Top10VPN is reader-supported. If you buy a VPN through our links, we may earn commissions. Learn more.
Best VPN for Australia
You’ll need a good VPN to ensure that you stay safe, secure and unmonitored while connecting to the internet in Australia.
Australia is a part of the Five Eyes, an international government data-sharing scheme and a privacy nightmare.
We’ve tested 99 VPN services, and these five VPNs are the best for speed, privacy, torrenting and P2P, and unlocking streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer.
Here’s a sneak peak at the top three VPNs for Australia:
The Most Important Factors When We Review a VPN for Australia
- Has city-level choice of servers in Australia
- Works with Netflix
- Reliable and fast speeds
- Useful privacy features
- Transparent, fair and privacy-focused logging policies
- Well-designed and easy to use apps
Wondering why you should trust our reviews? Take a look at How We Test VPNs
Read More Information on the Top 5 Best VPN Services for Australia
Works with
Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Sky, SlingTV, Torrenting, Kodi
Available on
The Bottom Line
ExpressVPN is our top VPN pick for Australia – not only is it the best all-round VPN but it also has the most reliable international speeds.
You can choose from ExpressVPN servers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth.
Local VPN connections top a zippy 124Mbps, and ExpressVPN’s speeds to Singapore (32Mbps) are best-in-class – more than fast enough for HD streaming.
ExpressVPN is just as strong on privacy with a sensible minimal-logs policy and some great extra security features. It’s one of the safest VPNs around.
Works with
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Sky, HBO, Torrenting, Kodi
Available on
The Bottom Line
NordVPN is a smart pick for Australia if your budget doesn’t stretch to ExpressVPN.
NordVPN has servers in five Australian cities, allowing you the best possible experience and speeds: Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
It doesn’t quite beat ExpressVPN, though, due to slightly lower speeds in the country: 48Mbps down.
Local upload speeds are a little below average too at 17Mbps, but a strict zero logs policy and strong security make NordVPN great (and safe) for P2P.
Works with
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO, Torrenting, Kodi
Available on
The Bottom Line
IPVanish is the best VPN for torrenting in Australia thanks to its raw speed on local connections and strong privacy features.
You can connect to two different cities in Australia: Melbourne and Sydney.
IPVanish is very fast in Australia with 170Mbps down and 139Mbps up. International VPN connections are much slower, though.
The desktop apps could be more user-friendly but IPVanish makes up for it with powerful privacy features and a strict zero-logs policy.
Works with
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Sky, HBO, Torrenting
Available on
The Bottom Line
Cyberghost is a great budget VPN for Australia, particularly for streaming fans – there are VPN servers optimized for that purpose.
CyberGhost has VPN servers in three Australian cities: Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
With CyberGhost you can expect speeds of up to 181Mbps down and 100Mbps up locally, and speeds into the US East Coast are impressive too at 23Mbps.
A strict zero logs policy makes CyberGhost a top privacy pick, but torrenting isn’t allowed on local VPN servers.
Works with
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Sky, HBO, Torrenting, Kodi
Available on
The Bottom Line
PrivateVPN is a great VPN for Australia if you are on a budget but need strong privacy and decent speeds into the US.
There are two city-level VPN server choices in Australia: Melbourne and Sydney.
PrivateVPN’s local speeds are incredibly quick at 144Mbps down. VPN connections into east coast USA (28Mbps) are also more than fast enough for HD streaming.
A strict zero logs policy and first-party DNS servers means PrivateVPN has no data to identify you even despite its base in privacy-unfriendly Sweden.
What’s the Best VPN for Australia?
The best VPN for Australia is ExpressVPN – in fact it’s the best VPN, period.
ExpressVPN is a safe VPN with reliable speeds, top-notch security, and it has servers in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.
How We Picked the Best VPN for Australia
Our top VPN recommendations for Australia are the VPN services that performed the best in our speed tests, both on local and international server connections. They also have the most reliable and unrestricted access to major streaming services, such as Netflix.
We also looked for VPNs with privacy-friendly and transparent logging and privacy policies along with advanced privacy features such as DNS and IPv6 leak blocking to make sure you’re protected and stay private no matter what you’re doing online.
We manually test all VPN apps and keep our recommendations up-to-date so we can share what they are really like to use. Our regular VPN speed tests accurately monitor VPN performance in that country on devices such as PCs, Macs, iPhones, Android smartphones and Firesticks.
What’s the Best Free VPN for Australia?
Many free VPNs aren’t safe to use – they suffer from security vulnerabilities and some log everything you do online in order to sell your personal data onto third parties.
If you’re not ready to purchase a VPN subscription yet there are a couple of free VPNs that we do recommend for Australia.
Both TunnelBear Free and Avira Phantom Free have VPN servers in Australia. While they are both reliable and secure VPNs for beginners who want to try before they buy, these two free VPNs aren’t the fastest or most feature-packed complimentary services around.
If you want to protect your privacy and stay safe online while in Australia the best solution is to buy a premium VPN subscription.
Do I Need a VPN in Australia?
