Indicator 5: news consumption

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

The report explores how Australians consume and engage with news media, including by:

• access – the proportion of Australians who access news and their preferred types of news   
• amount – changes in the amount of news Australians access and why  
• platforms and outlets – how and where Australians access news. 

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.

This snapshot highlights key insights from the Indicator 5: news consumption interactive report above, drawing on data collected in June 2025 that referred to the previous 7 days. 

To explore more insights on news consumption in Australia, visit the full interactive report. A deeper examination of these insights will appear in our News media in Australia: 2027 report.

News access remains steady  92% of Australian adults accessed news News access was steady on 2024 levels, following a drop from 95% in 2023 to 91% in 2024.

Free-to-air TV is the most popular platform for news, followed by social media  51% of Australian adults accessed free-to-air TV, while 43% accessed social media Free-to-air TV was the top news platform in 2025 at 51%. Social media followed at 43%, which has overtaken news websites (39%), as the latter continued its long-term decline.

Lack of interest is a key reason to not access any news 37% of Australian adults who did not access any news cited lack of interest A further 32% did not access news in 2025 because they found the content too negative or distressing. 24% did not access news because they do not trust the news.

Facebook is the most popular platform for accessing news on social media 63% of Australian adults who accessed news via social media platforms did so via Facebook A further 33% of adults used YouTube and 33% used Instagram in 2025, while 16% of adults used TikTok.

Distressing and negative content is contributing to reduced news access Among the 17% of Australian adults who accessed less news in 2025 compared to the previous year, 43% cited news content being ’too distressing or negative’ A further 38% said they felt ‘overwhelmed or worn out by the news’. 31% said they were ‘less interested in the news’.

Use of unknown news sources on social media is increasing    21% of Australian adults who accessed news on social media said they used ‘unknown sources’, up from 13% in 2024.  ‘Professionally produced news media’ remained the most popular source of news on social media (60%). However, this source continued its long-term decline (from 78% in 2022).

This report draws on data from the ACMA’s annual consumer survey. Download key findings for the survey data used in this report below.

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Indicator 5: key findings and chart notes

You can also: 

• find out more about how to access the data in our interactive reports
• view the methodology and data quality statement for the annual consumer survey
• view a glossary of key terms used in these reports
• view other reports in this series.
• view the rest of the annul consumer survey data in the Communications and Media in Australia series

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