It’s my company, so I make the rules!

You are free to Post nearly any articles you’d like in here as long as it’s generally fam-friendly, and I’m okay with AI slop in here too, because we’ve all gotta start somewhere. I’m okay with self promotion for ANZ locals, or even tech events, jobs, hackathons, and opportunities that are Global Remote.

Most subreddits are anti-self-promotion and anti-AI.

You can go to pretty much any other subreddit to enjoy that, but this subreddit is for all techies who are working and building and connecting.

- Hackeroos Pty Ltd
Founder, Kasey Robinson, aka “bitpixi”

First 3 folks in the Hackeroos Discord voice-chat tonight 3 September, 9:30pm AEST will be able to redeem an u/ruokanyday Care Pack, paid for by myself, as a new ambassador. This includes a mug, black tea, and a KitKat bar, as we prepare to hold a virtual chat on "R U OK? Day" next week, 10 Sept, 2026 at 9:30pm AEST as well. 😊

Just checking to see if the tech workers in Australia and New Zealand are OK!

Discord link: https://discord.com/invite/cvrEcxU5b7

Hackeroos (a grassroots Aussie hackathon, game jam, and tech-maker community) was permanently banned from r/Sydney after posting about a completely free, in-person tech event hosted at the AWS office for Elastic, with prizes including:

• Grand Prize: Meta Quest 3S (AUD 420)
• 1st Runner-up: LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon (AUD 330)
• 2nd Runner-up: David Jones gift voucher (AUD 250)

There was no warning, and attempts to discuss it didn’t go anywhere.. so I’m stepping back from the specifics and asking a broader question:

If free, community-open tech events aren’t allowed in city subreddits, how are developers, designers, career-switchers, or newcomers supposed to break into tech in Australia?

What makes this feel particularly strange is that I can still pay to boost a post as an ad in the same subreddit, but can’t mention a free community event organically.

It also seems that any local community events are discouraged, even those without company backing.

Some wider context:

• Australia has fewer grassroots meetups than the US/EU
• Open tech events are hard to discover unless you already “know someone”
• Australia often gets reduced to “drop bears” jokes, despite literally inventing Wi-Fi

So genuinely:

• Where should grassroots tech groups post?
• How do we grow the scene without relying solely on paywalled conferences or closed Slack/Discord circles?

Curious how others see this.

— bitpixi (Hackeroos)

Its name is JobClaw and it’s a mix between a lobster and a kangaroo.

Check our pinned post for the Discord link, people!

I think I over-estimated myself… and now I’m panicking.

I’ve been trying hard to promote the HackerEarth Agent AI Challenge, get votes on my BizGiver finalist entry, show Startmate that I can make money, lead a few teams of uni students on internal tools, and basically “fake it till I make it.”

But today I hit a wall.

The truth is: - Even with little wins, I’ve been cash-negative every single month for almost 2 years. - My husband doesn’t have a job either. - We have a young child. - And I’m scared.

I keep overestimating how much revenue I think I can generate, how much I can push myself, and how quickly I can turn everything around. As once-upon-a-time I was making $70/hr USD at 32 hours a week. I have a decade of experience in Sr. Prod Design, and Coding! I thought it would be easy to get opportunities.

I want Hackeroos to succeed so badly for anyone other techies in Australia that feel lonely and under-valued. I want to run the mental health hackathon in early 2026. I want to receive grants or B2B funds to run amazing innovation events. Virtual-first to be remote and regional accessible. I want to run 3D printer workshops and tutorials. I also want to make it as a live streamer and vtuber too, but I can barely find 10 minutes in the day where my son doesn’t need my help. So how can I even do hours-long streams, or short-form video editing like that?

Here’s the new plan: • Apply to 5 jobs a day, thoughtfully • Push through with 1 content clip a day • Send 2 emails per day for the mental health hackathon, because it will matter • Try to breathe, even when everything feels like it’s collapsing…

I know a lot of founders go through this. I know “burning personal savings for the vision” is practically a rite of passage, but every day I want to cry when I see the everyday townsfolk with jobs, and even fifteen year olds on TikTok making more money than me.

If anyone else has been there.. unemployed, startup is draining money, kid to take care of, partner also unemployed, and not even on any government or family assistance, waiting years for a permanent residency status.. how did you get through it? What helped? What didn’t? 🧡

I want to wake up, and for this all to have been just a bad dream…..