Yes, using a VPN in Australia is absolutely necessary for maintaining your online privacy and security.
Data privacy laws in Australia force your ISP to record and store metadata about all your internet activity and electronic communication for two years.
If using public WiFi without a VPN wasn’t scary enough – hackers can steal your personal details – a new Australian encryption law also allows police to access public WiFi networks in order to obtain information on connected users.
Using a VPN will allow you to keep your online activity private from your ISP, the authorities, and hackers by creating an encrypted tunnel to the internet via a VPN server.
Australian ISPs also aggressively block certain websites, including torrenting sites. By using a VPN, you will be able to beat that government censorship and browse the web freely.
Is Using a VPN Legal in Australia?
Yes: using a VPN in Australia in order to protect your personal data and mask your true IP address is completely legal.
However, you need to remember that using a VPN doesn’t mean you can ignore state or national laws, including those regarding copyright.
In other words, we wouldn’t recommend doing anything whilst using a VPN that you wouldn’t do without one.
What’s the Best VPN for Torrenting in Australia?
IPVanish is the best VPN for torrenting in Australia, with fantastic local upload speeds, a strict zero-logs policy, and no restrictions on P2P activity.
How Do I Get an Australian IP Address?
In order to get an Australian IP address, you need to get a VPN service that has servers in Australia, like the VPNs listed above.
Once you’ve downloaded and installed the VPN software to your device simply click on the Australian server and connect.
You now have an Australia IP address, so you can access all your favorite Australian content.
Can I Watch Australian TV Overseas?
You can watch Australian TV, such as Australian Netflix or Stan, overseas by using a VPN with servers located in the country. Using VPN servers located in Australia will give you an Australian IP address so that you can access geo-specific content.
It’s best to contact your VPN provider’s customer support to ask if it works with your preferred Australian streaming services before you purchase.
How to Set up, Install, and Use a VPN in Australia
As the Australian government doesn’t block VPNs – like China does, for instance – it’s very easy to set one up in the country.
If your VPN service provides custom VPN apps for your device, simply download the software from the VPN’s website, follow the installation prompts, and log in with your subscription credentials.
Before you connect, make sure to enable any security extras such as the VPN kill switch or IP leak blocking. Then select the VPN server of your choice – the closer it is to your physical location the faster the speeds will be. Click ‘Connect’ and you’re ready to browse privately.
If your VPN doesn’t come with a custom app for your device, you will need to manually install it using OpenVPN configuration files.
We have written a set of simple how-to guides to help you install a VPN loads of popular devices, including Amazon Fire TV Stick and routers.
How to Choose a VPN for Australia: 8 Tips
Physical proximity to a VPN server makes a big difference to speed and latency even more so.
With a country as huge as Australia, it’s well worth checking that there are VPN servers in suitable locations, especially if you don’t live in a state capital metro area.
The more VPN servers there are nearby, the less congestion there tends to be, which generally leads to improved speeds. However, this isn’t always the case.
Check out our independent VPN speed test results to get the best idea of what performance is like in specific locations. We test VPN connections from Australia to the most popular global destinations so you can actually see which VPN is fastest for your needs.
Nearly all VPN providers will claim to be ‘zero logs’, however unfortunately this is rarely the case.
In order to maintain a high level of performance across a global server network, most VPN services will need to collect at least some basic connection metadata from their customers, such as the amount of bandwidth used.
Ideally you want a VPN provider that collects a minimal amount of logs, and nothing that could be used to personally identify you. Better still, a VPN provider that doesn’t collect or store any logs is the best option, however these are few and far between.
We look through all the privacy policies so you don’t have to, and summarize them in plain English in the logging policy section of our VPN reviews.
Enjoy watching Netflix? Not every provider will work with these apps, especially since the recent VPN crackdowns.
We’re constantly testing whether each provider is working with Netflix and other popular sites, and we share these results with you in our VPN reviews.
Almost all VPN software will work on Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOS, and Linux machines, along with iOS and Android mobile devices.
Some VPN services are also compatible with other internet-connected items, such as routers, games consoles, and streaming devices, such as the Amazon Fire Stick.
Do you want a VPN that can protect your family’s devices as well as your own? Look for as many connections as you are likely to use at the same time (most VPN providers will allow around 3-5 simultaneously).
No one likes a clunky, confusing app. Look for a VPN with software that’s well-designed, simple and powerful and you will be much more likely to use it all the time.
We share the results of our hands-on testing of each VPN app in the the Ease of Use part of its review. We spend all day testing VPN apps, so hopefully we know a thing or two!
Even the most expensive VPN plans can be made affordable by taking out a longer subscription.
Don’t bother with a one-month plan – 12-month plans typically offer the best value and you can reduce the risk of buyer’s remorse by choosing one with a long refund period.
We’d advise a 30-day no-questions-asked guarantee – they essentially act as a free trial period.
Make the right choice, though, and you hopefully won’t be thinking about a refund at all.
![Top10VPN logo]()
- /Find a VPN
- /Best VPN for Australia
