The combination of rising monthly fees and new platforms have seen Australian’s monthly spend on streaming services hit $42, according to analyst firm Telsyte’s 2025 Subscription Entertainment Study.
But there is another option.
There is a whole treasure trove of film and TV streaming right now that you can access for free — if you know where to look.
We’ve done the hard yards, sifting through three free Australian streaming services — iview, SBSonDemand and Brollie — to bring you the cream of the crop.
Bingeable TVUnited States of Tara
Buck, the foul-mouthed veteran, is just one of Tara’s personalities.(Supplied: IMDB)
It’s shows like United States of Tara that really make you think: “Is there anything Toni Collette can’t do?”
In the mid-2000s sitcom, Collette plays not one but four characters, all who reside inside a single suburban mum. Tara has dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple identity disorder) so in times of stress her “alters” show up to help.
At any time, you don’t know if you’re going to get 1950s housewife Alice, foul-mouthed Vietnam veteran Buck, or sassy teen Shoshana. It’s up to her family — father Max (John Corbett), daughter Kate (a very young Brie Larson) and son Marshall (Keir Gilchrist) — to weather the storm of Tara’s changing moods.
Created by Juno’s Diablo Cody and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, United States of Tara is whip-smart, engaging and an acting masterclass from one of Australia’s finest exports.
Where to watch: SBSonDemand
Shoresy
Letterkenny co-creator Jared Keeso plays the main character in spin-off Shoresy.(Supplied IMDB)
Would you believe that Heated Rivalry was not Canadian creator Jacob Tierney’s first hockey-themed show?
No, that honour belongs to Shoresy — itself a spin-off from Tierney and co-creator/star Jared Keeso’s beloved and long-running sitcom Letterkenny. The lightning-quick comedy revolves around Shoresy (Keeso), a loud-mouthed hockey player whose team is at risk of being shut down after a worrisome season.
While there might not be any steamy bedroom scenes in Shorsey, Tierney’s directorial fingerprints are all over the show — especially in its ample needle drops and the care afforded to the show’s core relationships. It might seem raw and uncouth on the surface but dig a little deeper and you’ll find Shorsey has a heart as soft as marshmallow.
Where to watch: SBSonDemand
ER
The cast of ER.(Supplied)
Before there was The Pitt, there was ER — the ultra-long-running medical drama that launched the film career of an alarmingly young George Clooney.
In 2026, between The Pitt, St. Denis Medical and the upcoming Scrubs reboot, the hospital procedural is booming, making it the perfect time to revisit the second longest-running prime time medical drama in US history (just behind Grey’s Anatomy).
Spanning an incredible 15 seasons and 300-plus episodes, ER focused on the high-stakes drama coming out of the Cook County General Hospital. Each week, the doctors and nurses must treat the latest patient while also balancing the drama in their own lives.
Come for the medical drama, stay to spot the myriad of guest stars, from Ewan McGregor to Zac Efron, who were still building their profiles.
Where to watch: iview
New moviesGodzilla Minus One
Godzilla Minus One redefined what you can do with visual effects on a small budget.
Godzilla Minus One might be the 37th movie featuring the scaly kaiju but director and writer Takashi Yamazaki’s take on the monster classic breathes fresh air into the franchise. While many of Godzilla’s US outings focus on the smash and crash of it all, Yamazaki uses the lizard to tap into deep anti-war themes baked deep into Godzilla’s 70-plus year history.
Set towards the end of WWII, Minus One follows kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima, the lone survivor of a midnight kaiju attack who returns to Tokyo plagued with guilt only to discover his parents have perished in a bombing on the city. This becomes the least of Kōichi’s problems as US nuclear tests have mutated Godzilla into a force strong enough to wipe out the whole city.
Beyond being a heart-wrenching and effective story, Minus One’s visual effects, from citywide destruction to Godzilla’s neon spikes, are immaculate and earned the team an Academy Award — making Minus One the only Godzilla film in history to nab an Oscar.
Where to watch: SBSonDemand
The Whale
Brendan Fraser in the 2022 film The Whale.(Supplied: A24)
Like many of director Darren Aronofsky films, you’ll only want to watch The Whale once. Set almost entirely in the cluttered house of morbidly obese college English teacher Charlie (Brendan Fraser). Almost completely immobile, Charlie spends all of his days binge eating, teaching his class from behind a turned-off webcam and occasionally talking with nurse and only friend Liz (Hong Chau).
The film follows his attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Sadie Sink) before his health succumbs to his morbid obesity. Based on the 2012 play by Samual D Hunter, praise was heaped on Fraser’s heartbreaking performance, which earned him an Academy Award and a Hollywood redemption arc for the ages. However, some critics took aim at the film’s representation of morbid obesity and Fraser’s use of a fat suit.
