''Australian Survivor'' is an Australian

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

reality game show based on the international ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'' format. Following the premise of other versions of the ''Survivor'' format, the show features a group of contestants, referred to as "castaways" as they are marooned in an isolated location. The castaways must provide food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in various challenges for rewards and

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out of the game by their fellow castaways. The final castaway remaining is awarded the title of "Sole Survivor" and the grand prize of A$500,000. The series first aired in 2002 on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

, who , also hold the first-run Australian broadcast rights to the American edition of ''Survivor''. In 2006, a

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

edition aired on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

. Both iterations of the series only lasted one season due to low ratings. In November 2015,

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

announced at its network

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that it would be reviving the series in 2016. The series commenced airing on 21 August 2016. Unlike its predecessors, Network Ten renewed the series for another season for 2017, and has continuously been renewed with success, with season's airing yearly. Most recently, ''Australian Survivor'' is aired the 12th season titled '' Brains V Brawn II'' set on the island of

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approximate ...

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, in early 2025. In late 2024, the show was renewed for a shorter second edition for 2025, and the 13th season overall, titled '' Australia V The World'' also set in Samoa. The season will feature notable returning players from previous seasons competing against notable players from other versions of ''Survivor''.

Format

The show follows the same general format as the other editions of ''Survivor''. To begin, the players are split into two or three tribes and taken to a remote, isolated location. They are forced to live off the land with meagre supplies for several weeks. Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards such as food, luxuries, or for

, forcing the other tribe to attend

Tribal Council A tribal council is an association of First Nations bands in Canada, generally along regional, ethnic or linguistic lines. An Indian band, usually consisting of one main community, is the fundamental unit of government for First Nations in Can ...

, where they must vote one of their tribemates out of the game by

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

. About halfway through the game, the tribes are

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into a single tribe, and challenges are on an individual basis; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out. Most players voted out during this stage become members of the Tribal Council Jury. When only two or three players remain, the Final Tribal Council is held. The finalists plead their case to the Jury about why they should win the game. The jurors then have the opportunity to interrogate the finalists before casting their vote for which finalist should be awarded the title of Sole Survivor and win the grand prize of A$500,000 (the grand prize was A$250,000 prize in the shorter ''Australia V The World'' edition and a A$100,000 charity prize in the 2006 celebrity edition). Like other editions of the show, the Australian edition has introduced numerous modifications or twists on the core rules to prevent players from over-relying on strategies that succeeded in prior seasons or other editions of ''Survivor''. These changes have included tribe switches, players being exiled from their tribe for a short period of time, hidden immunity idols that players can use to save themselves or another player at Tribal Council from being voted off, voting powers that can be used to influence the result at Tribal Council and players being given a chance to return following their elimination.

''Survivor'' in Australia

The first Australian version of the ''Survivor'' format was filmed in late 2001 and aired in 2002 on the

. The program was a contractual obligation if the network were to be allowed to continue to broadcast American ''Survivor''. The program was criticised for poor casting and lower production value than the popular American edition and it was not renewed due to low ratings. The Nine Network still hold the first-run rights to American ''Survivor'' and have continued to broadcast the American edition of the program ever since. Since 2013, recent seasons air on Nine's secondary channel;

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anima ...

and streamed on 9Now within hours of the original American airing, with most seasons since 2015 having the finale broadcast as a

Simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

of the American Eastern Time broadcast, across Australia. In 2006, the

found a loophole in the contract between the Nine Network and Castaway Television, which allowed them to produce a celebrity version of the series due to a celebrity format being licensed separately from the original format. The Seven Network did not renew the series. In November 2015,

revealed at its upfront event that it would air a new season featuring regular contestants to air in the last quarter of 2016. This new season gave ''Australian Survivor'' the distinction of being one of the few Australian programs to have aired across all three major commercial television networks in Australia. ''Australian Survivor'' has continued to air mostly yearly. The show's most recent season concluded in March 2025. With a second special

all-star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

crossover edition, '' Australia V The World'' set to air in mid-late 2025. Following Network Ten's acquisition by CBS (the American broadcaster of the format) in 2017, starting in December 2018, CBS made the complete American ''Survivor'' series available on their paid Australian streaming platform,

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

(previously known as 10 All Access until August 2021). The broadcasts include '' Survivor US: Marquesas'', which never aired in Australia due to Nine Network's commitment in airing their 2002 version of ''Australian Survivor''. Originally, a select few seasons are also uploaded to Network Ten's free streaming site, 10 Play. As of June 2022, all seasons are uploaded to 10Play. Each American season is uploaded sometime after the season has aired on

, when the rights to that season revert to CBS under their agreement. Additionally, as of September 2020, both seasons of '' Survivor NZ'' and the ''

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'' and '' Island of Secrets'' editions of '' Survivor South Africa'' were also uploaded on 10 Play. Starting with the '' Immunity Island'' edition of the South African series, 10 Play offered same-day streaming of the series as it aired on

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

in Africa. In late 2023, ''Survivor UK'' was included on 10Play, with same day streaming as the series aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

in the United Kingdom.

