Guide

There is no Australian law that sets a specific vending machine button height. What applies is the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 — a general duty on any venue providing goods and services to not discriminate and to make reasonable adjustments, unless doing so causes unjustifiable hardship. In practice that means an accessible machine placed in an accessible spot: controls and payment within reach, cashless tap-to-pay, a legible display, and clear floor space in front for a wheelchair. The operator supplies the machine. The venue supplies the location. ...

One combined snacks-and-drinks machine covers most Sydney workplaces up to about 80 people on site each day. Above that, split into a dedicated drink machine and a snack machine — two units. A 150-plus person site needs two to three machines, and a multi-floor building needs one per busy area. You don’t calculate this yourself. A full-service operator works it out from a free site check. ...

About one square metre of floor space. A full-size machine is roughly 1.8m tall, 0.9m wide and 0.8m deep — the footprint of a bar fridge, just taller — plus a standard 10-amp power point and about a metre of clearance in front. If you have a clear metre of wall and a power point, a vending machine fits. ...

A vending machine is only as sustainable as the operator running it. ...

Nothing you have to handle. A full-service vending operator sees your office go quiet through the Christmas shutdown — sales drop to zero, remote monitoring flags it — and adjusts automatically. Restocking is paused so short-dated stock doesn’t sit and expire. The machine stays in place, kept cold and maintained, and it’s restocked fresh before your staff walk back in January. Your venue does nothing, and pays nothing beyond the usual small electricity cost. ...

Yes — you can put a vending machine outside at your Sydney venue, but only an outdoor-rated machine. A standard indoor vending machine is not built for sun, rain, dust, or heat. It will fail outside. The good news: a full-service operator supplies the right machine for the site, so the venue still pays nothing upfront. ...

For a vending machine inside your existing Sydney building — an office, gym, warehouse, or break room — you generally don’t need council approval, a development application, or a food licence. Permits only come into play if the machine goes on public land. And the food-safety obligations sit with the operator, not the venue. ...

No. A modern cashless vending machine needs no WiFi and no building network. It runs on its own built-in cellular connection — like a phone, but managed by the operator, not you. Your venue provides one thing: a standard 240V power outlet. ...

When a vending machine takes money and doesn’t dispense, the failed transaction is almost always reversed automatically — and with a full-service operator, the venue never handles the refund. ...

In Sydney, expect to pay roughly $2 to $4.50 for a snack and $3 to $5.50 for a drink from a vending machine in 2026. That sits roughly in line with a convenience store and below a cafe or canteen — and under a zero-upfront full-service model, the operator sets those prices, so your venue pays for none of it. The question you’re really asking isn’t “what do the numbers say”. It’s “will my staff feel ripped off?” The answer lives in the comparison, not the sticker. ...