UGC Creator in Australia: Where the Paid Work Is.

Australian brands post paid UGC jobs for local creators, and Australia has UGC platforms of its own. The Right Fit was founded here in 2016, and Creator Flow and Hey Creators are run from Sydney.¹²³ If the advice you've read keeps pointing you to apps that don't take Australians, it was probably written for creators in the US. The work is here. It just runs through different platforms, and much of it pays in Australian dollars.

To get started as a UGC creator in Australia, film three to five sample videos with products you already own and put them on one simple portfolio page. Then apply where there's no follower bar, such as The Right Fit's jobs board or Sticki's UGC campaigns, and pitch a few Australian brands yourself. Some local platforms ask for an Australian Business Number (ABN), which is free; the ABN section below says when you need one.

Who hires UGC creators in Australia

Platforms built in Australia

These six work differently. On some the platform sets the price, on others the brand names it up front, and some campaigns pay in product. They're listed from the one that asks the least of a beginner to the one that asks the most.

Several of these ask for a social account, even for UGC that never goes on it, so keep one public account tidy (what brands look at when they open it). One creator in Sydney said on Reddit that they started in August 2025 and made four figures in November, finding work through Facebook, The Right Fit and Creator Flow.¹⁶

Australian brands, directly

Plenty of Australian brands never post a job anywhere, so contact some yourself.

Start with the Australian Made directory. More than 4,500 businesses use the Australian Made logo, and the campaign's website lets you search their products by category.¹⁷¹⁸ Its New Products page lists what's just been added, and a brand with something new to sell needs photos and videos of it.

Read old hiring posts as a contact list. Search r/UGCcreators for Australia and you'll find paid jobs posted for creators in Australia only. When an Australian creator asked there where the work was, one reply suggested contacting those brands even after a job had closed.¹⁹ A closed post still tells you which brand to write to and what it sells.

Try Facebook too. The Sydney creator above named it as one of their three sources. Search its groups for "UGC Australia" and treat each post there as a lead to check before you reply, using the scam signs further down.

When you pitch, send a sample made for that brand (the section on getting replies shows how), and borrow the templates in our guide to pitching brands.

SEEK lists a different kind of UGC work: in-house roles at a company, like a staff "UGC creator" position, rather than freelance briefs. If you'd rather have a job than freelance, search it for UGC jobs.²⁰

Apps from overseas that take Australians

A few apps run from overseas have room for Australians too:

• JoinBrands runs a separate Australian marketplace, priced in Australian dollars. Brands set the price, JoinBrands takes 20%, and it pays through PayPal only; without its paid plan, you can withdraw once a week.²¹²²
• Insense lists Australia among its countries. It asks for 1,000 Instagram followers, 500 median views on TikTok and 1% engagement, with a UGC-only route if your account falls short of them, and its prices are in US dollars.²³²⁴²⁵
• Modliflex, the marketplace behind this blog, works the other way around: you create an offer with photos of yourself, set your own price, and brands order from it. Creators in Australia can withdraw by PayPal, Wise or Revolut once their balance reaches US$100, and payout providers may charge their own fees.

Our guide to UGC apps for beginners sets out each app's terms, including the ones that only take creators in the US, the UK or Canada.

Getting replies when you're new

In the same Reddit thread as the Sydney creator, another commenter had applied to plenty of jobs on The Right Fit and never heard back.¹⁶ Silence is common at the start, and these are the parts you can change.

Film samples of Australian products you already own. The coffee in your pantry or the shoes you run in will do. Then pitch the brand whose product is in the video. A finished sample of its own product shows a brand more than any description of what you could make. How to build a UGC portfolio covers which pieces to shoot first.

Answer the brief, not a template. The Right Fit tells creators to write a short, personalized application that shows they've read the brief.⁵ On Creator Flow, every pitch has to include a short video introduction,² so treat its opening seconds like a sample: show the kind of product the brief is about, in the setting it describes.

Name your city first. Open every bio and pitch with where you film, such as "Brisbane, QLD." Some Australian briefs name a location. Of the hiring posts we read, a Keychron job wanted creators in Australia only, and a supplement brand wanted creators in Melbourne.²⁶²⁷

Follow up. One message rarely does it: a short bump around day 3, a new idea around day 7 to 10, an optional last note around day 14, then move on. The pitching guide linked above has the wording.

