Australia’s online audience turned to news in record numbers throughout April, as the countdown to the Federal Election and a string of dramatic international events collided to drive news consumption across all digital platforms.
According to new data from Ipsos iris, Australians spent an average of 4.9 hours on news websites and apps during April, with 96.4% of the online population aged 14+ accessing news content.
The Ipsos iris April rankings show how major publishers jockeyed for audience share during a month heavy with political tension, cultural moments, and fast-moving global developments.
With 22.1 million Australians aged 14+ going online, the competition for attention has never been more intense.
Federal Election fuels a news surge
As Australia inched closer to polling day, readers were hungry for election coverage.
Leaders’ debates, campaign missteps, policy rollouts and the record-setting surge in early voting dominated national headlines.
Ipsos iris data reveals the Federal Election played a key role in lifting engagement across news platforms, positioning current affairs content as essential reading for millions.
This heightened interest underscores a broader trend: political advertising and campaign messaging are increasingly reliant on trusted digital news environments.
With high reach and sustained engagement, these platforms continue to offer advertisers targeted scale, particularly as voter sentiment shifts daily.
Pope’s death and Trump’s tariffs spark global intrigue
Beyond Australia’s borders, seismic global stories helped propel traffic.
The death of Pope Francis, followed by speculation on his successor, spurred massive interest, while the US-China tariff standoff involving President Donald Trump sparked conversation around how the trade war might hit Australian industries.
Tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine added further weight to international coverage, keeping publishers’ foreign desks in overdrive and readers deeply engaged.
Crime, cyberattacks and celebrity drama boost audience loyalty
Domestically, true crime continued to perform, led by the Erin Patterson mushroom poisoning trial and new developments in the Jeffrey Epstein fallout with the suicide of accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Meanwhile, cyberattacks targeting superannuation funds added urgency and personal relevance to financial reporting.
Entertainment stories also shaped digital behaviour.
Reality franchises like Married at First Sight, Farmer Wants a Wife and Australian Idol continued to generate click-heavy coverage, alongside celebrity marriages and splits.
Sport powers through with off-field drama and Aussie wins
As ever, sport remained a consistent traffic driver. Off-field sagas, such as the Lachlan Galvin bullying allegations and the heated exchange between Spencer Leniu and Johnathan Thurston dominated headlines.
AFL’s ANZAC Day matches delivered compelling content, while Aussie heroes like Oscar Piastri in F1 and Tim Tszyu in boxing rallied national pride and interest.
The potential resurrection of the North Sydney Bears as the “Perth Bears” was another storyline that kept fans coming back for updates.
Oscar Piastri
Category growth reveals broader digital trends
Beyond news, April’s top-performing website and app categories were social networking, search, retail, entertainment and tech, each with audiences of around 22 million users.
The strongest month-on-month growth came from travel, games, finance and education, boosted by the perfect storm of Easter holidays, ANZAC Day and school breaks.
Despite fewer working days, audiences in homes and property, career and travel showed robust year-on-year increases, indicating consistent demand for informative, lifestyle-driven content.
For the full report head to https://iris-au.ipsos.com/