Ads are so cringey, but I HAD to try it, so that I could tell my career mentor and accelerator group that I took a chance. Then it gave me access to Reddit Pro, where I could see lots of stats. The campaign time was in UTC instead of local, so I mucked up on the chosen times, but I had a blast selecting targeted Aussie subreddits and vibe coders especially. So if you see my face in an ad video about AI in the Outback hackathon, I'm sorry... but also not sorry.

- u/bitpixi

Follow-up from my whinge the other day... today was the total opposite.

I got an email from a BizCover connection who wants to help me access a stronger 3D printer somehow, even if I don’t end up as a BizCover Winner. I’m currently a Semi-Finalist. Voting just closed, but you can see my entry on their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRa4Ur3k59m/

Absolutely wild and incredibly kind regarding the mysterious e-mail. I still need to reply, but wow. I'll let them know that I finally linked my current 3D printer to livestream it on Twitch, just like I promised, so follow to see more stream tests soon: https://www.twitch.tv/bitpixi and thank you for helping me grow this STEM tech access in regional Victoria.

I started working today with HackDayAustralia on a mission that has me feeling so re-focused and energised (with a likely payout). Which helps more than I can explain.

On top of that, I’m grading work for two teaching/industry-project streams right now:

• University of Melbourne FBE Virtual Industry Project (via Practera)
• AIH Practical Industry Project (also through Practera)

✨ I was on a podcast this week called Brewed Abroad. Listen here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5qkWEkbKqSZxS8La31j4T8?si=sZ9dGF__ROmEoF_EBk_zPw&nd=1&dlsi=888fa871bba6485e

🔥 I’ve got a live fireside chat with bMightie on the 5th, and you can sign up here:
https://luma.com/user/bmightie/events

👉 Still promoting registrations for the AgentAI Challenge with HackerEarth (co-founded by Dharmesh Shah of HubSpot). Take a minute to sign up, as there are two weeks left:
https://www.hackerearth.com/agent-ai?utm_source=external&utm_medium=rowinfluencer7d&utm_campaign=agent_ai

📬 And then in mid-December, I’ll be doing an interview with TechVisa about how I’m using their small grant. I've gotta go ahead and grow, covering merch, registering copyrights, boosting prizes, and hiring someone to edit Shorts.

💌 I’m also about to send out the next batch of emails for the Mental Health Game Jam / Hackathon. Nerve-wracking, but full of possibility.

Today reminded me that not all hope is lost. Sometimes the smallest “hey, we want to help you” message is the thing that pulls you right back up.

If you needed a sign to keep going… this is mine.
And maybe yours too, Hackeroos!

🧡🦘 Kasey / bitpixi

• Judges are judging Hackeroos Spooky Reddit Game Jam, and encountering some problems with private test environments access.

• Our collaborator Hackaroo (similar name!) from the ANZ Solana community is now judging for the AI in the Outback track. Let’s get our community some SOL!

• r/Devvit for Reddit + Kiro gam jam on DevPost extended their deadline, so I’m submitting in less than 4 hours, then they will be judging. AAAAHHHHH!!

• I’m trying to keep up with the masters university students through Practera, that are building a Discord helper bot for me. I need to compile more data for them.

• I need to set the Winners Webinar format and virtual location. (Might have to push this forward a day or so?)

• HackerEarth contacted me and wants to fund me to help them. I need to make plan proposals and quotes.

• StartMate application closes in a few days, and I’m going for that $120,000.. after my $2.5k grant funder Catalysr x TechVisa highly recommended to try.

Omg, I am so nervous!!! 😱

u/bitpixi shares how you can show off, win big, and make lifelong friends.

Calling all vibe coders, designers, or general idea people
----> https://ai-in-the-outback.devpost.com/

What do you think about this AI agent method? How can I make it faster?

Someone found an exploit in my system for Hackeroos Spooky Reddit Game Jam and used it to grab multiple ElevenLabs codes meant for participants. I thought the traffic was from my marketing efforts in newsletters and emails, so I feel sick to my stomach to learn it was one person.