Reading an offer: paid, gifted or too low

The figures below come from platforms' own pages and brands' job posts, not a survey, so use them as a spread to compare against rather than a set price. Per video, most of the paid offers land between AU$70 and AU$125 (Creator Flow's figure is what brands pay, and Hey Creators' is per job). The two posts flaired as low-paying came to AU$12.50 to AU$30 a video.

• JoinBrands' Australian marketplace defaults to AU$90 for a UGC video, AU$72 after its 20% fee, and lets brands go as low as AU$50.²¹
• Hey Creators uses AU$300 as its default rate for a job when a creator hasn't set their own, and says that isn't a promise.¹⁴
• Creator Flow charges brands from AU$250 for a 15-second video from a standard creator. The creator's share after its fee isn't published.²⁸²
• Job posts on Reddit for creators in Australia have offered AU$75 to AU$125 a video plus the product (an Australian seating brand for sports parents, July 2025), AU$200 for two 30-second reels for Meta ads (an Australian wig brand, August 2025) and from AU$350 for four review clips of Keychron tech products with b-roll, for organic posts only (August 2025).²⁹³⁰²⁶
• At the low end, two posts for creators in Australia carried the subreddit's low-paying-collab flair: AU$20 to AU$30 a video for a product launch (June 2025), and AU$250 to AU$550 for 20 videos (August 2025).³¹²⁷

Notice who set most of these numbers: the platform or the brand. Your own rate matters when you pitch a brand directly or list an offer, and for one short organic video, a quote inside that AU$70 to AU$125 band won't look out of place.

Read what's included before you compare numbers, though. The AU$200 wig job included use in Meta ads; the Keychron job was for organic posts only and paid more, but it asked for four clips and b-roll. Ad use, extra clips, raw footage and fast turnarounds each deserve their own line on a quote, and the UGC pricing guide shows how to set them.

Gifted only? Fine if you'd have bought it anyway. That's our rule: product alone is a fair trade when the brand asks for nothing specific in return. Once there's a brief, a deadline, a set number of videos or ad use, it's paid work, so reply with your rate. Keep a note of what you're sent either way, because products can count as income at tax time.

Never pay to get a job. Scamwatch, the government's scam-warning service, says to stop and check any job that asks you to pay money to make money, and not to send up-front payments by bank transfer, PayID or cryptocurrency. Its warning signs include a recruiter who messages out of the blue on WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram, and it describes fake "jobs" that consist of buying or rating products.³² To check that a brand is a registered Australian business, look up its ABN on ABN Lookup, which is free and needs no login.³³ Our guide to UGC creator scams covers fake brand deals in more detail.

The ABN and paperwork, in the order you'll need it

It's less than it sounds: most of it is free, and none of it needs a company.

Before your first paid job: is it a business?

The ATO has a guide for content creators that sorts the work into three kinds: a business, an income-producing activity that isn't a business, and a hobby. A small following or modest income doesn't automatically make it a hobby, the guide says.³⁴

Our view: if you're applying for paid jobs and pitching brands to earn money, you're most likely starting an enterprise, which is what entitles you to an ABN,³⁵ so get one before your first paid job. (In the middle category, ABN and GST registration don't apply, but the money can still be taxable income.³⁴) Some platforms won't pay you without one anyway: Creator Flow asks for it before you can sign up, Hey Creators before your first paid job.²³

Applying for an ABN is free.³⁶ Do it on the government's own site, abr.gov.au. In September 2026, someone on r/AusFinance paid a third-party site AU$90 to lodge the same free application for them.³⁷ If you work as a sole trader under your own name, you don't need a registered business name either. You need one (AU$47 for a year or AU$108 for three) only if you trade under a different name, such as invoicing as your creator handle.³⁸³⁹

On every invoice: your ABN, or 47% is withheld

Quote your ABN to every business that pays you, and put it on every invoice. If you don't quote one, the business paying you generally has to withhold tax at the top rate, 47%.⁴⁰³⁶ TRIBE spells out the arithmetic for its creators: on a payment of AU$1,000, AU$470 is withheld, leaving AU$530.⁴¹

Two exceptions matter most here. A job worth AU$75 or less in total, excluding GST, needs no ABN, though splitting a bigger job into small invoices doesn't count. And if your UGC is genuinely a hobby, you can hand the payer a signed Statement by a supplier instead.⁴² Once you're in business, or entitled to an ABN, that form is off the table.⁴³