Series overview

;Notes

Production

Casting

Locations

Broadcast and ratings

;Notes

Companion series

In addition to the main program, two companion web programs are also produced for ''Australian Survivor'' with both airings on 10's free

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

streaming service

10Play 10Play or 10 Play (formerly known as Tenplay, set to rebrand as 10 in 2025) is an Australian free video on demand and catch-up TV service run by Network 10. The service became available on 29 September 2013, replacing the network's old website ...

. 10Play also hosts deleted scenes called "Secret Scenes" as well as additional interviews from the contestants.

''Jury Villa''

Introduced in the 3rd season, ''Jury Villa'' is based on the ''Ponderosa'' series from American ''Survivor''. The series follows the castaways that are voted off during the jury phase of the game as they become members of the Tribal Council Jury and interact with one another in the villa. Each episode focuses primarily on the latest evictee and their arrival in the villa. Episodes are released through

following the airing of each episode of the main show of the Jury phase of the game.

''Talking Tribal''

Introduced in the '' All Stars'' season, ''Talking Tribal'' is an

aftershow An aftershow or after-show is a genre of television talk show whose topic is another television program. An aftershow is typically broadcast immediately after a new episode of its corresponding program, to help retain the audience, and to provide a ...

that unpacks all of the castaway's strategies from the main show. The show premiered on Friday 31 January 2020, days before the premiere of ''All-Stars'' for a preview special. The show then airs weekly after each Wednesday night episode of the main show. In addition to airing as web series on 10 Play, the series also airs as an audio

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

on 10's podcast platform 10 speaks. The first season was hosted by former contestant Luke Toki and television presenter

James Mathison James Mathison (born 14 January 1978) is an Australian television presenter and radio personality, known for his distinctive interviewing style. Mathison gained recognition for his work as a host, interviewer, and journalist, covering a divers ...

, who were joined by ''

Rob Has a Podcast ''Rob Has a Podcast (RHAP)'' is an entertainment podcast hosted by former ''Survivor'' contestant Rob Cesternino. The podcast primarily provides commentary on reality television game shows. Overview Cesternino started ''RHAP'' in 2010, in orde ...

'' podcaster Shannon Guss as a regular panelist, with the trio being joined by a guest panelists each week. ''Talking Tribal''s second season (companion to the '' Brains V Brawn'' edition of the show) was hosted by Luke Toki and radio host Nathan Morris, who were joined by Shannon Guss and Nick Iadanza. Mathison and Guss were joined by the winner and the runner-up of ''Brains V Brawn'', Hayley Leake and George Mladenov, in the third season of ''Talking Tribal'' during '' Blood V Water''. Brooke Jowett from the third season and ''All Stars'', alongside Khanh Ong from ''Blood V Water'', joined Guss in the fourth season of ''Talking Tribal'' during '' Heroes V Villains''. Chrissy Zaremba from ''Blood V Water'' joined Guss in the fifth season of ''Talking Tribal'' during '' Titans V Rebels'', with Mladenov returning for a second season. The show did not return for '' Brains V Brawn II''.

International broadcast

The series airs on the following channels outside of Australia: *In

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

the series airs on

TVNZ 2 TVNZ 2 () is the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It targets a younger audience than its sister channel, TVNZ 1. TVNZ 2's line up consists of dramas, comedie ...

, with the series also being available on

TVNZ+ TVNZ+ (), formerly known as TVNZ OnDemand, is an over-the-top New Zealand television and video on demand streaming service offered by TVNZ. It offers a variety of free content, such as news updates and programmes seen on TVNZ channels. TVNZ+ o ...

. *In the

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, the series airs on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. *In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the series aired on

but is not currently available as of 14 February 2022 due to the service losing streaming rights. *In

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, the series is available on streaming platform

Voyo Voyo is a Czech subscription video on demand service owned by Central European Media Enterprises (CME). Originally launched in the Czech Republic in 2011 as a free archive of programs produced by every national television channel owned by CME and ...

. *In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...