Subscription Price Alert
Full Digital Access 12-Month Plan Auto-Renews With Higher Price After First Year
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Key Points
1
The subscription promotion states it is “Not in conjunction with any other offer,” indicating the deal cannot be combined with other promotions.
2
The offer is promoted across multiple regional mastheads’ subscription pages using materially the same “Full Digital Access 12 Month Plan” terms (e.g., Cairns Post and NT News both carry the same 12-month/$156 then $20 minimum every four weeks structure and restrictions).
3
Each promotion directs readers to the site’s “subscriptionterms” page for full details (for example, Cairns Post and NT News link to their respective subscription-terms URLs).
News Corp Australia's regional mastheads are selling a "Full Digital Access" 12-month plan for $156 in the first year — billed as $12 every four weeks. But once that year ends, the price jumps to a minimum of $20 every four weeks, lifting the annual cost to at least $260 — a 67% increase. Cairns Post and NT News both carry identical terms for the plan.
The catch: customers cannot cancel during the first 12 months, and payments are non-refundable once made. The offer also cannot be combined with any other promotion. Regulators and consumer groups are now scrutinizing whether these terms cross the line under Australian Consumer Law.
Lock-In Terms Trap Subscribers for a Full Year
The plan's fine print is blunt. Cancellations are not permitted during the first 12 months. Payments already made will not be refunded, subject to applicable law. After the initial period, the subscription auto-renews at no less than $20 every four weeks unless the customer actively cancels. Geelong Advertiser and Townsville Bulletin publish the same structure.
Each masthead directs subscribers to its own "subscriptionterms" page for the full details. The uniform rollout spans more than 20 regional titles owned by Nationwide News Pty Limited, the News Corp Australia subsidiary behind these publications.
Regulators Target Non-Cancellable Plans as 'Subscription Traps'
Australia's consumer watchdog, the ACCC, launched a sweep of 2,000 retail websites in February 2026, flagging "concerning" no-refund and non-cancellable clauses as potentially breaching Australian Consumer Law. Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe stated that basic consumer guarantees "cannot be taken away by anything a business says or does," according to an ACCC media release.
Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh has called ending "subscription traps" and "drip pricing" the government's "first order of business" for 2026, according to CHOICE. Consumer group CHOICE says 75% of Australians have had bad experiences trying to cancel subscriptions, and 1 in 10 simply give up and keep paying.
Price Jump from $156 to $260 Hits Regional Readers Hardest
The shift from $156 to at least $260 per year is a 67% price increase after the introductory period ends. Media analysts warn this disproportionately affects lower-income readers in regional areas like Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory — places where News Corp titles are often the only local news source available.
News Corp Australia reached 1,171,000 digital subscribers as of March 2026, with circulation and subscription revenue up 7% year-on-year, according to the News Corp Annual Report. Executive Chairman Michael Miller has argued that users must pay a "sustainable rate" for local journalism, telling The Drum that "trusted journalism is the only shield against news deserts."
Unfair Contract Rules Could Expose News Corp to Heavy Fines
Under Australia's Unfair Contract Terms regime, a clause is unfair if it creates a big imbalance in rights and is not reasonably necessary to protect the business. Legal analysts say News Corp's no-cancellation clause is testing those limits. A comparable case saw Mazda Australia fined $11.5 million for misleading consumers about their rights, according to Brown Wright Stein Lawyers.
The Consumer Policy Research Centre has labeled 12-month lock-in plans a "dark pattern" — a design trick that makes signing up easy but leaving nearly impossible. News Corp is also discontinuing its +Rewards loyalty program on July 1, 2026, a signal that it believes its locked-in subscriber base is stable enough to survive the loss of extra perks.
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