If you aren't registered for GST, don't call your invoice a "tax invoice," and show that GST isn't included.⁴⁴⁴⁵ Our UGC invoice template has the other fields. (On Creator Flow you don't write one: the platform issues the invoice on your behalf.²)

Then put some of each payment aside, because once you've quoted an ABN, nobody withholds tax for you. How much depends on your other income. For 2026–27, a resident's first AU$18,200 of taxable income is tax-free, and income from there up to AU$45,000 is taxed at 15 cents in the dollar, before the Medicare levy.⁴⁶ With a salary above AU$18,200, your UGC profit sits on top of it, at your marginal rate.

As you grow: GST from AU$75,000

You don't include GST in your prices until you're registered for it, and you don't have to register until your GST turnover reaches AU$75,000.⁴⁵ The ATO counts this month plus the previous 11, or what you expect this month plus the next 11. Once you reach AU$75,000, you have 21 days to register.⁴⁷ After that, you charge GST on work for Australian clients. Work for a client overseas is generally GST-free, but it's still part of the turnover measured against AU$75,000.⁴⁸³⁴

At tax time

Declare what you earn, including products you get in exchange for content. If UGC is a business for you, the ATO's guide says free or gifted products received for promotion will generally have tax consequences even when no money changes hands, and it lists them as income at market value.³⁴ So when a creator asked on r/AusFinance whether AU$100 plus a pan set worth AU$300 means declaring AU$100 or AU$400, the answer under the ATO's guide is that the pans count too, at market value.⁴⁹ We couldn't find ATO guidance on products you have to send back, so ask a registered tax agent about those.

Keep your records for at least five years.³⁴⁵⁰ Convert any US-dollar income into Australian dollars at the rate on the day or an average rate; the ATO uses the Reserve Bank's rates.⁵¹ The Australia row in how to become a UGC creator sums up the rest.

What you can say on camera in Australia

No paid testimonials for therapeutic goods. Many vitamins and supplements, therapeutic sunscreens and other products regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) have their own advertising code. The TGA's guidance bans testimonials from their ads if they were paid for in any way, even when the payment is disclosed and the testimonial is genuine, and a free product counts as payment. What a paid creator can do is endorse the product without talking about their own use of it, with the paid relationship disclosed. (A current or former health professional can't endorse it at all.)⁵² If a supplement or sunscreen brief has you saying how it worked for you, raise it with the brand before you film.

Don't play an unpaid customer. Hismile, an Australian oral-care company, paid AU$138,600 in penalties in June 2026 over videos that showed people trying its products in a public place as if they were random members of the public. They were its own employees.⁵³ A paid creator presented as a passer-by raises the same problem, so be wary of a brief that asks you to play one.

Label your own posts. The advertising industry's own code, the AANA Code of Ethics, says advertising must be clearly distinguishable as such. Its practice note lists labels like #ad, Advertising and Paid Partnership for anyone paid in money or free products, and says "gifted" or #sp on its own may not be enough. When a brand posts your video on its own account and it's clear the brand is advertising, the code doesn't require a label, and the brand answers for that post.⁵⁴

Watch what a brand asks you to hide. The ACCC's investigation into PhotobookShop began when an influencer reported an agreement asking them not to disclose that they'd been gifted a photobook for a review. PhotobookShop had told influencers on 107 occasions not to disclose the free products, and it paid AU$39,600 in penalties in March 2026, partly for posting one of those reviews on its own Instagram as if it were unpaid.⁵⁵ If a brand asks you to hide what it gave you, say no.

When the product or the money comes from overseas

Brands overseas book creators in Australia too. Check these four things when one does:

• Most parcels arrive without charges. For most goods valued at AU$1,000 or less there are no duties, taxes or charges to pay at the border; tobacco and alcohol are taxed whatever their value.⁵⁶
• Food, plant and animal products may not get in. Pet food, treats and chews need an import permit or a certificate, with no exemption for small amounts, and pet food that arrives without them is exported or destroyed.⁵⁷ If an overseas pet or food brand wants to send you something, ask whether it can ship from inside Australia.
• US dollars cost more through PayPal. PayPal Australia charges 2.90% plus a fixed fee to receive a commercial payment, another 1.00 percentage point when the payer is overseas, and 3.0% above its base rate to convert the currency.⁵⁸ Wise gives Australians free US account details: receiving an ACH transfer costs nothing, a wire is US$6.11, and converting US dollars cost 0.28% when we checked on October 26, 2026.⁵⁹⁶⁰ So on a direct deal with a US brand, invoice with Wise's US account details.
• A W-8BEN is for the payer's files. If a US brand or platform asks for one, return it to them; you don't file it with the IRS.⁶¹

UGC in Australia FAQ

Does UGC work in Australia?

