If you want to make money online, Australia offers a heap of great opportunities.
Ever since I started working remotely for my Sydney employer, I am constantly asked what I do for a living and how to make money online.
It’s pretty hard to fathom that an ordinary mum could be making a full-time living, working from home in school hours only. But I do!
Start earning online right away with Swagbucks. Watch videos, play games and answer surveys while getting paid for it. Get $5 FREE when you sign up here.
I personally started out working from home for a regular employer when I had my first child and eventually branched out to working for myself (from Australia, Mexico, Ireland, Singapore, New Zealand and anywhere I was really).
I thought if I write an article about covering all the ways to make money online, Australian friends and family might finally understand what I do – and it will benefit my readers too.
If working online interests you – there are so many opportunities. There has never been an easier time to earn money online from Australia.
With the NBN rollout, Australia will soon have a world-class broadband service making internet access faster and easier than ever before.
You might be wondering what’s the best money-making online business you can start. And rightly so – now is the time.
Amazon has opened locally, bringing entirely new opportunities (and challenges) to those currently in retail businesses, or those wanting to work from home.
Note: Just because you’re in Australia, doesn’t mean you have to restrict yourself to customers down under. In fact, I recommend you don’t.
Depending on the type of business you offer, you might have more success in targeting customers in larger economies in Europe, the United Kingdom or even the United States. Over half my income comes from the United States, even though I don’t live there!
16 Ways to Make Money Online – Australian Edition!
Since my entire income for the last three years is from making money online, I wanted to give you a helpful list of ways to earn income online (and from home) from Australia.
1. Take Paid Surveys
Taking surveys for money is an excellent boost to your online income. You can easily earn over $200 per month if you sign up for multiple Australian paid survey companies.
My favourites include Pureprofile, Opinion World and Octopus Group.
If you want to make money from paid surveys, I recommend you join all three sites to maximise your chances of always having a survey available.
I have written a more in-depth review of some of the best-paid surveys Australia has to offer here.
2. Share your online activity
Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel rewards you for sharing your online activity. The simplest of extra income ideas, Nielsen requires you to install a secure piece of software on your computer or mobile and you must keep it installed in order to earn.
Nielsen states the software will not slow down your computer or impact performance in any other ways. Online surveys and other earning opportunities will then appear on your computer as pop-ups as they come available.
You must be the owner of any computer you install the software on and over 18 years of age to participate. Join Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel today.
3. Scan your groceries
Did you know ACNielsen Homescan rewards you for scanning the barcodes of your groceries? This is an easy way to earn vouchers, redeem for items and win prizes in Australia.
Once you’ve signed up, you will be sent a handheld scanner in the mail. The information you enter is transmitted weekly.
Then your account is credited with points which you can use to redeem a range of items from a catalogue including electronics, gift cards, toys and household items.
Click here to join Neilsen Homescan
4. Get cashback and free signup bonuses with Ebates
Ok so this isn’t technically a way to make money, more a saving money tip – but I earn a couple of hundred dollars (US dollars at that!) each year by using Ebates for my online purchases.
Since I buy almost all my books from Book Depository and do travel bookings with hotels.com and booking.com – this really adds up.
Two things to be aware of – you’ll need a Paypal account for payment. That’s easy and free to set up here and simple to transfer from Paypal to an Aussie bank account so you can actually spend the money.
You’ll also get $10USD free when you make a $25USD qualifying purchase when you join with this link.
Ebates will only pay you once your balance hits $5USD, if it’s under the threshold your balance will roll over to the next quarterly payment period.
I’ve been with them for three years and never had a problem getting paid. Plus, it’s money I was going to spend anyway so I’m in love with Ebates.
Click here to join Ebates today
You can read our review of the best Aussie cashback sites here.
5. Watch videos online [$5 Signup Bonus]
You can earn some extra money watching videos online with Swagbucks. It’s not a whole lot, but you can have them running in the background while you cook dinner or do other tasks
Swagbucks also pays you to play games, take surveys and switch your browser to theirs.
Join Swagbucks now and earn $5 right away
6. Start a Service business
Offering a service from home is the simplest way to get started making money online.
You could use the skills you’ve acquired throughout your professional life to create a package of offerings such as appointment making, proposal writing, procurement, travel bookings, personal shopping and more.
If you are prepared to work away from the computer you could use your skills to do the cleaning, ironing and other tasks for customers.
7. Become a Freelance Writer
Can you string a sentence together? If so, freelance writing is an excellent way to work from home, Australia-based and overseas businesses always need content for websites, memos, press releases and more.
Freelance writing was how I got my start working online. I used Upwork to build a profile and wrote for publications in Australia and the U.S.
It was a little difficult writing in American English but the money was worth the effort.
8. Data entry
If you have experience and can type quickly and accurately, data entry jobs from home could be just what you’re looking for. Check out Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer.com as well as Seek.com.au.
9. Customer service
CSR’s (Customer Service Representatives) are the most commonly occurring jobs under Seek’s Work From Home listings.
If you’ve got experience, working from home as a CSR is one of the simplest transitions to make as most employers will provide you with the full setup from home.
10. Test websites and provide feedback
You can earn money from home in Australia by testing other people’s website. You’ll earn $10USD per 20-minute test.
You’ll need a good internet connection and very clear spoken English. User testers provide valuable feedback to website owners about website navigation and use. Click here to read more about becoming a user tester.
11. Become a Virtual Assistant
If you have experience as a personal assistant, executive assistant or in general office administration, starting a virtual assistant business from Australia could be your most profitable route.
Click here to read more about becoming a virtual assistant.
12. Proofreading
Proofreading is becoming a more popular way to make money from home.
If you have an excellent eye for detail, becoming a proofreader is a business you can do from anywhere.
13. Review music
Love music? Record companies and indie publishers appreciate feedback before going to market with new music. Check out slice the pie to be rewarded for sharing your opinions on new music before it hits the charts.
14. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is when you promote a product on a website or social media and receive a commission on any sales made from your referral.
It can be a lucrative business to make money through internet marketing but you’ll need to grow an audience of potential purchasers first, which means affiliate marketing is a long game.
Affiliate marketing is how I started to make money from my blog and now makes up over 60% of my online income, which is great as affiliate marketing can be truly passive income.
15. Blogging
Blogging is how I make the bulk of my income online. I run my blog as a business now, but for many years it was just a hobby.
If you have a special interest in a particular topic, blogging can be a great way to get started making money online.
Blogging income comes from many different sources including sponsorships, affiliate marketing, advertising income, course sales and more.
At last count, my blog had 8 income streams which pay me each month.
The great thing about a blog is how easy and cheap they are to start off. If you want to start a blog for profit, check out our top picks for blogging courses get your blogging game off to a strong start.
16. Teaching English online
Teaching English online is a relatively new field for Australians. That’s because a lot of countries prefer American English speakers, but there are companies open to hiring Aussies with the right experience and qualifications.
You can earn up to $21USD per 40-minute lesson and work as much as suits you.
During the week, lessons are mainly at night (starting 6 pm Beijing time – 9pm AEST!). On the weekends they are all day long so you can really make a lot of extra cash on top of your Monday-Friday gig if you hustle hard.
You’ll need to be a native English speaker with a bachelor’s degree in any field and some teaching experience.
We talked to Nic, an online English teacher about how to get started. Check out that post here
As you can see there are lots of ways to starting making money from the internet, even in Australia. I’ll add to this list as I discover more ways to grow my income online.
Do you make money online? Any tips to share?
