Amazon Alexa has finally launched in Australia this week, with consumers now able to purchase Amazon’s Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Plus either through the internet shopping giant directly or through local bricks and mortar stores.
So with that, we thought we would put together a list based on what we have been able to find out through trawling various websites, of the skills that are available for Alexa here in Australia and the services and brands they interact with here down under.
You can easily search for Alexa Skills using the Amazon Australia website. Simply navigate to their site, click on the drop-down menu and select Alexa Skills and start searching.
So without further ado, here in the list:
| Brand | Skill | Example Command |
|---|---|---|
| AFL | Every AFL club has an Alexa Skill, if you click the link you can find your favourite team and use that skill. | “Alexa, what’s in the news?” |
| AGL | Check account bills and usage | “Alexa, ask AGL how much electricity I’ve used this bill.” |
| AirTasker | Post a task to AirTasker advertising your services or tasks | “Alexa, ask AirTasker to find me a cleaner” |
| Air New Zealand | Check flight times which also includes rescheduled or cancelled flights | “Alexa, ask Air New Zealand if my flight is on time” |
| Amaysim | Check your mobile account balance or top up your data/plan and find your phone | “Alexa, ask Amaysim how much data I have left” |
| Coastalwatch | Check surfing conditions | “Alexa, ask Coastalwatch to check surf conditions at Cronulla Beach” |
| Dimmi | Make restaurant reservations | “Alexa, ask Dimmi to make a reservation at my favourite restaurant for 7pm” |
| D-Link | Control D-Link smart home devices | “Alexa, turn on the bedroom lights.” |
| Domino’s | Place a Quick Order and check the status of a current order. | “Alexa, ask Domino’s to place my favourite order.” |
| EnergyAustralia | Review the status and due date of your current energy bill. | “Alexa, ask EnergyAustralia when is my account due.” |
| Flight Centre | Find the cheapest flights to destinations around the world through your preferred airline. | “Alexa, ask Flight Centre for the cheapest flight to London.” |
| Fox Sports | Get the latest sports news. | “Alexa, what’s in the news?” |
| GoGet | Get Alexa to book you a GoGet Car or Van for an hour or a Day, whenever you need it. | “Alexa, ask GoGet to book a car on Saturday at 2pm” |
| hipages | Find a tradie to perform work at a particular address. | “Alexa, ask hipages to find me a plumber.” |
| Hoyts Cinemas | Check movie times at your local Hoyts Cinema | “Alexa, ask HOYTS what’s on at Broadway next Tuesday?” OR“Alexa, ask HOYTS when is Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle showing” |
| LIFX | Control LIFX smart lights. | “Alexa, dim the living room by 50%.” |
| Logitech | Control Logitech Harmony products. | “Alexa, turn on the TV.” |
| Macquarie National News | Receive a flash briefing on the latest news, sports and weather. | “Alexa, what’s news?” |
| Mojo Power | Check energy usage and bill status. | “Alexa, ask Mojo Power what’s my energy usage.” |
| NAB | Check bank balance and manage your money. | “Alexa, ask NAB for my account balance.” |
| NextThere | Check public transport schedules. | “Alexa, ask NextThere when is the next bus to the city.” |
| NZ Herald | Check the latest news from New Zealand. | “Alexa, what’s the latest?” |
| Philips Hue | Control Philips Hue smart lights. | “Alexa, turn on the kitchen light.” |
| QANTAS | Check flight status and the balance of reward points. | “Alexa, ask Qantas what’s my points balance.” |
| REA Group | Receive a flash briefing on the latest real estate news. | “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?” |
| SBS News | Receive a flash briefing on the latest Australian and global news. | “Alexa, what’s the news?” |
| Southern Cross Austereo Network | The Southern Cross Austereo network has added all their stations including Triple M, celebrity news from The Hit Network and Scoopla Entertainment News. | “Alexa, what’s the news?” |
| Seek | Search job listings and employment market news. | “Alexa, find me a job” |
| Sky News Australia | Receive a flash briefing on the latest Australian and global news. | “Alexa, what’s the news?” |
| Taste.com.au | Search for recipes. | “Alexa, ask Taste for a chocolate cookie recipe.” |
| Transport for NSW | Check transport Journey updates, disruptions etc for Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink (intercity only), Ferries & Light Rail (excludes Sydney Buses) | ‘Hey Alexa, what does my journey look like today?’ |
| Telstra | Control Telstra Smart Home-compatible smart devices. | “Alexa, set living room light to 50%” |
| Ten Network | TEN News flash-briefing delivers you the most up to date headlines across news, entertainment and sport from Australia and around the world. | “Alexa, what’s my Flash Briefing?” |
| Uber | Request a ride. | “Alexa, ask Uber for a ride.” |
| UV Index | Find out daily UV indexes both locally, nationally and internationally | “Alexa, Open UV Index” |
| Village Cinemas | Find movie times and locations | “Alexa, ask Village Cinemas for an action movie.” |
| Virgin Australia | Check status of flights, review Velocity rewards points balance and request boarding gate and booking reference information for Velocity members. | “Alexa, ask Virgin Australia for that status of flight VA970 today.” |
| Westpac | Access bank account balance, transaction history and reward points status. | “Alexa, ask Westpac how much money I have in my savings account.” |
You can try out other non-local Alexa’s skills through the Alexa App which you can download from Google Play for free via the link below.
I created an Alexa skill for live English football – Alextra Time. It reads aloud live commentary from the days games, mainly focusing on the Championship, as that’s the league my favourite team is struggling to stay in. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Carl-Myers-Alextra-Time/dp/B075Z9P8VF0
Sorry, link fail!
https://www.amazon.com.au/Carl-Myers-Alextra-Time/dp/B075Z9P8VF/
I designed a skill called Fire Danger Rating, which tells Victorians what their rating is.
“Alexa, ask Fire Danger Rating whats the rating in Central tomorrow”
https://alexa.amazon.com.au/spa/index.html#skills/dp/B079L2LZ2J/?ref=skill_dsk_skb_sr_0
No Belkin Wemo support? I know they seem to have pulled out of the Australian market but they sold a huge amount of gear here that still works and works fine with the US skill (which isn’t available in the Oz Skills section).
Alas, until some of the existing skills that I’ve gotten used to are updated to allow Aus, I’m sticking with US.
Also, is it just me or is the Aussie voice weird? Like they’ve tried to make it a combination of Aus & NZ, and ended up with something that sounds like neither.
Is it just me or I cannot find a lot of them skills in my Alexa app?
yes, a lot of skills not available. 🙁
Not just you. Very disappointed
You fumbled with the link to the Southern Cross Austereo skill. This fumble has made the right column appear cut off.
Whoops – Fixed that up.
Thats quite a list of examples… will make Alexa quite compelling for some.
I wonder if Alexa will tell me that my savings is $0 or if it will rub it in telling me “you can’t save when you spend all your money on junk”
That’s what my wife is for.