Yes, and all six platforms in the table above began in Australia and take creators who live here. Australians spent AU$82.6 billion online in 2025, up 14% on the year before, and in Australia Post's 2026 eCommerce Report a Deloitte retail partner writes that the strong growth expected in social-led shopping means, for retailers, "shifting investment upstream towards creators."⁶²

Do you need followers for UGC in Australia?

Not for most of it. Sticki's UGC campaigns are for creators with under 1,000 followers, The Right Fit's UGC jobs have no follower minimum, TRIBE's content campaigns have none either, and Hey Creators says follower count doesn't matter.⁴⁵¹¹¹⁵ Some do ask for numbers. Insense, for one, wants 1,000 Instagram followers unless you take its UGC-only route.²³²⁴

What does it cost to start UGC in Australia?

Very little. An ABN is free, and Creator Flow, JoinBrands and The Right Fit's free plan cost nothing to join.³⁶²⁶³⁶ Creator Flow does want creators to carry general liability insurance, so ask which policy it accepts before you buy one.² A registered business name costs AU$47 a year, and you only need one if you trade under a name that isn't your own.³⁸³⁹ You don't need a course: none of the platforms above asks for one.

Which platform should a beginner start on?

If you have no samples yet, make them first: platforms and brands both want to see your work before they pick you. With three to five samples, start where there's no follower bar and you can see the pay before you apply, such as The Right Fit's jobs board, and send Sticki your intro form. Join the Hey Creators waitlist whenever you like (it needs your ABN before your first paid job), and add Creator Flow once you have an ABN.

Can you do UGC while studying or getting Centrelink?

Yes, with a few checks. On a student visa, you can work up to 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session, so check what your visa allows before your first paid job.⁶⁴ If you get a payment such as Austudy, Youth Allowance as a Student or Parenting Payment, tell Services Australia when you start self-employment, and report business income within 14 days, including small changes.⁶⁵

Footnotes

1. The Right Fit, "About us" (accessed October 26, 2026): founded in Australia in 2016; its global platform launched in January 2025. https://theright.fit/about-us ↩

2. Creator Flow (Roar AU Pty Ltd, Sydney), Terms of Service (last updated November 7, 2025): registration is free; a creator account needs a valid and current ABN; creators provide at least three sample videos, an intro video and a Stripe account, and must hold general liability insurance; pitches must include a short video introduction; pricing is fixed and managed by the platform; products don't count toward payment unless agreed in writing; Creator Flow issues the creator invoice and pays through Stripe after completion. https://creatorflow.com.au/terms-of-service ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. Hey Creators (Exposure Agency Pty Ltd, Sydney), Terms of Service (version of April 28, 2026): Australian creators must hold an ABN, or be willing to obtain one before their first paid job; creators apply to briefs or are invited by Hey Creators; an assigned job shows the brief, the rate, the due date and the deliverables, and the rate per job is set when you accept or are assigned it. https://www.heycreators.com/terms ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

4. Sticki, "Creators" (accessed October 26, 2026): creators fill out an intro form and Sticki matches them with campaigns; UGC campaigns for creators under 1,000 followers; a social handle it can vet; work ranges from paid partnerships to gifted collabs, on terms negotiated by its team. https://www.sticki.com.au/work-with-us/creators ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. The Right Fit, "UGC opportunities" (accessed October 26, 2026): UGC jobs don't need a large following and have no follower minimum; creators see the full brief, deliverables and rate before applying, and write a short, personalized application. https://theright.fit/creators/ugc-opportunities ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. The Right Fit, "Creator pricing" (accessed October 26, 2026): every plan, including the free one, gives access to commission-free creator jobs. https://theright.fit/creators/pricing ↩ ↩² ↩³

