''Guardian Australia'' is the Australian website of the British global online and print newspaper, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Available solely in an online format, the newspaper's launch was led by

Katharine Viner Katharine Sophie Viner (born January 1971) is a British journalist and playwright. She became the second state-educated and first female editor-in-chief at ''The Guardian'' on 1 June 2015, succeeding Alan Rusbridger.2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Coalition (Australia), Liberal/National Coalition Opposition (Australia), opposition led by ...

and followed the introduction of ''

Guardian US ''Guardian US'' is the Manhattan-based American online presence of the British print newspaper ''The Guardian''. It launched in September 2011, led by editor-in-chief Janine Gibson, and followed the earlier ''Guardian America'' service, which wa ...

'' in 2011. ''Guardian Australia'' is owned by

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'', and formerly ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the fin ...

, which is in turn owned by the Scott Trust, which aims to stay independent and free from 'commercial pressures'. The online publication relies on digital advertising and voluntary reader donations or subscriptions for revenue, eschewing enforced

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content (media), content, with a purchase or a subscription business model, paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their website ...

s implemented by other news websites. ''Guardian Australias

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

is based in the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...

, with bureaux in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. It employs more than 70 journalists, editors and other personnel as of 2020, including

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

Lenore Taylor who assumed responsibilities in 2016.

History

Prior to its 2013 launch the British edition of the website was already popular with Australian audiences, with over 1.3 million users per month helping it rank just outside the top 10 most-visited news websites in Australia. In June 2018 and July 2021, ''Guardian Australia'' was ranked No. 5 among news websites in Australia. Following an investment from businessman Graeme Wood, prompted by

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

, ''Guardian Australia'' was launched on 27 May 2013 in the lead-up to the 2013 federal election. The British team was joined by local journalists, some of whom previously worked at

News Corp Australia News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The group's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television prod ...

and

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media (communication), media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The ...

, including Lenore Taylor, Katherine Murphy and David Marr. ''Guardian Australia'' has a Comment is free section edited by Gabrielle Jackson, featuring

opinion piece An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals. Editorials Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, ...

s from regular writers, politicians, other public figures and members of the public. In 2016, it was announced that the then political editor Lenore Taylor would take over the editorship following the end of Emily Wilson's tenure. In May 2017, as part of a confidential legal settlement, ''Guardian Australia'' issued an apology to Noel Pearson over a story they published in January 2017, which made defamatory claims. The newspaper said it "The Guardian Australia accepts that the comments regarding Mr Noel Pearson in that article were false. The Guardian Australia unreservedly retracts the statements made in the article regarding Mr Noel Pearson and apologises for the harm and distress caused to him." ''Guardian Australia'' turned its first profit after five years of operations with a balance of $700,000 in financial year 2017–2018. Previously, the online publication posted a loss of 7.5 million against a revenue of 3.79 million in 2013–2014, a loss of 6 million in 2014–2015 and a loss of 14 million in 2015–2016.

Ownership

''Guardian Australia'' is owned by

, which is in turn owned by the Scott Trust, a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

which aims to ensure the editorial independence of its publications and websites.

Editorial stance

''Guardian Australia'' endorsed the Labor Party and the Greens for the 2019 Australian federal election, for the

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and

2025 Australian federal election The 2025 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 3 May 2025, to elect members of the 48th Parliament of Australia. All 150 seats in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives were up for election, along with 40 ...

it endorsed the Labor Party, the Greens and the teal independents.

References

{{Authority control The Guardian 2013 establishments in Australia Australian news websites Mass media companies established in 2013 *