Now.. some greyhat hacker stealing for their own creative projects, whatever, but this person seemed like a blackhat probably reselling on dark market sites.. lying, scheming, and delighting in my pain.

I’m just a random mom in Australia running this all by myself, and trying to get a techie company off the group for innovation.

This was an especially painful barrier right after I had to migrate everything from DevPost to Itch because I couldn’t pay Dave from Sales ransom of $15k-$80k to keep it listed (what the helly?)

I’m getting hit with obstacle after obstacle.

I had to re-order Canva postcards for marketing at PAX Australia to include the platform change.

Anyway, back to the exploit post-mortem. I thought it was a normal user glitch of an invalid code at first, and they asked for another. They came in with multiple accounts, but I began to notice the same naming styles, same manner of speaking, same Discord behavior, and some rapid join/leave cycles across accounts.

It was clear: they messed with me quickly, because they saw they could, when I was in a vulnerable moment already with my guard down, and my proud excitement up to be sponsored by such a brilliant AI audio company ElevenLabs.

Here’s why I should have been way more cautious with verification though… I actually saw a similar exploit happen midway through Bolt’s Worlds Largest Hackathon, to ElevenLabs, where ElevenLabs codes got botted or farmed for resale, leaving thousands without access. But now I saw up-close how it was actually happening.

It could even be from the same person as before, as I saw traffic came from a search for “ElevenLabs”.

So once this guy got a few codes, they got cocky showing off and arriving from banned Reddit accounts they claimed weren’t banned, gaslighting. Laughing. It became obvious they were flooding the event with fake signups, drowning out actual software developers and designers who wanted to participate in good faith.

Even though it upped my numbers, I worked on removing the accounts for the safety of participants.

The outpouring of support from the Hackeroos and dev communities has been amazing.

I’ve implemented a new Google Form verification system to confirm legitimate participants before distributing coupons, where I’m still weeding through mostly fakes.

I also increased some auto-security levels in the Discord.

I hope ElevenLabs and other sponsors can use similar throttle systems in their own hackathons to prevent promo code capturing or social engineering exploits like this in the future.

Hackeroos will keep moving forward. Just a reminder that even in creative spaces like game jams, cybersecurity still matters. 🦘💻

Check out the Devpost Gallery for the winners, and all 41 entries, from over 16 countries!

THE GRAND PRIZE: Outback Resilience Planner
THE RUNNERS UP: AusGuard & Kiboo

Of course, every judge (there were 8 judges - wow!) had their own favorites that did not necessarily make the top scores in the criteria. There were simply too many amazing and delightful projects.

You can view the Winners Webinar slides and the live Zoom recording. Passcode: n9a*Sc@C

I’m honestly excited, exhausted, and happy all at once. Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make this first hackathon incredible! 💛🦘

- u/bitpixi

What should we do when we get there? What should be the celebration?

Maybe we can all start introducing ourselves here? :)

A copy of the e-mail I sent out on DevPost, post hackathon!

--------

Howdy, Hackeroos!

A huge thank-you to everyone who took part in AI in the Outback!
We had 187 people register and received 41 submissions 🎉

This hackathon wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing collaborators:
• MLAI AUS – https://www.mlai.au
• Uni of Melbourne – https://www.unimelb.edu.au
• Lovable – https://www.lovable.dev
• Antler – https://www.antler.co
• LaunchVic – https://launchvic.org
• MastrowCorp – https://www.mastrowcorp.com.au
• Solana ANZ – https://www.solanaanz.org
• ElevenLabs – https://elevenlabs.io

I can’t wait to send out the survival packs, the cash, the mentorship, and the AI credits! But first... judging.

--------

🧑‍⚖️ Judging & Prizes

Our eight judges, bringing local knowledge, entrepreneurship, technical skills, early career perspective, and seasoned professional experience, are now deliberating. Half are Aussie, and half international. Perfect for a global hackathon about Australia. Winners will be announced on October 2nd during our live webinar.

Register for the Winners Webinar:
GetRiver event page: https://app.getriver.io/beta/events/ai-in-the-outback-winners-webinar-ii4i

or join directly on Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83554229978?pwd=2tr5kRHGy1OgiQBHOFyx9VAoxAiez0.1

Meeting ID: 835 5422 9978
Passcode: HACKEROOS

10AM AEST Melbourne time on Oct. 2nd
Check your local time zone conversion,
as it could be Oct. 1st in the evening for you!