7. Creator Hub, "UGC Creators" (accessed October 26, 2026): creators open an account on its CrowdSwell platform and connect at least one social media channel; its address is Wentworth Ave, Darlinghurst, Sydney. https://www.creatorhub.com.au/ugc ↩ ↩²

8. Creator Hub (Goulash Enterprises Pty Ltd), Terms of Use (accessed October 26, 2026): members are charged a commission for taking part in campaigns; members are paid the agreed campaign amount by electronic funds transfer approximately 30 working days after Creator Hub receives payment from the brand. https://www.creatorhub.com.au/terms ↩ ↩²

9. TRIBE Help Center, "Your Content Campaign Q's answered" (updated October 4, 2023): creators pitch to the brand in the app; content campaign rates are fixed and can't be negotiated. https://help.tribegroup.co/en/articles/4506552-your-content-campaign-q-s-answered ↩ ↩²

10. TRIBE, Terms of Use (last updated August 4, 2026): to earn as a creator you need at least 3,000 followers on a channel you sign in with, or an approved application to take part in content-only campaigns. https://www.tribegroup.co/toc ↩

11. TRIBE Help Center, "Creator eligibility" (April 29, 2024): content campaigns have no minimum follower threshold and are available once you've connected a social account. https://help.tribegroup.co/en/articles/2749393-creator-eligibility ↩ ↩²

12. TRIBE Help Center, "Creator payment options explained" (August 3, 2026): the default is payment in up to 45 days at 100%; payment within two business days costs a 10% fee, because it can take around two months for TRIBE to be paid by the brand. https://help.tribegroup.co/en/articles/3791293-creator-payment-options-explained ↩

13. Hey Creators, "Apply" (accessed October 26, 2026): the creator application ends with a "Join the waitlist" button and lets you answer that you'll get an ABN before payment. https://www.heycreators.com/apply ↩

14. Hey Creators, "How to become a UGC creator in Australia" (April 29, 2026): AU$300 is a common default assignment rate when a creator has no custom rate set, "not a promise that every job pays $300," but the kind of fixed AUD amount creators should see before saying yes. https://www.heycreators.com/blog/how-to-become-a-ugc-creator-australia ↩ ↩²

15. Hey Creators, homepage FAQ (accessed October 26, 2026): anyone in Australia or New Zealand with a smartphone can join and follower count does not matter; payouts are handled through Stripe Connect in AUD. https://www.heycreators.com/ ↩ ↩²

16. r/UGCcreators, "Are there any UGC Content Creators in Australia?" (comments of January 11 and 12, 2026): a Sydney creator who started in August 2025 says they made four figures in November and, asked where they find work, names Facebook, The Right Fit and Creator Flow; another commenter applied to many jobs on The Right Fit without a response. https://www.reddit.com/r/UGCcreators/comments/1q90p9v/ ↩ ↩²

17. Australian Made Campaign, "About the logo" (accessed October 26, 2026): the logo is used by more than 4,500 businesses. https://australianmade.com.au/why-buy-australian-made/about-the-logo/ ↩

18. Australian Made Campaign, "Find Aussie products" and "New Products" (accessed October 26, 2026): search products and companies by category; a list of newly added products. https://australianmade.com.au/products/find-aussie-products/ ↩

19. r/UGCcreators, "Australian UGC Creators" (March 24, 2025): an Australian creator says the brands that replied don't work with Australian creators; a reply suggests searching the subreddit for Australia posts and reaching out even when the collabs are no longer active. https://www.reddit.com/r/UGCcreators/comments/1jilcli/australian_ugc_creators/ ↩

20. SEEK, Australia's main job board: a search for "ugc jobs" there surfaces in-house UGC roles at companies, rather than freelance briefs. https://au.seek.com/ugc-jobs ↩

21. JoinBrands Help Center, rates by job type (September 22, 2026): five marketplaces with five currencies (AU = AUD); a UGC video defaults to AU$90 with an AU$50 floor; amounts are before the platform fee (20%, or 15% on Creator Pro). https://help.joinbrands.com/en/articles/6267226 ↩ ↩²

22. JoinBrands Help Center, getting paid (accessed October 26, 2026): PayPal is the only payout option; withdrawals are limited to once a week without Creator Pro; PayPal payouts can take up to seven business days. https://help.joinbrands.com/en/articles/6266935 ↩

