Canberra is unusual among Australian capitals because its tech market is heavily skewed toward federal government work. Major contractors (KPMG, Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini, Boston Consulting), specialist gov-tech firms, and an enormous pool of contractors-to-government dominate the local senior tech labour market. For businesses outside this ecosystem — Canberra startups, small private SMBs, university-adjacent ventures, and ACT-based DTC brands — accessing senior tech expertise is harder and more expensive than the local economy might suggest.
I work with Canberra businesses remotely from the Philippines. Same Australian native English, AEST/AEDT-aligned hours, and a price point that's well below the government-sector contractor rates that distort the local market. I don't take on work that requires Australian government security clearances or that touches federal government systems. This page covers the rest.
Canberra's tech market in 2026
Specifics that influence how I work with Canberra clients:
Federal government dominance. Most senior tech work in Canberra is for, or adjacent to, the federal government. Local senior contractors charge AUD $1,200–$2,200/day because government rates support those rates. This creates pricing distortion for non-government work — local senior consultants rarely take on small private projects because their gov clients pay better.
Specific clearance requirements. A meaningful portion of Canberra tech work requires Australian government security clearance (Baseline, NV1, NV2, Positive Vetting). Foreign nationals (including Australian citizens working from abroad) generally cannot get clearance for sensitive roles. My work explicitly excludes this category.
Active university spinout scene. ANU, UC, and CIT generate startups and research-driven ventures. These typically have small budgets and benefit from remote senior contracting.
SME and family business pockets. Canberra has a real but small cohort of mid-market businesses (services, hospitality, retail) outside the government ecosystem. These businesses often have software needs and small or non-existent IT teams.
E-commerce smaller than other capitals. Canberra DTC brands are fewer than Sydney/Melbourne/Gold Coast equivalents, but they exist and have similar Shopify/WordPress challenges.
What I do for Canberra businesses
Same services as elsewhere, but explicitly excluding any government-clearance-required work:
Full-stack web development for SaaS and bootstrapped founders. Particularly relevant for Canberra university spinouts and post-graduate-stage ventures. See Full-Stack for SaaS Startups and Bootstrappers.
WordPress to custom stack migration. Canberra has older WordPress installations from agency builds. Migration without losing rankings is regular work. See WordPress to Custom Stack Migration.
Shopify Plus L3 support. Canberra DTC brands hit the same performance and integration issues. See L3 Tech for Shopify Plus.
Executive Assistant work. Canberra has a population of solo consultants and professional services owners using EA support. See EA for Solo Founders.
Mixed monthly retainer. The most common arrangement, particularly for Canberra SMBs whose tech needs are real but not government-scale. See Lead Steer Monthly Retainer.
What I don't do
Important to be explicit:
I don't take on work requiring Australian government security clearance. This includes any federal government contracts, work for clearance-required tier 1 vendors, work on systems that handle classified data, or work for Defence-adjacent clients with offshoring restrictions.
I don't take on work for tier 1 government IT contractors. The big contractors (KPMG, Accenture, etc.) usually have offshoring restrictions in their procurement contracts.
I don't take on work for ACT government contracts with Australian-only clauses. Check the contract terms.
If your work fits any of these categories, you need a Canberra-local senior contractor with appropriate clearance. I can sometimes refer you to people I trust, but I'm not the right person.
How working remotely with a Canberra business actually works
Specifics:
AEST/AEDT timezone alignment. Same as Sydney and Melbourne. Manila's 8am–5pm overlaps with Canberra's 10am–7pm in summer, 9am–6pm in winter. Generous overlap.
Australian English fluency. No communication friction.
Direct contracting. ABN invoices in USD, payment via Wise. Standard contractor arrangement (for non-government work).
No onsite component. I don't fly to Canberra.
Canberra university spinouts — a specific use case
A pattern at Canberra universities: a researcher or postgrad student has built something that has commercial potential. They need to turn the research prototype into a real product. The university has limited tech support; commercial-grade development is needed.
For these ventures, the math is brutal:
- Local senior contractor: AUD $1,500–$2,000/day. A 3-month MVP build is AUD $90k+. Beyond what most spinouts can fund.
- Local junior contractor: AUD $400/day. Affordable but often inadequate quality for commercial-grade work.
- Remote senior contractor: USD $50/hour. A 3-month MVP build is USD $8k–$15k = AUD $12k–$23k. Budget-feasible.
Most Canberra spinouts I work with use remote senior contracting for the first 12–18 months until they have revenue or funding to consider local hiring.
Canberra non-government SMBs
Pattern: family business, services firm, or small retailer in Canberra needing technical work outside the government ecosystem. Common needs:
- Custom integrations between business systems
- Migration off legacy software
- Custom CRM extensions
- E-commerce platform work
- Practice management for small professional services
For these businesses, the retainer arrangement (5–10 hours/month at $500/month) is usually the right shape. They get senior expertise on predictable monthly cost without the gov-sector contractor markup.
Pricing for Canberra clients
Same global pricing, billed in USD:
- $50 USD/hr for ad-hoc work
- $75 USD/hr for emergency / out-of-hours response (non-government)
- $500 USD/mo for the Lead Steer 10-hour retainer
- $50 USD/hr for retainer overflow
In AUD: about AUD $76/hr ad-hoc, AUD $760/mo retainer. Compare to Canberra senior contractor rates of AUD $200–$300/hour for non-government work, $300–$500/hour for cleared/government work.
When you should hire a Canberra-local instead
Honest situations:
- You need someone with government security clearance. Hire a Canberra-local. I'm not eligible.
- Onsite work is required. I don't fly to Canberra.
- You're working on government-adjacent contracts with offshoring restrictions. Check the contract terms.
- ACT government contracts with local-preference clauses. Local hire required.
- You're hiring full-time, not contracting. I'm a contractor.
For everything else — most non-government SMB work, university spinouts, private startups, DTC brands — remote senior with AEST alignment is usually the better economics.
How to start
The first call is free, 30 minutes. Be upfront about whether your work touches government or has clearance requirements — if it does, I'll save us both time by pointing you toward Canberra-locals I trust. If it doesn't, we can talk about the work directly.
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This page describes how I work with Canberra businesses specifically (non-government). The strategic guides are at Offshore Hiring for Western SMBs, Full-Stack for Founders, and L3 Tech Without an IT Team.