6 Best VPNs for Australia – Fast, Secure & Affordable!

Out of all the counties in the world, you don’t expect Australia to be at the very end of the spectrum when it comes to receiving new product releases.

Australia has been heavily cracking down on popular torrent sites ever since early 2016. According to an article by CNN, 59 popular torrent sites aren’t accessible in Australia.

If you’re a native Australian or a tourist planning on traveling there, you will also need to access the local content. What can you do about it? Well, the best option for you is to get a Virtual Private Network.

In this guide, I have recommended some of the best VPN for Australia that will get you ultimate freedom.

Here is our list of top VPNs that work best in Australia…

1. ExpressVPN – Fast speed and best for streaming in Australia with 100 dedicated servers in Australia.
2. Surfshark – Cheapest VPN available with unlimited device connections with 36+ servers in Australia.
3. NordVPN – All-around strong VPN for Australian users with 258 servers in the country.
4. PureVPN – Combination of strong security and affordable price having 78 servers in Australia.
5. CyberGhost – User-friendly app with 45-days of refund policy (100+ Australian servers).
6. PIA– Powerful security at affordable price with 1400+ Australian servers.

6 Best Australia VPNs in 2021

To make this list of VPNs for Australia, I took into account the following criteria:

Here is the detailed Video tutorial for the top 3 Australian VPNs with the best features, security, and pricing in 2021.

1. ExpressVPN – Overall Best VPN for Australia

ExpressVPN is the best and fastest VPN for Australia and is a great option to secure your online privacy in Australia. This service is a bit expensive, however, it certainly performs unlike any other. It comes with excellent security features and powerful unblocking capabilities that are unparalleled.

Streaming services work with ExpressVPN work without a hitch. Netflix, in particular, worked flawlessly. No issues with streaming either. It is honestly among the best VPN for Australia and the fastest VPN for streaming because of its speed.

One feature of ExpressVPN that I found helpful for streaming is the built-in speeds test option. It makes it convenient to test speeds right from within the app.

Encryption and protocols are also great. ExpressVPN offers super secure 2048-bit encryption. It also follows a good logging policy that keeps no information relating to users.

ExpressVPN is significantly expensive than most VPNs in the industry. You can get its services for $6.67/mo  with the 30-days refund policy.

Refer to our ExpressVPN review guide for more information.

2. Surfshark – Fastest VPN for Australia

Second, on our list of best VPN Australia, is Surfshark. If you’re a VPN with highest speed, there’s no better VPN to get other than Surfshark. It’s also an affordable option available for only $2.49/mo .

Streaming is where this VPN really shines. Since its servers are relatively new, it manages to sweep past Netflix’s radar to access the US content catalog within Australia.

Torrenting also works surprisingly well on Surfshark with good speeds and strong security.

AES 256- bit encryption, Kill switch, CleanWeb and Multi-hop are among the few features Surfshark has in its arsenal. In addition, Surfshark has a logging policy audited by an independent organization Cure53 itself. The provider keeps no records about you that could be used to tie your online activities to your person in any way.

Read the full features of this VPN in detail in our Surfshark review.

3. NordVPN – Top VPN Australia

NordVPN is a powerful VPN with a wide range of features capable of boosting online privacy while giving good unblocking power to the user

In terms of features, NordVPN offers CybserSec, DoubleVPN, Onion Over VPN, and kill switch. These mechanisms will safeguard your privacy and security, keeping you protected from various online threats lurking about in Australian cyberspace.

The provider also guarantees a zero-logging policy, which is ideal for users seeking to stay under the radar of Australian government surveillance.

The 2-year NordVPN subscription costs $3.71/month, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. With a single subscription, you get 6 simultaneous connections. You can also avail free trial of NordVPN for 7 days on iOS and Android devices. For all these features, NordVPN is an excellent choice.

For more information on this provider, here is our detailed review of NordVPN.

4. PureVPN – Best Australian VPN for Streaming

PureVPN is our top recommended choice for Aussies living in Australia and outside. In total, PureVPN offers 6,500+ servers in 140+ countries.

Once connected, streaming speeds were more than impressive. On my 100 Mbps connection, I managed to get about 61 Mbps speeds. This makes it good for torrenting with many p2p-enabled servers.

PureVPN is the cheapest VPN for Australia available at only $3.33/mo with 31-days refund policy.

Finally, it has an excellent logging policy and refrains from storing any privacy-sensitive information of users. This is great for Australian users looking for a solution to enhance online privacy from state-sponsored surveillance.

PureVPN is on 1st position in the guide of best VPNs for Amazon FireStick as well as Best VPNs for Kodi.

For more information on this provider, please look into our guide PureVPN reviews by our experts.

5. CyberGhost – Secure VPN for Australia

Next up is CyberGhost. You can’t really go wrong with this VPN. I love how they offer a perfect blend between features and prices.

CyberGhost is a heavy hitter when it comes to unblocking streaming services in and outside Australia. I tried accessing both Netflix and Hulu and it worked effortlessly.

As far as features are concerned, you do get 256-bit encryption, IP sharing, Kill Switch, and a bunch of other amazing torrenting features. Furthermore, the provider has a privacy-affirming logging policy for the user’s peace of mind.

CyberGhost is very affordable. Considering all the features, CyberGhost is an absolute bargain. It only costs a mere $2.75 a month. Please read our CyberGhost review for more details on this provider.

6. PIA VPN – Best for Torrenting in Australia

Last, but not least, we have the PIA VPN featuring strong encryption that completely hides your online activity and hundreds of servers in Australia. There’s a lot to love about this VPN service. It has 20,000+ servers in 77 countries that let you stream online content from within Australia.