23. Insense, "For creators" (accessed October 26, 2026): its creator countries include Australia; creators need 1,000 Instagram followers, at least 500 median TikTok views and 1% engagement. https://insense.pro/for-creators ↩ ↩²

24. Insense Creator Help Center, "How to join Insense as a UGC-only creator" (accessed October 26, 2026): a route for creators turned down on account metrics. https://help-creators.insense.pro/how-to-join-insense-as-a-ugc-only-creator ↩ ↩²

25. Insense, Terms of Service for Creators (May 29, 2026): all amounts on the platform are listed in US dollars. https://insense.pro/terms-of-service-for-creators ↩

26. r/UGCcreators, "Paid UGC Opportunity – Tech Review Creators Wanted (Australia Only)" (August 24, 2025): Australian creators wanted for review content of Keychron products: four review clips plus b-roll, organic posting only, from AU$350. https://www.reddit.com/r/UGCcreators/comments/1mylard/ ↩ ↩²

27. r/UGCcreators, women's supplement brand hiring post (August 14, 2025): an Australian-based brand wants Melbourne-based creators, AU$250 to AU$550 for 20 videos; the post carries the subreddit's "Low paying collab" flair. https://www.reddit.com/r/UGCcreators/comments/1mqgdh7/ ↩ ↩²

28. Creator Flow, "Pay Per Video" (accessed October 26, 2026): 1 credit = AU$1; a standard creator's 15-second video costs brands 250 credits, up to 450 for 90 seconds. https://creatorflow.com.au/pay_per_video ↩

29. r/UGCcreators, hiring post by an Australian seating brand for sports parents (July 21, 2025): AU$75 to AU$125 per video plus the gifted product, or three to four videos for AU$300; Australia or New Zealand preferred. https://www.reddit.com/r/UGCcreators/comments/1m5fd1k/ ↩

30. r/UGCcreators, "Australian UGC Creator PAID" (August 9, 2025): an Australian wig brand offers AU$200 for two 30-second reels for its Meta ads. https://www.reddit.com/r/UGCcreators/comments/1mljkda/australian_ugc_creator_paid/ ↩

31. r/UGCcreators, "Looking for Aussie-Based UGC Creators – Paid Test Gigs" (June 29, 2025): AU$20 to AU$30 a video for a product launch, paid after delivery; the post carries the subreddit's "Low paying collab" flair. https://www.reddit.com/r/UGCcreators/comments/1ln1e4p/ ↩

32. Scamwatch, "Jobs and employment scams" (January 22, 2026): stop and check any job offer that requires you to pay money to make money; don't pay up front by bank transfer, PayID or cryptocurrency; warning signs include recruiters on WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram, and the page describes task scams such as buying or rating products. https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/jobs-and-employment-scams ↩

33. Australian Business Register, ABN Lookup (accessed October 26, 2026): free access to public ABN information, including whether an ABN is active and its GST status; no login needed. https://abr.business.gov.au/ ↩

34. Australian Taxation Office, "Are you in the business of content creation?" (last updated October 7, 2026): content creation can be a business, an income-producing activity or a hobby; a small following or modest revenue doesn't automatically make it a hobby; an income-producing activity that isn't a business doesn't need ABN or GST registration, but its income isn't automatically tax-free; a business registers for an ABN, registers for GST at AU$75,000, counts GST-free sales toward that threshold and keeps records for at least five years; gifted products received for promotion generally have tax consequences and are declared at market value. https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/starting-registering-or-closing-a-business/starting-your-own-business/are-you-in-business/are-you-in-the-business-of-content-creation ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

35. Australian Business Register, "ABN entitlement" (last modified February 29, 2024): you're entitled to an ABN if you're carrying on or starting an enterprise in Australia. https://www.abr.gov.au/business-super-funds-charities/applying-abn/abn-entitlement ↩

36. business.gov.au, "Tax registration for your business" (June 12, 2025): getting an ABN is free; without one, other businesses must withhold 47% tax from payments to you. https://business.gov.au/registrations/register-for-taxes/tax-registration-for-your-business ↩ ↩² ↩³

37. r/AusFinance, "Just applied for an ABN on a website that isn't the government, should I be worried?" (September 17, 2026): the poster paid a third-party site AU$90 to apply for an ABN on their behalf. https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/1wij0q4/ ↩

