Link: http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2008/10/14/profitable-home-businesses-ent-fin-cx_mf_1014mostprofitablehomebiz.html?partner=smallbusiness_newsletter

And you guessed it, "consulting" is in the top ten...
Whilst this is US based data, I'd be fairly confident that similar views would also work in Australia... have a read and see for yourself

Who needs a nasty commute when you can make a decent buck but a few feet from your kitchen? Over half of all U.S. businesses are now based out of an owner's home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. With the economy shedding jobs, the ranks of the self-employed may well keep swelling. Plenty more entrepreneurs may look to eliminate rent and fuel costs to pinch pennies.

With the help of Sageworks, a Raleigh, N.C.-based private-company data provider, Forbes.com has assembled a list of the 10 most profitable businesses--on a pretax basis--that could be run out of a home. The data were drawn from eight years worth of financial statements (nearly an entire business cycle) for tens of thousands of privately held U.S. companies with annual revenues under $1 million and bucketed by Internal Revenue Service classifications. Average pretax profits ranged from 8% to 14%.

Facilitators--from brokerages to consultancies--nabbed five of the 10 spots; creators, such as specialty design shops, earned three; and repair outfits rounded out the rest. To be sure, not all will fare equally (or well) in the economic downturn.

read on...
and if you prefer to see this information in picture, click here...

As for consultants... Two big challenges mentioned: marketing and pricing your services. That's where the services of aCE talentNET come in to their own...