Is it normal to mix up australia with austria and vice versa?

It's not normal unless you are a stupid person.

Sure, it's just like confusing the USA with the USSR

Most Americans confuse the two.

My bff mixes up Canada and California😑

My wife is from The Netherlands. When she's said she's Dutch, quite a few British people she's met have said, "Oh, I've always wanted to go to Denmark," or something similar.

It's not about how similar they are as countries, but how similar they are in name. It doesn't really matter that one's a little landlocked country and the other's a big continental country. I'd say it's normal, but at the same time I think world leaders should be more careful about this kind of thing. Since they are world leaders after all.

Non-visual learners have always had trouble with maps. Nothing can be done for them except GPS.

I mean, the names are somewhat similar. But if you're talking about continually getting them mixed up, not normal. Everyone should know the difference.

Australia isn't a continent. Australasia (AKA Oceania) is.

Australasia not only includes Australia, but also New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, and some other small Pacific islands such as Vanuatu, Kiribati, The Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Australia is a country in Australasia/Oceania.

In answer to your question now i've clarified that, it's not normal at all to mix up Austria and Australia.

They sound similar so it's normal say them wrong.

The similar spellings in their names are one of the only things similar between the two places. Otherwise, they are very different places, different culture, different language (Austria's German, Australia's English), different food, customs, and lifestyles. One is part of Europe and the other is way down under in Oceania. And that is all besides the geographical differences already mentioned such as the size, climate, one being landlocked and one being an island, and that both places are on almost opposite sides of the world.