38. business.gov.au, "Choose a business name" (accessed October 26, 2026): you need to register a business name if it's different from your own name; a sole trader trading under their own name doesn't. https://business.gov.au/planning/new-businesses/choose-a-business-name ↩ ↩²

39. business.gov.au, "Register your business name" (accessed October 26, 2026): ASIC's fees are AU$47 for one year and AU$108 for three. https://business.gov.au/registrations/register-your-business-name ↩ ↩²

40. Australian Taxation Office, "Withholding from suppliers" (last updated June 11, 2025): if a supplier doesn't quote an ABN, the business paying it generally withholds the top rate of tax; suppliers with an ABN should quote it to avoid having tax withheld. https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/hiring-and-paying-your-workers/payg-withholding/payments-you-need-to-withhold-from/withholding-from-suppliers ↩

41. TRIBE Help Center, "ABN and Tax Withholding for Australian Creators" (August 25, 2026): without an ABN or a signed statement, 47% is withheld; on a payment of AU$1,000, AU$470 is withheld first, leaving AU$530. https://help.tribegroup.co/en/articles/16612767-abn-and-tax-withholding-for-australian-creators ↩

42. Australian Taxation Office, "Payments you don't withhold from" (last updated June 11, 2025): no withholding when the payment for the full supply is AU$75 or less excluding GST (a larger supply can't be broken into smaller amounts to avoid it), or when the supply is part of a private recreational pursuit or hobby and the supplier gives a Statement by a supplier; the page lists other cases too. https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/hiring-and-paying-your-workers/payg-withholding/payments-you-need-to-withhold-from/withholding-from-suppliers/payments-you-don-t-withhold-from ↩

43. Australian Taxation Office, "Statement by a supplier not quoting an ABN" (June 30, 2017): a supplier who is operating a business or is entitled to register for an ABN can't use the form. https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/statement-by-supplier-not-quoting-an-abn ↩

44. Australian Taxation Office, "Setting up your business invoices" (March 20, 2025): if you're not registered for GST, your invoices should not include the words "tax invoice." https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/preparing-lodging-and-paying/record-keeping-for-business/setting-up-and-managing-records/setting-up-your-business-invoices ↩

45. business.gov.au, "Register for goods and services tax (GST)" (June 12, 2025): under AU$75,000 GST turnover and not registered, you don't include GST in your prices, and invoices need to show that GST was not included. https://business.gov.au/registrations/register-for-taxes/register-for-goods-and-services-tax-gst ↩ ↩²

46. Australian Taxation Office, "Tax rates – Australian residents" (August 13, 2026): for 2026–27, taxable income up to AU$18,200 is taxed at nil and income from AU$18,201 to AU$45,000 at 15c for each AU$1 over AU$18,200; the rates don't include the 2% Medicare levy. https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/tax-rates-australian-residents ↩

47. Australian Taxation Office, "Registering for GST" (last updated September 14, 2026): you reach the threshold when GST turnover for the current month and the previous 11 months is AU$75,000 or more, or is likely to be over the current month and the next 11; you register within 21 days. https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/gst-excise-and-indirect-taxes/gst/registering-for-gst ↩

48. Australian Taxation Office, "Exports and GST" (July 28, 2023): a supply of a service is GST-free if it's used or enjoyed outside Australia, or made to a non-resident who isn't in Australia when it's made. https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/international-tax-for-business/australians-doing-business-overseas/exports-and-gst ↩

49. r/AusFinance, question from a UGC creator (March 12, 2026): whether an AU$100 fee plus a pan set worth AU$300 means declaring AU$100 or AU$400. https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/1rrfsjw/ ↩

50. Australian Taxation Office, "Overview of record keeping rules for business" (June 18, 2026): you need to keep most records for five years. https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/preparing-lodging-and-paying/record-keeping-for-business/overview-of-record-keeping-rules-for-business ↩

51. Australian Taxation Office, "Foreign exchange rates overview" (August 14, 2026): amounts are generally converted at the exchange rate at the time of a transaction or at an average rate; the ATO has used Reserve Bank of Australia rates since January 1, 2020. https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/foreign-exchange-rates-overview ↩

