When you think of Australia, what comes to mind? For many people around the world, it’s an exotic destination with unique wildlife and wild landscapes. The problem is that this country lies on the other side of globe from most everything else. If you do plan to travel, visit or move to Australia and plan to stay for a while you’ll have to find a way to fund it all and of course only if you have the right visa.

Backpacking – means travelling around on YOUR money and saving every penny for food or other essentials while keeping your expenses and accommodation relatively low.

Let’s take an in-depth look at the top six backpacker jobs available in Australia and what you can expect.

1. Removalists

Looking for a job that is different every day and you get to meet a tonne of locals? How about being a removalist in Melbourne, or Sydney or Brisbane. There are always locals moving from suburb to suburb and renters vacating properties. Professional movers, typically do 2- 3 house moves a day. It is physically demanding and requires some degree of fitness and strength. However, it is also a very rewarding job helping people relocate to their new home. Removalists can get paid $25 – $30 per hour lots of it is travel time and getting paid doing it but a really intense 2-3 hours of solid muscle power too. You can get jobs by directly approaching professional movers and there are plenty of them.

2. Call Centres, Promotional and Customer Service

Would you like to be a customer service agent or salesperson? What’s your favorite part about working in this industry? The work can take place at any-time and there are plenty of opportunities for hours that won’t interfere with other plans like visiting some tourist sites or going on a road trip. It may not seem exciting but it is a job that has a very high turnover of staff relatively no experience required other than speaking the native language.

You can find work in any of the big cities, sales, customer service and promotional work are more concentrated with a high degree of foot traffic.

You can expect sales people to get paid the minimum wage at approximately $20 per hour or if you are a very good sales person purely based on commissions. Customer service representatives and promotional workers can expect to make at least the minimum wage and scaled up to $30 per hour.

3. Construction Labourers

Construction sites in Australia have two categories of workers. The majority are tradespeople or skilled Labourers who assist with getting the job done while general/unskilled labourers do most everything else required on site, including loading equipment and constructing buildings etc.  They all work closely together so it’s important that you’re physically fit enough for this type physical labor.

Work can be found anywhere, although construction work tends to be more concentrated in large cities, it is still possible to find it in regional towns. Start your search with local builders.

You can expect to be paid around $25 – $30 per hour with an early start at 7am and finishing around 3pm.

4. Tour Guides

Tourist workers and tour guides have the opportunity to see Australia’s best-kept secrets while making money doing it. The tourism industry can offer a way for people who want travel, adventure or city walking tours in one place – whether you’re looking for boat charters or nature parks; wildlife adventures where visitors get up close with animals like kangaroos, dingoes & emus or sightseeing walks around iconic landmarks such as Sydney Opera House etc. As long as you are possess personable skills and attributes and not afraid to lead a group. You can learn the information.

Tourism is concentrated in Australia’s tourist hotspots, such as the capital cities and major attractions such as Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef, National parks and even art galleries and museums.

Tour guides are usually paid the minimum wage of $20/hour.

5. Hospitality

In Australia, you can make some serious dough while waiting tables or bartering with customers. The average wage for a waiter/bartender is quite high which means that your potential earnings will always be limited by the base salary alone there’s no need to worry about getting stiffed because people just aren’t willing to tip, but if they do that’s a little bonus on the side.

There are more jobs in large cities than there are in smaller towns, but every country town will have a pub. Australian’s love to dine out an eat out. If you are a keen foodie and enjoy making the experience of hotel guest, or restaurant guest a memorable one then there is no shortage of jobs in this area.

Waiter’s and bartenders can get paid about $25 per hour for casual rates and on weekends it can go up to $35 per hour for penalty rates.

6. Cleaning & Housekeeping

The job of being a cleaner and housekeeper is not as easy, or straightforward for some people think. You will need more than just good time management skills because evening and early morning work hours are common in this industry due the fact that many businesses require their cleaning outside normal business days which can be strenuous on your body especially if done often enough over long periods. There isn’t any type certification required either but you should at least complete a OH&S course and a simple course about household chemicals and poisons.

A cleaner can earn $20-25 per hour if you are working for a cleaning company and there is plenty of demand for it. Go straight to the company and apply.

The best backpacker job depends on your goals. Sales and labourers are good options if you are looking for something short-term and easy. Tour guiding is a great option for those looking for a fun, unique experience. We hope the above six jobs can give you some insight into what to do before you even hop on the plane and come here.