Streaming services worked flawlessly with PIA. I was able to access both U.S Netflix and Australian Netflix without facing the annoying proxy error.

Streaming speeds were also particularly great. On my 100 Mbps connection, I got about 65 Mbps speeds on average. Not too bad if I should say so myself because there were no buffering or lags.

Torrenting on the Australian server was an absolute breeze too. No issues accessing blocked sites what so ever. 256-bit encryption helps to encrypt your network traffic. This security encryption is the best in the VPN industry that protects against vicious cyberattacks.

Even if PIA glitches out on you, the Kill Switch feature should automatically disconnect you from the internet. It also caters to the needs of privacy-conscious folk with its user-oriented logging policy.

PIA is also fairly affordable. It only costs $2.69/mo with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Due to its amazing features, it’s also considered one of the best VPNs for torrenting. For more information on this provider, here is our PIA VPN guide.

Why Do You Need a VPN in Australia?

The Australian government enjoys easy access to the metadata of civilians on the pretext of national security. A survey showed that Australians are not, on the whole, opposed to surveillance for their security. However, the Australians are only mildly accepting of government surveillance, so they are not very happy about it either.

Intelligence agencies in the country can request your internet as well as telephone records from relevant companies, which are now obliged to retain your information for at least 2 years. This is a serious privacy concern and raises the importance of VPNs in the country more than ever before.

Other than that, Australian Netflix gets only a fraction of the content that is available in other regions such as the US, UK, and Canada. Moreover, Australia also imposes a so-called Online Goods Tax. This tax allows the Australian Government to charge an extra 10% on all digital goods under AUD 1000 in value.

Thanks to this law, the price of an average Netflix subscription has increased by 20%. Considering the limited content in the Australian Netflix library, such a hefty price adjustment is just not justifiable.

That’s not all. Australia is ranked the fifth most vulnerable country in the world in terms of data breaches and exposed records with an average of 834,833 exposed records per breach.

These are all very important reasons why you need to start taking measures for improving online privacy in Australia right now. To summarize, you need the best VPN for Australia if you care about any of the following:

• Hiding from government surveillance
• Accessing geo-restricted content on Netflix and other streaming/entertainment services
• Staying safe from hackers and data breaches

Data Retention & Anti-Piracy Laws in Australia

Australia is becoming stricter against copyright infringement and invading user’s privacy through mandatory data retention requirements by law. These only make it easier for surveillance agencies to do their job and poke their noses into the business of innocent citizens.

Data retention and surveillance

The data retention laws in Australia compel ISPs and telecom companies to log metadata of customers including emails and text messages for a minimum of two years!

Several key organizations are following this interception and access law in Australia including Centrelink, Australia Post Corporate Security Group, and the Australian Taxation Office.

The data that companies are logging for every individual in Australia include:

• Websites visited
• Location of user
• Session duration
• Date/time of connection
• Personal details (username etc.) of users
• Network type (Wi-Fi, broadband, 4G, etc.)

If you thought that was crazy, then brace yourself for more:

Authorities in Australia have been accessing the metadata of journalists in Australia without even bothering for a legal warrant! It is difficult to challenge the technologies available at the disposal of the state and even VPNs may fail to protect you from surveillance.

Nonetheless, it can certainly make the state’s job more difficult. In this sense, VPNs are indeed a preventive measure against online surveillance.

P2p filesharing & torrenting in Australia

Since 2016, the state has started taking torrenting quite seriously in Australia. The federal court of Australia ordered ISPs to flat out block sites like The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, IsoHunt Torrent Hound, and Solar Movie.

The initiative proved successful.  In fact, according to a report by Australian Site-Blocking Efficacy, Australian traffic to these websites dropped by 53%.

A major hit indeed.

To further escalate the crackdown, another major chunk of pirate sites were added to the blocked list in 2017. As a result, 59 more torrent sites got blocked, bringing the total count to 340.

Starting from 2018, the Australian government shifted its focus towards mirrors and proxies associated with torrent sites.

To deliver the final blow, the Australian Parliament added a new amendment to the Copyright Act. The new amendment ordered ISPs to take down popular mirrors and proxy sites.

The new amendment also forces Google to deindex URL links to torrent sites as well as their mirrors and proxies.

How to Get an Australian IP Address Anywhere in 2021

If a VPN has an Australian server, you can easily get an Australian IP. For example, Foxtel streaming service is only available in Australia and if you want to watch Foxtel overseas you need a local Australia IP address:

Here is how you can get it:

• If you try accessing the Foxtel website, it will show this error:

• To unblock, Subscribe to a VPN service (I recommend using ExpressVPN)

• Download and Install Express-VPN app on your device

• Enter login details and connect VPN to an Australian server

• Open the Foxtel website again and this time you can stream everything!

Best Free VPN for Australia

Free VPNs are watered-down versions of premium services. I usually do not recommend free VPNs because they are known for selling user data to third parties and even infecting devices with malware.

I do not know of any free provider that offers servers within Australia except Speedify.

However, if you are looking for the best free VPN in Australia that you can use to access foreign geo-restricted content, then check out these:

1. Hide.Me
2. ProtonVPN
3. Windscribe

FAQs of Australian VPNs (2021)

Wrapping Up

The privacy situation in Australia is getting worse by the day. This makes it important to use the best VPN for Australia. Not only will you be able to stay safe from online surveillance, to some extent, in Australia, but also gain access to restricted/censored content in the country.

ExpressVPN is the top-recommended VPN for Australian users which covers all the features necessary to deal with particular issues prevailing in Australia.

You can avail VPN deals lifetime to get maximum discount VPNs.