Where you can place vending machines in Australia

Private premises: the bread and butter

The overwhelming majority of placements are on private premises — factories, warehouses, distribution centres, workshops, depots, offices, call centres, gyms, clubs and pubs. On private property the only permission that matters is that of the person or entity who controls the site, which normally means the occupying business.

Where the site leases the building, check the lease. Some leases restrict what tenants can install in common areas or require the landlord's consent for third-party equipment. It is rarely a problem in a break room, and often is one in a foyer or shared corridor.

• • Break rooms, lunch rooms and crib rooms — easiest approval, best usage
• • Corridors and near time clocks — high traffic, confirm egress isn't blocked
• • Foyers and reception — usually needs landlord or centre approval
• • Workshop floors — check dust, heat and forklift traffic before committing

Shopping centres, clubs and licensed venues

In a shopping centre the tenant cannot usually authorise a machine in common area space — that is centre management's to sell, and they treat it as a leasing transaction with a licence fee or revenue share. Expect a formal casual-mall-licence style arrangement rather than a handshake.

Clubs, RSLs, pubs and leisure centres are decided by the venue manager or board, and are the natural home for ATM, cigarette, ice and photo booth placements. Licensed premises carry their own regulatory conditions, and anything age-restricted brings state-specific obligations you must confirm before you install.

Public land, schools and hospitals

Machines on or fronting public land generally need council approval, and requirements differ from council to council. Treat any footpath, park, transport interchange or council facility as a permit conversation, not a sales conversation.

Schools, hospitals and government facilities almost always run procurement processes and healthy-choices or nutrition policies that dictate what can be sold. They can be excellent long-term sites, but they are a tender exercise rather than a cold call.

Who pays for what

The standard split is simple: the operator owns, installs, stocks, services and insures the machine; the site provides the floor space and the power point. Staff or visitors pay for what they buy. That is why the pitch to a workplace is so strong — the amenity costs the business next to nothing.

Payment to the site, where there is any, is a commission on gross sales rather than rent. Workplace amenity placements frequently run at zero commission because the machine is a staff benefit. Footfall venues — clubs, gyms, centres — negotiate on commission and sometimes on a fixed licence fee. Rates vary widely; treat anything quoted as a starting point rather than a market standard.

Electricity is normally the site's contribution. If a site pushes back on it, either absorb it in your commission calculation or agree a small fixed monthly contribution, and write down whatever you settle on.

• • Operator: machine, freight, install, stock, service, cash handling, insurance
• • Site: floor space, power, reasonable access for restocking and repairs
• • Optional: commission on sales, or a licence fee in commercial common areas

Typical agreement structures

Most workplace placements sit on a short written agreement with rolling renewal — often a twelve-month initial term, then month to month with 30 to 60 days' notice either side. Sites rarely commit long to something they can cancel, and operators should not want a term they cannot exit if the site turns out to be quiet.

Longer terms are traded, not requested. If a site wants a better machine, a second machine, a refurbishment or a higher commission, that is when a two or three-year term is reasonable.

Commercial common-area placements in centres are the exception: they are licence agreements on the centre's paper, with defined fees, insurance requirements and fit-out conditions.

• • Parties, site address and the exact machine and its position
• • Who supplies power, and access hours for restocking and repairs
• • Service and restock frequency, and a fault response commitment
• • Commission rate if any, how it is calculated, and payment timing
• • Ownership: machine, stock and cash remain the operator's property
• • Insurance: public and product liability, certificate of currency on request
• • Exclusivity — whether the site can bring in a second operator
• • Term, renewal, notice period, and the removal and make-good process

Before you install: the practical checklist

The most expensive mistake in the business is a signed site the machine cannot get into. Confirm the physical detail on the call, not on delivery day.

• • Roughly 80 cm of clear wall, with clearance for the door to open
• • A standard power point within reach, on a circuit that can carry it
• • Trolley access: door widths, steps, lifts, loading dock hours
• • Who holds keys or grants after-hours and weekend access
• • Who signs, and whether head office needs to approve
• • Food safety obligations for anything chilled or perishable

How SiteFinderAI fits in

SiteFinderAI decides where to spend your calls: it returns ranked Australian sites for your target suburbs and postcodes with venue type, staffing signals, trading hours, a competitor scan of the surrounds with the distance to the closest outlet, an opportunity score and a call script with objection handling.

It does not sign sites or draft agreements. Permission, paperwork and insurance stay with you and the site — and the details above are general information, not legal advice, so confirm council, food safety, tobacco and insurance requirements for your own situation.