Indicator 3: news outlets

This interactive data report was first published as a companion to our News media in Australia: 2025 report. We updated it in May 2026 with new data.

This data report examines the characteristics of professional news outlets in Australia, including by:

type – news outlet type and (where applicable) broadcast type
location – primary state/territory

Our professional news outlet requirements outline how we define a ‘professional news outlet’ under the Framework. As this interactive report draws on a range of data sources with different parameters, validation of news outlets against these requirements is ongoing. See the chart notes for more information.

View the report

Our News media in Australia series reports against the Media Diversity Measurement Framework. The Framework will provide a robust long-term evidence base to help inform government decision making in support of public interest journalism and media diversity in Australia. This work forms part of the government’s News Media Assistance Program.

News outlets by type

Websites and apps are the most common type of news outlet

Website/app outlets account for 37% (1,012) of all news outlets

This highlights the prevalence of digital news in Australia. The next most common news outlet types are radio at 29% (784) and newspaper at 17% (469).

Community radio is the most common type of broadcast news outlet

More than half (52% or 454 outlets) of all broadcast news outlets are community radio stations

This reflects the central role of community radio as a platform for producing local content, including news.

Commercial broadcasters are the second most common type of radio outlet (35% or 272 outlets) and the dominant type of TV outlet (80% or 65 outlets).

News outlets by location

Populous eastern states have the most news outlets

66% (1,807) of all news outlets primarily operate in one of Australia's eastern mainland states

NSW has the most news outlets with 29% (787), followed by Victoria with 20% (540) and Queensland with 18% (480).

This reflects the concentration of Australia's population in these 3 states (77%).

Close to one in 10 news outlets are Australia-wide

7% (201) of news outlets that do not operate primarily in any one state or territory are classed as ‘Australia-wide’

Examples include national mastheads such as the Australian Financial Review, National Indigenous Times, and The Australian.

More information

This report draws on data from the following sources:

ACMA Register of Radiocommunications Licences
ACMA Media ownership and control registers
ACMA (News Media Bargaining Code) register of eligible news businesses
ACMA Framework Outlet Register
Public Interest Publishers Index
Industry supplied data (ABC and SBS)
Public Interest Journalism Initiative Australian News Data Project (discontinued December 2024).

In May 2026, we corrected a data quality issue relating to the ABC and SBS in this data report. As a result, the number and composition of media brands and news outlets attributed to the ABC and SBS has changed since this report was first published in 2025.

All percentages on this page have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

For more information about how to read this data report, see the chart notes, help page, diagrams and glossary provided with the data report.

You can also:

view a glossary of key terms used in these reports
view other reports in this series.

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All other rights are reserved.

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