Australia, Your Netflix Just Got More Expensive

The price of a Netflix subscription in Australia is getting more expensive, as of today. New sign-ups will have to pay the higher price immediately, while existing accounts have a month’s notice. Here’s how much you’ll pay from July onward.

Here’s the straightforward details of it all: depending on which plan you currently subscribe to, on your next monthly subscription fee after June 29 you’ll pay either $1, $2 or $3 extra.

On the basic $8.99 plan, which is for a single device and doesn’t include HD or Ultra HD streaming, you’ll now pay $9.99. On the standard $11.99 plan which includes HD streaming to two devices, you’ll now pay $13.99. On the premium $14.99 plan which includes Ultra HD streaming to up to four devices, you’ll now pay $17.99.

Here’s a table with the details of the new plans:

Any new sign-ups to Netflix will find these prices on the site’s pricing page. Existing customers get a one-month reprieve — depending on which date in the monthly cycle you initially subscribed, you’ll receive an email with 30 days’ notice of the updated pricing.

Netflix’s price increase is the first since it launched in Australia in March 2015, and is in part due to the government’s move to impose GST on digital products.

The price increases are minimal: just an 11 per cent increase on the basic plan, 16 per cent on the standard plan and 20 per cent on the premium plan. On a service that has added so much since launch — a huge amount of original content, offline downloads, data saving features and so on — it’s barely a drop in the ocean, especially when Netflix is so affordable to start with.

A Netflix spokesperson gave this statement to Gizmodo:

“From time to time, Netflix plans and pricing are adjusted as we add more exclusive TV shows and movies, introduce new product features and improve the overall Netflix experience to help members find something great to watch even faster. We also adjust plans and pricing to respond to local market changes, such as tax or regulatory changes.

“Since launching in Australia in 2015, we have not changed pricing. In light of the upcoming GST increase, we will be rolling out updated plans and pricing starting June 28 in Australia. Members will be notified of the changes via email and service notifications.”