Working Uber Eats in Australia: how it works, what you need, and what you actually earn

Delivering for Uber Eats is one of the fastest ways to start earning in Australia. You sign up as an independent contractor, get a free ABN, pass a background and visa (VEVO) check, then deliver by bike, car or scooter on your own hours. You only register for GST if you pass AU$75,000 in turnover from delivery alone. Realistic take-home sits around AU$15 to AU$25 an hour after costs, with a new minimum standard of AU$31.30 per engaged hour on the way. If you deliver by car or scooter on an overseas licence that is not in English, you need a NAATI certified translation or an International Driving Permit, or the app will not approve you.

Uber Eats is the first job a lot of backpackers and new arrivals pick up, and for good reason. You choose your hours, there is no interview, and you can be on the road within a couple of weeks of landing. The setup has a few moving parts though, and getting them wrong can stall your account or cause problems with the tax office later.

Here is the full picture before you sign up.

How delivery actually works

When you deliver with Uber Eats you are not an employee. You are an independent contractor running your own small business through the app. That means you decide when you go online, accept the orders you want, and there are no fixed shifts.

A few things flow from that:

• You see the pay before you accept. Each offer shows the estimated earnings for the full trip up front, so you can decline anything that is not worth it.
• You keep 100% of tips. Customers can tip in the app after delivery.
• You get paid weekly, deposited to your linked bank account, with faster cashouts available for a fee.
• You cover your own costs. Fuel, phone, data, bike maintenance and insurance come out of your pocket, not Uber's.

Who can sign up

The baseline requirements are straightforward:

• You must be at least 18.
• You need the right to work in Australia. Uber runs a VEVO check against your visa, plus a background check through National Crime Check. This can take up to 14 business days, so start early.
• You need photo ID and pass a selfie identity check.

Your visa conditions still apply on top of this. If you are on a student visa you can generally work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session, and unlimited hours during official study breaks. Your hours are recorded in the app, so the ATO and Immigration can see them. If you are on a Working Holiday visa, check your specific conditions before you rely on delivery as your main income. When in doubt, confirm with a registered migration agent.

Choose your vehicle

Your vehicle decides your licence requirements and your costs. This is where most overseas drivers trip up.

A bike is the easiest entry point because it needs no licence at all, just your passport or photo ID and the safety test. A car opens up more deliveries and longer trips, but the fuel and wear add up.

One regional detail worth knowing: in New South Wales, temporary visitors who arrived before 1 July 2023 now need a full Australian driver's licence to deliver by car. Rules shift by state, so check what applies where you will be working.

The licence rule overseas drivers miss

Here is the part that catches people at the document stage.

If you want to deliver by car or scooter on a temporary visa using your overseas licence, that licence has to be readable by Uber and by the police. If it is not issued in English, you need one of two things:

1. An International Driving Permit (IDP) from your home country, organised before you travel, or
2. A NAATI certified English translation of your licence.

For licences in non-Latin scripts such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Arabic or Cyrillic, this is effectively mandatory, and the app will not approve your documents without it. A friend's translation or a Google Translate printout does not count. Australian authorities only accept translations from a translator accredited by NAATI, the national body for translators and interpreters.

If you already landed without an IDP, a NAATI certified translation is the reliable fix. EzyTranslate delivers a certified PDF in 24 to 48 hours, fully online, from AU$69, which is quicker than chasing an IDP from overseas once you are already here.

Get your ABN sorted

Because you run your own business, you need an Australian Business Number. It is free, you apply online through the government's ABR site, and it usually comes through quickly.

A few pointers when you apply:

• Register as an individual or sole trader, not a company.
• Use your legal name exactly as it appears on your passport or licence.
• Add your Tax File Number if you have one. It speeds up approval.
• For the start date, use today or the day you plan to begin.

Never pay a third party for an ABN. The official application costs nothing.

GST: when you actually have to register

This trips up a lot of people who confuse food delivery with rideshare.

If you only deliver food with Uber Eats, you do not register for or pay GST until your turnover passes AU$75,000 in a year. Most part-time delivery people never reach that, so they leave GST alone.

The exception: if you also drive rideshare (UberX and Uber Eats on the same account), GST applies from your very first dollar across both, because ride-sourcing has no threshold. If that is you, register for GST when you sign up.

What you can realistically earn

Earnings move with your city, the time of day and demand. Honest numbers, not the headline figures:

• Food delivery typically lands around AU$15 to AU$25 an hour including tips, before your own costs.
• Uber's own Sydney study put after-cost earnings at about AU$21.55 an hour during meal times, fairly even across bike, scooter and car.
• A new minimum earnings standard of AU$31.30 per engaged hour has been agreed between the platforms and the Transport Workers Union, expected to start around mid-2026 once the Fair Work Commission signs off. It acts as a floor, not a ceiling.

Peak times pay best: lunch, dinner, weekends and bad weather. The quiet mid-afternoon hours are rarely worth it.

Kit you need before your first delivery

• A smartphone with mobile data and the Uber Driver app installed.
• An insulated delivery bag to keep food hot. You buy this yourself.
• A portable charger. The app drains your battery fast.
• A phone mount if you deliver by car or bike.

Don't forget tax

You are running a business, so you declare your delivery income at tax time and you can claim work-related costs against it: fuel, phone, bike repairs, the insulated bag and a share of your data. Keep records from day one. The ATO receives income data directly from Uber, so the figures need to match. A logbook or a simple expenses app makes the end of financial year painless.

Quick recap

Sort your right-to-work and background checks early, choose your vehicle based on the licence you hold, and get a free ABN as a sole trader. Leave GST alone unless you cross AU$75,000 or also do rideshare. If your overseas licence is not in English and you plan to deliver by car or scooter, get a NAATI certified translation ready before you upload your documents, so nothing holds up your account.

Then pick your hours and start earning.