News Ltd will start charging for access to the website of The Australian and related platforms from October although some content will remain free.

The company will charge $2.95 a week to read all of the Monday-Friday content on the newspaper's website, its iPad app and mobile phone site, in a bid to change the economics of online news and to secure the future of newspapers. Online access including The Weekend Australian will cost $4.95.

News has opted for a so-called "freemium" model, allowing those who don't pay restricted access to articles. In so doing, the newspaper will be following the approach taken by The Wall Street Journal in the US rather than The Times in London. The Times cut itself off from web searches and sharing on social media with a firm paywall, prompting traffic to plunge.

Richard Freudenstein, chief executive of The Australian and News Digital Media, said this morning that the introduction of pay packages would provide a new and important revenue stream and a "more valuable relationship with our most loyal and engaged readers".

Mr Freudenstein outlined the plans during a keynote address at a media conference in Sydney today.