally.⁴ No separate figure exists for diesel or heavy vehicle mechanics, so we talk with you about the rate, allowances and roster that will attract them to your location.

Tell us what the mechanic will work on, from prime movers and buses to excavators, haul trucks or harvesters, and whether the work is in a workshop, in the field or both. Name the engine and equipment makes, the diagnostic software and any certificate class your state requires.

Then the terms that decide the shortlist: the roster and on-call duties, a service vehicle and the driver licence it needs, tools supplied or not, accommodation for remote work, and the rate and allowances you can offer.

Tell us whether the role is residential, drive-in drive-out or fly-in fly-out, where the point of hire is and how the roster runs. We describe the roster, the camp or housing and the travel honestly at the start.

We start with mechanics who already live in or near your region, then widen the search to those willing to relocate or commute on a roster. Tell us about relocation help, housing or a vehicle, and we put it in front of candidates.

If the right person needs a visa or sponsorship, our sister business Australian Immigration Agency can advise.

Register with Hire Australia and tell us the equipment you work on, your certificate if your state issues one, your driver licence and the roster or town you want. We will talk with you about regional diesel roles that fit.