News Corp doesn't let you cancel online. You have to call them. The number is 1300 696 397 (1300 MY NEWS), and you should set aside at least 15 minutes because they will try to talk you out of it.
Which publications does this cover?
News Corp Australia runs separate digital subscriptions for each masthead. Your subscription is tied to the specific paper you signed up with:
- The Daily Telegraph (Sydney/NSW)
- Herald Sun (Melbourne/Victoria)
- The Courier-Mail (Brisbane/Queensland)
- The Advertiser (Adelaide/South Australia)
- The Australian (national)
- NT News, Mercury, Gold Coast Bulletin, Cairns Post, Townsville Bulletin
The cancellation process is the same for all of them. If you subscribe to more than one, you need to cancel each separately.
Cancel by phone (the only reliable method)
Call 1300 696 397 (1300 MY NEWS).
Hours: Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm AEST, Saturday and Sunday 7am to 11:30am AEST.
If you're calling from overseas: +61 2 7966 6900.
Have your account email and subscription details ready. You need to call at least 72 hours before your next billing date, or you'll cop another charge. Each payment is non-refundable once processed.
News Corp's websites have a "Manage My Subscription" section, but clicking cancel just gives you a phone number. The online chat redirects you to the phone line too. Signing up takes 2 minutes online. Cancelling requires a phone call during business hours. That's not an accident.
"I'd like to cancel my digital subscription, please."
When they ask why (and they will): "I've made my decision and I'm not interested in discussing the reasons. Please process the cancellation."
When they offer you a discount (and they will): "No thank you. I'm not interested in any offers. Please cancel the subscription effective today."
If they keep pushing: "I've asked three times now. Please process the cancellation immediately or escalate me to a supervisor."
Cancel if you subscribed through an app store
If you signed up through Apple or Google rather than the News Corp website, your billing goes through them. Calling News Corp won't help.
iPhone/iPad: Settings > your name > Subscriptions > find the newspaper name > Cancel Subscription
Android: Google Play Store > profile icon > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions > find the newspaper name > Cancel
Cancel via PayPal
If you set up payment through PayPal, you can bypass the phone call entirely. Log in to PayPal > Settings > Payments > Manage Automatic Payments > find "News Corp" or "NDM" or the newspaper name > Cancel.
This is the cleanest workaround if you want to avoid the retention call.
Pricing
| Publication | Intro Offer | Ongoing Price | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Telegraph | $4 for 4 weeks | $28/4 weeks (~$7/week) | Every 4 weeks |
| Daily Telegraph (12-month plan) | $3/week | $12/4 weeks (~$3/week) | Every 4 weeks (locked in 12 months) |
| Herald Sun | $1 for first period | Every 4 weeks | |
| The Australian | $4 intro | Every 4 weeks |
Prices vary between mastheads and change frequently. The pattern is the same across all of them: a cheap intro offer ($1 to $4), then a jump to $28 to $32 every four weeks.
The introductory pricing is the trap. You sign up for $1 or $4 to read one article, forget about it, and three weeks later you're paying $7 to $8 a week. The fine print says "Renewals occur unless cancelled as per full Terms and Conditions" and "Each payment, once made, is non-refundable." They're banking on you not noticing the price jump.
The 12-month lock-in
The Daily Telegraph (and other mastheads) offer a 12-month plan at a lower weekly rate. The catch: no cancellations during the first 12 months. The minimum cost is $156. If you're on this plan, you're stuck until the 12 months are up. After that, it auto-renews at the same rate unless you call to cancel.
If you can't get through
People report long hold times, being transferred between departments, and in some cases being told the cancellation was processed when it wasn't. If you're struggling:
- Check your next statement. If you were told it was cancelled but still get charged, call again and reference the date of your previous call.
- Block the payment. Call your bank or credit card company and ask them to block future payments to News Corp / NDM / Nationwide News. This stops the charges but may not formally cancel your account.
- Lodge an ACCC complaint. The ACCC has flagged subscription traps and dark patterns as an enforcement priority for 2026-27. If a company makes it unreasonably difficult to cancel, you can report it at accc.gov.au.
Your access continues until the end of your current billing period. No prorated refunds. Your account stays in their system, so if you resubscribe later you won't need to create a new one. Expect a few emails trying to win you back.
Free alternatives
For breaking news and general Australian coverage, ABC News and SBS News are free with no paywall. News.com.au (ironically, also owned by News Corp) is free and covers many of the same stories as the paywalled mastheads. The trade-off is more ads and less in-depth reporting, but for most people that's enough.
News habit handled. Now, what about the subscriptions you're not even reading?
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See what you're paying forChris Raad
Chris is the founder of Subtracker. He built this tool after experiencing the pain of discovering thousands of dollars in unused SaaS sprawl just before tax time.