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View all →Deep, independent breakdowns of what things really cost in Australia, audited against our own live price data.
Cost reportOne Neighbour's Share of a Collapsed Wall Cost More Than Three New Ones
A retaining wall can need approval once it holds back more than half a metre in Western Australia and more than 1 m in Queensland and South Australia, and Tasmania sets 500 mm for walls within 1.5 m of a boundary. In Fangyuan v Stockwell, decided by Queensland's District Court in November 2024, an unapproved timber boundary wall up to 2.4 m high partly collapsed, and the parties agreed its replacement would cost $61,006. The court held the uphill neighbours 50% responsible, a share worth more than three typical new retaining walls at Going Rate's prices.
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Cost reportHydronic Costs 4x a Heated Room. Whole-House Electric Slab Runs Dearer Than Gas Hydronic
At Going Rate's prices, a hydronic heating system costs over four times as much to install as a typical electric underfloor job. That electric job usually heats one room or zone, so the two prices cover different amounts of house. Sustainability Victoria's archived mid-2025 figures show what happens when electric floor heating covers the whole house. For an unzoned 160 m² pre-2005 Melbourne house heated to 20°C, excluding supply charges, whole-house electric in-slab heating costs about three-quarters more a year to run than A-rated gas hydronic.
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Cost reportSome Trades Need $5m Public Liability by Law. Qld Government and Some Councils Want $20m
Business.gov.au says public liability is insurance that some states and territories need for certain occupations. Where a statute names an amount, it is $5 million, for Queensland electrical contractors, Victorian licensed plumbers and Tasmanian electrical, plumbing and gas contractors. The $20 million figures tradies hear about come from particular clients, such as Queensland Government prequalification, Bathurst Regional Council and City of Melbourne public-space permits. The cover the law does force on many trades is workers compensation once they employ staff, and home warranty insurance on residential jobs above a set value.
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Cost reportIs Red Light Therapy Worth It? Recovery Tech's Price Ladder Runs Backwards
For muscle soreness after exercise, the recovery treatment with the most trials behind it is also the cheapest. At Going Rate's prices, whole-body cryotherapy costs twice as much per session as an ice bath, and the 2015 Cochrane review of it covered 64 people. A red light session costs one and a half times an ice bath, and the meta-analyses of it disagree. Ice baths have a documented downside of their own. A 2021 meta-analysis found regular use after weights training reduced strength gains.
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Cost reportOn a Chronic Condition GP Plan, Medicare Covers Over Half a Chiro Visit. Extras, a Third
Medicare item 10964 pays back about 58% of a typical chiropractic visit at Going Rate's prices, but only for people with an eligible chronic condition and a GP chronic condition management plan, and only for 5 services a calendar year shared across all allied health. Private health extras paid an average $36 per chiropractic service in the June 2026 quarter, APRA figures show, about a third of the same visit. A single visit can be claimed on Medicare or on extras, never both. For people who qualify, the Medicare benefit is nearly 1.8 times the extras average, and physio, podiatry and every other allied health visit on the plan draw on the same 5.
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Cost reportQueensland Bathroom Claims Average About Three Times a Typical Tiling Job
Residential bathroom claims finalised under Queensland's Home Warranty Scheme in 2024-25 averaged almost $25,000 in rectification costs, the QBCC says. That is about three times a typical porcelain tiling job at Going Rate's prices. Floor tiling was the fourth most common building defect the QBCC recorded that year, and Godfrey Hirst's 25-year hybrid warranty excludes flooding, leaking pipes and any room with a built-in drain. Going Rate prices six floors below and sets each against the defects, tolerances and warranty terms that decide what a failure costs.
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Cost reportOne Queensland Rock Bill Cost Slightly More Than Three Pre-Build Surveys Combined
In a 2018 Queensland tribunal case, a builder billed the owners $7,181.99 for rock found in a tank excavation the day before handover, and the owners paid it to get the keys. That one bill came to slightly more than a boundary survey, a contour survey and a standard soil test combined at Going Rate's prices. In Victoria and Queensland the law makes the builder obtain foundations data, with regard to the fall of the land, before the contract is signed, and bars later charges for anything that data could reasonably have shown. Each report has a different gatekeeper and a different person meant to pay for it.
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