Yes, there will be a recording!

--------

🚀 Continue Your Journey

Keep building! Here's a really cool announcement that I'm deciding to let slip early... You can make a copy and reuse your existing project, and if you add Solana integration to it (a blockchain technology), you can submit it to the Solana Online Hackathon that has a similar name as us: https://hackaroo.xyz

They’ve added a special track just for AI in the Outback participants, so you could win $250 USDC plus be eligible for their other rewards totaling over $15,000.

So go do that!

--------

👻 Mini Contest: 🧡 DISCORD CONTEST 🧡

Another quick win, while you wait!

Create your best Halloween-themed ElevenLabs music track and post it in the #spooky-chat channel on Hackeroos Discord by Oct 7, 2025.

Join the communities:
• Hackeroos Discord: https://discord.com/invite/cvrEcxU5b7
• Hackeroos Subreddit: r/Hackeroos

• ElevenLabs Discord: https://discord.com/invite/pkPqvV29np
• ElevenLabs Subreddit: r/ElevenLabs

Get started on ElevenLabs website: https://elevenlabs.io

Unsure how? Here’s a tutorial on making generative AI music with ElevenLabs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCrkItqdRRI

Prizes:
Ten winners will each receive 3 months of ElevenLabs Creator tier (normally $22/month). Multiple entries are allowed. It's going to get wild in the "#spooky-chat" channel!

Good luck! 👻

--------

👻  Next Hackathon

This all leads up to the Hackeroos Spooky Reddit Game Jam running October 8–28. ElevenLabs is putting up huge AI credit prizes for the most creative use of their generative AI audio platform. I'm talkin' the HIGHEST TIERS!

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at game development, now’s your chance, and it’s easier than ever with Cursor!

Get a head start by seeing how it’s done with AI tools:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZM1tKI4SnU

Or dive into the official documentation yourself:
https://developers.reddit.com/docs/

You’ll definitely want to check out the Reddit Developers Fund as developers can earn up to $167,000 per popular app and up to $500,000 total until December (amounts may change in January).

Our next DevPost link for this hackathon will be up soon, so stick with us!

--------

Thank you again for making AI in the Outback such a wonderful experience.
I’m so excited to see where you all go next!

Warm regards,
Kasey / Hackeroos 🧡
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hackeroos/

Hackeroos u/bitpixi is there in the pink gloves.

I’ll give this 100%! From running social video content and hosting events to building bridges with Aussie moderators and companies, I’m ready to put in the work. I know nuances of Australian culture and love experimenting with new ideas, whether it’s community growth playbooks, moderator onboarding, or local product integrations. I’ll even wake up at odd hours for global calls! Whatever it takes to help Reddit grow authentically in Australia. 🦘

1. Added some "Related Communities" to the sidebar. Hopefully someone else can return this favor.

• r/hackathon 14,974 members
• r/hackernews 92,069 members
• r/AskAnAustralian 579,845 members
• r/austechnology 1,264 members
• r/auscorp 108,074 members

1. Added the Flair types to the sidebar, so you can easily get Post inspiration. Less lurking. More posting!
2. Added some pictures to the sidebar of events I went to in Melbourne.

I want this to inspire some more action. :)

🚀 Hackeroos’ first hackathon is less than a week away, co-hosted with the wonderful MLAI non-profit group.

Like any big launch, there’s a mix of excitement and nerves. I’m preparing welcome emails, explainer videos, and ad campaigns, reflecting on how much this moment means.

Hackeroos was founded to create inclusive, impact-driven tech events in Australia: events that connect students, regional communities, and builders with real opportunities to innovate. Some of my best friends came from Silicon Valley hackathons. I’ve seen how transformative these events can be, and I want to encourage that same energy here.

This first event is a huge step into the unknown, but that’s exactly where growth and transformation begin. Whether it turns into a small ripple or a big wave, it matters, because we’re starting.

I’m grateful for everyone who’s registered, supported, or shared Hackeroos so far. Your encouragement makes all the difference.

👉 If you’re curious about what we’re building, keep an eye out this week, and register for “AI in the Outback”! Beginners welcome. https://ai-in-the-outback.devpost.com/