When testing Australia VPNs, we assess for key deciding factors, including:
- Average long-distance download speed connecting into Sydney Australia.
- How many Australian servers are available and how many international servers are available.
- Whether the VPN’s logging policy and security measures protect your privacy.
- How successfully the VPN unblocks international streaming sites from Australia, and Australian streaming sites from abroad.
- If the VPN supports torrenting, and on how many servers
Below is a more specific breakdown alongside the percentage each criteria makes up of the overall Australia VPN score.
1. Number of Australian & International Servers: 30%
Minimum Requirement: A choice of VPN server locations in Australia.
We Recommend: Coast-to-coast, city-level Australian server coverage.
The fewer VPN servers a VPN has, the more congested the network will be – resulting in slower speeds.
Most VPN services typically have much fewer servers in Australia than they do in Europe and North America.
For each VPN we count the number of servers on offer in Australia and in how many locations. VPNs with a large number of Australian servers are rewarded.
All of Australia’s major cities are on the coast, so we also reward coast-to-coast server coverage that ensures no user has to put up with slow VPN speeds.
2. International Speeds: 30%
Minimum Requirement: Average international download speeds above 30Mbps.
We Recommend: Average international download speeds of 50Mbps or faster.
VPN speeds are especially important in Australia, where VPN services usually pay less attention to their infrastructure than other countries.
We regularly test for international download speeds when connecting from Australia to distant countries like the US and UK.
We then compare these speeds against our normal speeds without a VPN, and use these figures to calculate a percentage speed loss figure.
In both cases, we recommend the VPNs with the lowest percentage speed loss, ensuring you can browse, stream, and torrent with as little slowdown as possible.
3. Australian Streaming & Torrenting: 20%
Minimum Requirement: The VPN works with some streaming services and allows P2P activity.
We Recommend: The VPN works multiple international streaming libraries and allows torrenting on all servers.
Many users want a VPN to stream geo-blocked content or share P2P files safely. This is especially true in Australia, where services like Netflix have less content than their international equivalents.
We test for VPNs that can effectively access the largest number of streaming libraries – both in Australia and overseas.
That means the top-rated Australia VPNs work with both US and AU Netflix libraries, as well as Australia-specific platforms like Binge, Stan, Kayo Sports, and Foxtel Now.
We also test to see which VPNs can effectively access other global streaming services like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Hulu, Channel 4, and Disney+.
A good VPN also provides P2P-optimized servers and online protections for those interested in torrenting, which is particularly important in Australia due to its strict copyright laws.
4. Logging Policy: 20%
Minimum Requirement: A clear policy with only anonymised connection logs.
We Recommend: A strict no-logs privacy policy.
We read every VPN privacy policy in detail to check whether the service stores your usage data.
The top-rated VPNs have a strictly no-logs policy. This means they collect and keep none of your activity or connection data, including your IP address.
Our experts also use packet-inspection tests to check for AES-256 encryption, data leaks, and OpenVPN functionality to keep your data secure when using public WiFi.
This also ensures that Australian ISPs cannot monitor or log your browsing activity.