The way Australia reads the news is changing fast. In 2025, more Australians are avoiding the news than ever, social media has overtaken news websites as the main source, and only around four in ten say they trust the news. Here are the key numbers, drawn from the Digital News Report: Australia 2025, what they mean, and how to read the news against the grain of the worst of these trends.
The numbers, from the Digital News Report: Australia 2025
In 2025, roughly 69% of Australians say they avoid the news at least sometimes, social media has for the first time overtaken news websites as the main way people get news, and trust in news sits at about 43%. Only around a quarter of Australians have had any news literacy education.
News avoidance is at a high of about 69%, and is higher among women, regional Australians and under-35s, where it reaches around 71%. Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
Social media has overtaken news websites as the main source of news for the first time in the Australian survey, at about 26% versus 23%. Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
Facebook is the top platform for news overall at about 38%, up six points, while among 18 to 24s Instagram leads at about 40% and more than a third use TikTok for news. Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
Trust in news is around 43%, and is higher among people who have had news literacy education, which only about 24% of Australians have. Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
About 22% of Australians pay for online news, among the highest rates in the world, yet roughly four in five remain reluctant to pay. Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
When about seven in ten people are turning away from the news at least sometimes, the problem is not that Australians do not care. It is that the format, endless, heavy and hard to trust, has become exhausting.
The front door is now social
With social media overtaking news websites as the main source, more Australians meet the news inside feeds built to maximise time, not understanding, and often stripped of the original source.
Trust is fragile, and tied to literacy
Trust sitting near 43%, and higher among the few who have had news literacy education, says the same thing twice: people trust news more when they can see how to check it.
The young are furthest from traditional news
Instagram and TikTok now lead for news among 18 to 24s. Reaching younger Australians means meeting them with short, checkable, source-backed formats, not a wall of text.
How to read the news against the trend
Choose a finite format
Avoidance feeds on the bottomless scroll. A daily round that ends gives you the day and lets you stop, which is what makes keeping up sustainable.
Keep the source in view
Trust rises when you can check a claim. Prefer news that links its original source on every story rather than a feed that hides where it came from.
Read a little, sourced, every day
The antidote to both avoidance and low literacy is a small, trustworthy daily habit: short stories, each with a receipt, that build the muscle of checking as you go.
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Frequently asked questions
How do Australians get their news in 2025?
In 2025, social media overtook news websites as the main source of news in Australia for the first time, at about 26% versus 23%, according to the Digital News Report: Australia 2025. Television remains a major source, and among 18 to 24s Instagram and TikTok lead.
What percentage of Australians avoid the news?
About 69% of Australians say they avoid the news at least sometimes in 2025, a record high, and it is higher among women, regional Australians and under-35s, where it reaches around 71%. Source: Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
Do Australians trust the news?
Trust in news sits at about 43% in 2025 and is higher among people who have had news literacy education, which only around 24% of Australians have. Source: Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
What is the most popular social media platform for news in Australia?
Facebook is the most used platform for news overall at about 38%. Among 18 to 24s, Instagram leads at about 40% and more than a third use TikTok for news. Source: Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
Do Australians pay for online news?
About 22% of Australians pay for online news, among the highest rates in the world, yet roughly four in five remain reluctant to pay. Source: Digital News Report: Australia 2025.
Where do these statistics come from?
The figures are from the Digital News Report: Australia 2025, produced by the University of Canberra News and Media Research Centre as the Australian arm of the Reuters Institute Digital News Report. Figures are rounded.
