Introduction to Making Money as a Teenager in Australia
Earning money as a teenager isn’t just about financial independence; it’s also an opportunity to learn valuable life skills, responsibility, and the basics of finances and budgeting. I know those things sound boring now, but the lessons and soft skills you’ll learn making money as a teenager are super transferable and they’ll serve you well in your career, your business, and even other aspects of life in the future.
In this blog post, we’ll explore a bunch of the best ways to make money as a teenager, whether you’re still in high school or in uni. We’ll look at ways to make money in a traditional part-time job, and also look at the best ways that teenagers can make money online in Australia. Whether you’re just looking for some extra income while studying, or you want to build a thriving business that will last years, we’ve got the perfect option for you.
Traditional Part-Time Jobs to Make Money as a Teenager in Australia
These days everyone is talking about ways to make money as a teenager using online methods like ecommerce, affiliate marketing, dropshipping… the list goes on. While these are 100% valid options (and we discuss them below) don’t overlook part-time jobs and casual side hustles.
Retail & Hospitality: This one’s pretty cliche, but it’s so common for good reason – these jobs are relatively low stress, flexible for high school or uni, and the pay is decent for the work and low time commitment. There are countless retail jobs available to make money as a teenager in Australia, and hospitality chains are always in need of teenagers to join their ranks. Here are a few of the most common options for teenagers:
- The Coffee Club Australia Careers
- McDonalds Australia Careers
- KFC Australia Careers
- Bunnings Australia Careers
- David Jones Careers
- Myers Careers
Work At Uni: If you’re a uni student, a great way to make money as a teenager in Australia is to get a casual job at your university. There are countless roles available for students at almost every university in Australia, from peer tutoring and PASS leaders to jobs at the uni retail and food shops.
Babysitting & Pet Sitting: Babysitting or pet sitting for neighbours, family, or others is one of the best traditional jobs to make money as a teenager in Australia. The hours are completely up to you, which makes these great options for university or high school students.
There are countless babysitting and pet sitting companies that can connect you with parents in need, or you can always offer your services to your neighbours. Here are some babysitting and pet sitting companies for teenagers in Australia:
- Kiddo Careers (Babysitting)
- Find A Babysitter Australia
- Mad Paws (Pet Sitting & Dog Walking)
- Pawshake Careers (Pet Sitting)
Tutoring: Private tutoring is, in my opinion, the best possible side hustle to make money as a teenager in Australia. It’s 100% flexible, you choose your own hours, and the pay is unbeatable. Students and parents are in constant need of tutoring, and the hourly rates continue to increase. If you performed very well in Year 12 (99+ ATAR) you can easily make upwards of $60 to $70 per hour in Australia. I do this myself! Here are some of the most popular tutoring sites in Australia:
- KIS Academics (Takes Commission)
- HighSchoolTutors (0% Commission)
- Cluey Learning (Takes Commission)
- Art of Smart (Takes Commission)
Online Side Hustles & Freelancing
There are also a bunch of online side hustles and freelancing opportunities you can do to make money online as a teenager in Australia. These are also great options as you generally set your own schedule and availability and can work as little or as much as you want.
Freelance Writing: If you scored highly in English or Literature in Year 12, or you have great writing skills in general, you could make a great side income online with freelance writing. In freelance writing, you write articles for blogs, websites, or content platforms. You can even try your hand at copywriting (writing the copy for sales pages, landings pages, and other pages of business websites) for online businesses in almost any niche. Here are the best Australian freelance writing websites:
Graphic Design & Artwork: If you have graphic design or artistic talents, you could create a wide range of different visual elements for businesses. You can use the same websites above to list your services and create and sell everything and anything from YouTube thumbnails to business logos to cool and unique artsy products. Here are the best sites to make money as a teenager with graphic design or artwork in Australia:
- Etsy (Sell Unique Artsy Products)
- Fiverr (List Your Design Services)
- Upwork (List Your Design Services)
Social Media Management: Offer social media management services to small businesses or individuals looking to enhance their online presence. This is a great opportunity to make money online as a teenager as you’re likely completely up to date with the latest trends and know the best ways to make engaging and relatable content on each social media platform.
A huge opportunity right now is TikTok social media management. Almost all major brands are desperately hiring teenagers and young people to make relatable and engaging TikTok content for their brands. Reach out to businesses directly (via email, phone, etc.) to make money online via social media management.
Create UGC: UGC or user-generated content is a perfect opportunity for teenagers to make money in Australia. When you’re scrolling through social media and see an ad in the form of someone talking about a product or service or reviewing it, chances are that’s UGC! All you have to do is create a short video talking about the product or service, and you can get paid hundreds of dollars for 30 seconds of work. TikTok UGC is currently a booming industry, and its a perfect one for teenagers to make money online! Check out these Australian UGC sites:
Video Editing: YouTubers, TikTok creators, and Instagram influencers all need to create and edit an almost constant influx of video content. That means they have an almost constant need for high quality video editors! Video editing is a great option to make money for teenagers in Australia as it requires a relatively low time commitment, is flexible around your high school or university schedule, and pays very well if you are skilled. You can reach out to influencers directly, or use Fiverr or Upwork to connect to influencers and creators in need.
Coding, Website Development, & SEO: If you’re great at coding, web design, SEO or web development, you can make websites for local business and charge them a fee to develop the site, and an additional monthly fee to update and maintain it with SEO best-practices! This is a great choice for teenagers who have a good knowledge of basic HTML and CSS to make money online.
It takes very little time to make a high-quality site with the right skills, and you can easily make hundreds to thousands plus a monthly fee! Reach out to local businesses directly for the best results, and offer your services for free initially to build up a portfolio of high-quality sites.
Businesses For Teenagers to Make Money Online in Australia
Blogging, YouTube & Content Creation: Start a blog or YouTube channel focussing on a specific niche, or just your life in general! If you’re a teenager, you likely have life experience, lessons and valuable information that others your age want to hear!
You can monetise content creation through ads, affiliate marketing (making a commission for recommending and linking to a product), and sponsored content. This is a great option for teenagers to make money as you likely have amazing knowledge of the current trends across social media and know exactly what makes content engaging.
Dropshipping / Print on Demand: Dropshipping and print on demand are other options for making money online as a teenager in Australia. These are at the bottom of the list as they require the most start-up capital (but it’s still pretty small).
Dropshipping is an ecommerce fulfilment model where you source products from anywhere (though commonly from Alibaba and Aliexpress), list them on your (Shopify or other ecommerce) website, and only ship the product once a customer buys. This makes it relatively low-cost and a good option for teenagers to make money.
The real skill comes from effective social media marketing, another skill teenagers are likely to have. You can also do print on demand which is where you make designs for clothes and products and ship them only when a customer buys.
- Alibaba (Dropshipping Supplier)
- Aliexpress (Dropshipping Supplier)
- Shopify (Build Your Website)
- Spring (Print on Demand)
How to Make Money as a Teenager in Australia: Conclusion
As a teenager, the world of earning opportunities is vast and diverse. By leveraging your skills, passions, and the power of the internet, you can not only make money but also gain invaluable experience that can shape your future career path. There are countless options to make money as a teenager, especially in Australia where the competition for online ventures is often less fierce than overseas!
Traditional jobs, online side hustles, and businesses are all great options to make money online as a teenager. The option you choose depends heavily on your other commitments. If you’re still in high school, or studying university, a side hustle or casual job is likely a better option than starting a business; though, a business may certainly still be a viable option.
Thanks for reading, and happy earning!
