Drive for Uber Eats in Australia and NZ – Driver Requirements, Pay Rate and more

Although Uber Ridesharing service was presented in Melbourne in 2014 its food delivery service just arrived at the beginning of 2016 in Australia and 2017 in New Zealand. At the time, Melbourne and Auckland was the first city where Uber Eats was available and became the only city in both nations where you can order food through the Uber platform.

Currently, Uber Eats is the major player in on-demand food delivery by gaining the biggest market share in both countries. Uber who already has a big name in the rideshare market won’t have difficulties to promote their other services. In addition to its bigger name, many people prefer Uber’s food delivery service compared to others due to its reliability.

When compared with other services, Uber has a lot of delivery partners who are ready to deliver customer orders at any time while the restaurant is still open, even in the middle of the night. It is because drivers don’t have to schedule a delivery shift in order to receive orders, they can online with their app anytime they want to do so.

To continue to be a leader in the countries and connect with more Eats customers, Uber is still accepting new registration for delivery drivers, especially in several major cities in Australia and New Zealand where demand is quite high.

Uber is not the first player in meals delivery service in these countries. There are similar startups that provide the same services, some of which are Menulog and Deliveroo.

Uber Eats Driver Requirements

To get started delivering with Uber Eats, there are some easy requirements that you must have. The requirements related to your personal and vehicle information.

Personal Requirements

This requirement is useful for Uber to get to know you personally and check whether it is under the standards set by the government and the company.

Uber Eats Requirements Screenshots

1. Basic Personal Requirements
   To be able to start delivering food with Uber Eats you must:
   • Over 18 years old.
   • Dressed nicely and be polite and respectful when doing the delivery services.
   • Take a profile photo that shows your whole face and top of your shoulders without sunglasses or a hat.
2. Proof of Identity
   To deliver with UberEats, you need to confirm your identity. To achieve this, they need your Passport or a Birth Certificate for Australian. Take a clear photo of it, so that all writing can be easily readable or the document will be rejected.

   For the partner with a bicycle, besides the passport and birth certificate, you also need to upload additional identity, Uber called it Secondary ID. It can be Australian or International Driver’s License, Student ID card, National ID or ImmiCard.

   Additional documents

   During the registration process, Uber will conduct a Visa Entitlement Verification Online or known as VEVO checks for partners who cannot provide an Australian Passport, Australian Birth Certificate or Australian Citizenship Certificate.

   They also conduct background check thru the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) accredited agency. When the check is successful, a copy of the results will be provided via email.

3. Driver’s Licence
   This is needed for those of you who want to delivery with car, motorbike and scooter. A full Australian licence is required for delivery, however, a provisional licence is accepted if delivering only by scooter or motorbike.

   Delivery with a bicycle is not required to upload a driver’s licence, but if you have it, you can use it as Secondary Proof of ID.

Vehicle Requirements

If you decide to deliver food with car, motorbikes or scooters you must provide documents that support the legality of the vehicle you will use.

1. Basic Vehicle Requirements
   • Your vehicle is 1990 or newer.
   • Your vehicle must be in good condition and roadworthy.
2. Vehicle Registration
   You should prepare your vehicle’s certificate, it must be validly registered in Australia. For example, if you live in Melbourne you can take screenshot of vehicle registration information recorded in the Victorian Vehicles Register from Vicroads.
3. Vehicle Insurance
   Insurance is a mandatory requirement to have when your car or motorcycle used for delivering service. The insurance could be a third party property or comprehensive.

   Make sure your insurance includes the following information: the insured driver, insured vehicle details, policy type, expired date and liability coverage. If it across some pages you can upload using a PDF version.

Optional Equipment

For biker and motorcyclist, Uber recommended you to bring following optional equipment when doing deliveries:

• An insulated bag, it can keep hot items warm and cold items cold, since most eaters are more likely to receive orders at the intended temperature. You can use your insulated bag or order the branded one from Uber.
• Personal identification, since security might need to verify your identity to give you access to a dropoff location).
• Additional phone accessories like a portable cell phone charger and phone holder for navigating.

Where I can drive with Uber Eats?

You have the opportunity to become an Uber Eats delivery partner wherever this service is available across the country. Unlike its ride-hailing service that is available in more than 30 cities, based on information on its official site, Uber Eats is currently only available in 17 cities in Australia.

This number is likely to continue to grow, at least the same amount as the city where ridesharing service is available in the country.

How to apply for Uber Eats driver

It’s easy to become Uber Eats delivery partner, just like its ridesharing service you can apply online with your smartphone or personal computer.

You can find out more in our other post about how to apply Uber Eats in Australia step-by-step with screenshot.

Once all your required documents have been approved including passing a background check your, account should be active in 5 business days or even less.

How much do Uber Eats Driver make in Australia

When signing up as a delivery driver, you might already know that there is no exact pay rate in gig-economy jobs. This also applies when you drive for Uber Eats in Australia, your daily trips and earnings depend on a number of things like in which city you want to deliver, how many hours you spend doing this job and the type of vehicle you use.

In some big cities like Sydney, the average income of a Uber Eats driver for each delivery is $10. The earning for every trip is depends on the location and delivery distance from the restaurant. On average, a delivery driver can complete about 3 orders/trips every hour.

Based on the information above, an Uber Eats driver can make around $30 per hour, a lot more than the national minimum wage which is $19.49 as of July 2019. However, that amount is not a certain number you get every day. Depending on how lucky you are and how busy the area around you at the time, your daily income could be more or less.

To further convince you of how much Uber Eats drivers make in Australia, here we provide screenshots that include daily earnings of delivery drivers who work on Sydney.

Example of Uber Eats Driver Daily Earnings

Do I need an Uber Eats bag to deliver?

As far as I know, in Australia and NZ an Uber Eats delivery driver is not required, but they encouraged drivers to carry an insulated bag when delivering food to customers, especially for drivers who deliver with a car. However, bringing a thermal bag may be required for drivers who deliver by bicycle or motorbike.

As we have already mentioned, an Uber Eats bag can keep the customer’s food at the intended temperature when it reaches the drop off location. By bringing an insulated while driving with Uber Eats you will have a greater chance of getting good ratings from restaurants and customers. You need to know, there are some restaurants that require delivery drivers to bring a suitable insulated bag into the restaurant when picking up the food or the order will be cancelled straight away.

You can order the bag from Uber or you can make use of your own bag, however, you need to make sure that your delivery bag has been specially designed for food delivery. It’s recommended that your insulated bag is large enough to carry an 18 “pizza box, just in case you get a pizza order of that size or when you get a double order from the same restaurant.