Australians have never been more excited about subscriptions. Now, they pay an average of $78 a month, a whopping 24% increase from an average of $63 only a few years ago. The economy is changing, dollars are tight, and consumer behavior is shifting rapidly. As much as one in five Australians are currently considering a jump into full-time content creation themselves. This move is part of a larger trend and overall media landscape characterized by an increasing thirst for connection, self-expression, and earning potential.
Chandni Gupta is deputy CEO and digital policy director at the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC). She points out that the upsurge in expenditures is indicative of a very big change in today’s consumers’ behaviors. “We live in a world now where we don’t own anything, but we subscribe to everything,” she stated. The average Australian household already has around 3.7 subscriptions, giving even more evidence to this move away from subscription based services.
Among those trying to figure out the lay of the land is Roya Raad, a student who’s spent hundreds of dollars over the past year on different subscriptions. Raad expressed her concerns about the mounting costs, stating, “We really budget very carefully. I feel like if that wasn’t the case, which I assume for a lot of people that’s not necessarily the case, then yes, it definitely gets too much and it adds up.”
Australians are not just spending more on subscriptions, but are spending over an hour more than ever on social media. On the flip side, the average Australian spends over five hours and 20 minutes a week on social networks. Social media usage decreased by 16%, down from 6 hours and 20 minutes in 2024. Boomers felt the greatest impact, with their usage decreasing by 27%. Even Gen Z and Millennials reduced their use by 14%. This transformation is a testament to the profound ways Australians are rewriting the rules on how they consume digital content.
Even with the bump in subscription spending, consumers have never been more choosy about what they watch and when. Gupta said that the dramatic increase in price was predictable due to the evolution of the subscription services market. SO DATA DOLLARS IT’S CALLED THE HOTEL CALIFORNIA EFFECT, named for the Eagles song. You can take it with you wherever you go. It is our job to be good stewards,” she added. You’ll never get far from the reality of canceling subscriptions.
This data explains why 83% of our respondents are paying for video streaming services, and more than half have active music streaming subscriptions. One in four Americans have spent money on sports PASS. This illustrates the wide variety of interests of Australians as they adjust their entertainment choices.
With the cost of living crisis biting more than ever, Australians across the board are looking to review their monthly subscription expenses. Raad shared her experience of pausing their Netflix subscription to save money: “We decided that we would just give it a break for some time, where it’s Netflix and save some bucks for a couple of months.” This sentiment resonates with people across the country as they try to balance their entertainment dollars with other financial obligations.
With the lack of interoperability between subscription platforms, Gupta noted, consumers are frequently left stuck in a walled garden with nowhere to go. “Because there’s very little interoperability. It’s really hard to suddenly move from one platform to another… you are often locked in by the service,” she explained. As subscription services proliferate, this creates a challenging environment for consumers trying to quickly evaluate and optimize their subscriptions.
Peter Corbett is national lead partner telecommunications, media and technology for Deloitte Australia. Among other things, he observed a profound change in consumer behavior and interaction with new media. “Time spent engaging with media and entertainment has fallen for a second year in a row, as Australians become increasingly choosy about what they consume,” he stated. Perhaps this selectivity is a harbinger of things to come—a move towards more intentional consumption as people examine what they’re watching for entertainment or enrichment.
Gupta stressed that the creation and transparency around these subscription costs is imperative. She remarked, “It should be really clear what you are paying for and if prices have gone up, why have they gone up.” This call for clarity reflects growing consumer awareness regarding pricing and value in subscription-based services.
Australians are reeling from this new reality. Millions are now finding out that they get charged a lot more than they expect when trying to auto-renew subscriptions unknowingly. Almost 50% of respondents confess they exceed their original expectations in time on this process. This underscores the dynamic, thorny challenges of establishing governance between and among multiple subscriptions.
