Side-hustles are widely promoted as a solution to youth underemployment and as a pathway to financial independence and meaningful work. Yet little is known about the characteristics, motivations, and outcomes of young people who pursue them. This report presents findings from the first year of the Youth Side-Hustles Project, a mixed-methods study funded by the Australian Research Council. Drawing on a national survey of 1,497 young people aged 18–34 and 68 qualitative interviews, we define side-hustles as small-scale entrepreneurial activities undertaken alongside formal employment where individuals independently coordinate tasks and set prices. Our findings challenge dominant narratives of hustle culture. While passion and enjoyment are primary motivations, side-hustles often rely on resources such as stable employment, savings, or family support. The typical side-hustler earns $200 per week, invests their own money, and works 11 hours weekly, often including unpaid labour. Women are more likely to have a side-hustle than men, but face a 67% gender earnings gap and greater unpaid work burdens—replicating broader labour market inequalities. Despite modest earnings, most side-hustlers express high satisfaction with the autonomy, flexibility, and skills their side-hustles provide. However, two-thirds are uncertain about future earnings, and few view side-hustles as a route to secure employment. These findings complicate optimistic policy assumptions about entrepreneurship as a universal fix to youth labour market challenges. Rather than treating side-hustles as a solution to precarity, we argue for greater recognition of the social, financial, and gendered conditions under which side-hustles emerge. The report calls for policy approaches that centre secure, meaningful employment and critically assess the costs and limits of entrepreneurialism for young people navigating an increasingly fragmented labour market.