52. Therapeutic Goods Administration, "Applying the Advertising Code rules: testimonials and endorsements" (June 1, 2022): testimonials induced by payment of any kind are prohibited in advertising for therapeutic goods, whether or not the payment is disclosed and even if the testimonial is genuine; free product counts as valuable consideration; a paid influencer's endorsement that doesn't describe their own use of the product isn't a testimonial; current or former health practitioners and health professionals are among those who must not endorse; its examples include a paid ambassador posting about a sunscreen. https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/guidance/applying-advertising-code-rules-testimonials-and-endorsements ↩

53. ACCC, "Hismile pays penalties for false and misleading social media videos" (June 12, 2026): AU$138,600 in penalties; videos showed apparently random members of the public trying its products who were Hismile employees. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/hismile-pays-penalties-for-false-and-misleading-social-media-videos ↩

54. AANA Code of Ethics, section 2.7 and practice note (in force since February 1, 2021): the advertising industry's self-regulatory code; advertising must be clearly distinguishable as such; influencers paid in money or free products should use clear labels such as #ad, Advertising or Paid Partnership, while #sp, Spon or gifted may not be enough; a brand advertising its own product on its own channel needs no label when that's clear; responsibility sits with the advertiser. https://aana.com.au/self-regulation/code-of-ethics/ ↩

55. ACCC, "PhotobookShop pays penalties for influencer reviews" (March 24, 2026): the investigation began with an influencer's report; on 107 occasions the business told influencers not to disclose the free products; AU$39,600 in penalties, including for posting an influencer review on its Instagram that it presented as organic and unpaid. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/photobookshop-pays-penalties-for-influencer-reviews ↩

56. Australian Border Force, "Import declaration" (last updated September 23, 2026): for most goods valued at AU$1,000 or less there are no duties, taxes or charges to pay; duties and taxes apply to goods such as tobacco and alcohol regardless of value. https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/importing/how-to-import/import-declaration ↩

57. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, "Bringing or mailing goods to Australia" (March 12, 2026): pet food, treats and chews made from or containing animal or plant material need an import permit and/or a government veterinary certificate or manufacturer's declaration, with no small-quantity or personal-pet exemption; pet food without them is exported or destroyed. https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/travelling/bringing-mailing-goods ↩

58. PayPal Australia, "PayPal Merchant Fees" (updated October 13, 2026): receiving a commercial transaction costs 2.90% plus a fixed fee (US$0.30 on US dollars), plus 1.00 percentage point for international payments; currency conversion carries a 3.0% fee above the base rate (4.0% for a few listed transaction types). https://www.paypal.com/au/business/paypal-business-fees ↩

59. Wise, "Receiving money" pricing for residents in Australia (accessed October 26, 2026): account details are free; receiving US dollars by non-wire transfer, such as ACH, is free; a US-dollar wire costs US$6.11. https://wise.com/au/pricing/receive ↩

60. Wise, price quote for converting US$500 to Australian dollars (October 26, 2026, 05:39 UTC): a fee of US$1.40 (0.28%) at a mid-market rate of 1.42258, for AU$709.30. https://wise.com/gateway/v1/price?sourceAmount=500&sourceCurrency=USD&targetCurrency=AUD ↩

61. IRS, Instructions for Form W-8BEN (revision October 2021): don't send the form to the IRS; give it to the person who is requesting it from you. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw8ben ↩

62. Australia Post, "eCommerce Report 2026" (March 2026): Australians spent AU$82.6 billion online in 2025, up 14% year on year; on p. 28, in key trends from Harsha Maddipatla, Partner, Retail Strategy at Deloitte, expected growth in social-led shopping means retailers "shifting investment upstream towards creators." https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/ecommerce-reports/annual-ecommerce-reports/ecommerce-report-2026.pdf ↩

63. JoinBrands, creator page (accessed October 26, 2026): "Get started - it's free." https://joinbrands.com/creator/ ↩

64. Study Australia (Australian Government), "Student visa (subclass 500)" (accessed October 26, 2026): you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session. https://www.studyaustralia.gov.au/en/plan-your-move/your-guide-to-visas/student-visa-subclass-500 ↩

65. Services Australia, "Employment income reporting if you're self employed" (accessed October 26, 2026): tell Services Australia within 14 days about business income or changes to it, even small ones; people on payments including Austudy, Parenting Payment and Youth Allowance as a Student must tell it when they start self-employment. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/employment-income-reporting-if-youre-self-employed ↩