Far from the perfect film, The Whale is worth watching for the marvel of human emotion that pours out of Fraser and Chau’s performances.
Where to watch: SBSonDemand
Priscilla
Jacob Elordi as Elvis and Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla, in a scene from Priscilla. (A24 via AP)
Before Aussie Jacob Elordi set his sights on Oscar gold playing a monster, he was the King in Sofia Coppola’s recreation of Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir. The movie opens in the late 50s where 24-year-old Elvis Presley, at the height of his fame, meets the woman who will eventually be his wife, 14-year-old Priscilla.
What follows is a tumultuous relationship between the devoted Priscilla and a musician grappling with both fame and substance abuse, as well as the birth of their only child. Coppola’s sensitive hand unspools a dual narrative of dreamy teenage wish fulfilment and the stark reality of young Priscilla’s situation.
Enriched by lush period costuming and Cailee Spaeny’s expansive work playing Priscilla from mid-teens to her late 20s, Priscilla is a headstrong antidote to the mythos of the rock star.
Where to watch: SBSonDemand
Family favouritesBring It On
Bring It On turns 26 in 2026.(Supplied: IMDB)
This 2000 high school classic has been deceptively tricky to find on streaming in Australia in the past, which is why it’s so exciting that it’s not only now available to stream but it’s completely for frreeeeee.
Torrance Shipman has dreamed of being cheer captain since she joined the six-time national-championship-winning Rancho Carne Toros at her sunny California high school. But heavy is the head that wears the crown, and soon Captain Torrance is confronted with the notion that her team’s award-winning cheers were all stolen from a nearby competitor school.
Lighter than the person at the top of a human pyramid and featuring formative performances from Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku, Bring It On is an essential coming-of-watch for any teen or tween, and a delightful blast from the past for anyone who grew up screaming that there were sexy and cute (and popular to boot).
Where to watch: SBSonDemand
The Boy and the Heron
The Boy and the Heron follows the story of Mahito and is partly based on Hayao Miyazaki’s childhood memories.(Supplied: Studio Ghibli)
In 2023, Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki pulled a Farnsey and came out of retirement to deliver this eclectic fantasy story.
Filled with the wonder and danger of many Ghibli worlds, Miyazaki’s latest adventure follows Mahito Maki, a 12-year old boy dealing with the passing of his mother. When a deranged heron tells Mahito that his mum is still alive he enters fantastical worlds full of wizards, man-eating parakeets and, of course, one cantankerous heron.
The Boy and The Heron is possibly Miyazaki’s most personal film, as parts of Mahito’s life mirror the filmmaker’s childhood in wartime Japan. His open rumination on resilience and the transformation that comes with responsibility earned Miyazaki’s first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature since 2003’s Spirited Away.
And while the play with Ghibli films is usually to watch in the original Japanese with subtitles, we implore you to give the star-studded English dub for this one — even if it’s just to hear Robert Pattinson’s insane Heron croak.
Where to watch: SBSonDemand
Detective Pikachu
Ryan Reynolds voices a very mouthy Pikachu in Detective Pikachu(Supplied: Legendary)
On paper, a young man trying to solve a mystery with the help of a talking Pikachu Pokemon voiced by Ryan Reynolds can sound … unappealing. But look past the groan-worthy title and Detective Pikachu will reward you with a delightful rollercoaster of a family film.
Tim (Justice Smith) is an aspiring Pokemon trainer who gets tumbled up in the years-old conspiracy over the death of his estranged father. Alone in Ryme City, Tim quickly teams up with a Pikachu that just happens to be possessed with the wise-cracking voice of Ryan Reynolds (who only Tim can hear) and looks dashing as a deerstalker. Alongside peppy junior reporter Lucy, the pair dig deep into corruption that threatens the whole city.
The narrative wouldn’t (and didn’t) win any awards but the real delight in the film is how their robust VFX team augments various Pokemon in live action. You’ll want to reach right through the screen to touch Pikachu’s fluffy fur, you’ll recoil at Mr. Mime’s uncanny valley appearance, you’ll want to ride the mountain-sized Torterra. That alone is worth the 100-minute run time.
Where to watch: iview
Aussie nostalgiaThe Norman Gunston Show
Norman Gunston got his own show on the ABC in 1975.(ABC)
Before every person with a smartphone fancied themselves a guerilla prankster there was Norman Gunston, the sad-sack alter-ego of comedian Garry McDonald.
Beginning life as a guest on The Aunty Jack Show, the character’s hapless interactions with high-profile people gained such popularity with the Australian public that The Norman Gunston Show was ordered in 1975. A satirical version of The Tonight Show, Gunston attracted celebrities from Paul and Linda McCartney to Muhammad Ali to Guns ‘n’ Roses. Throughout all his interviews, Gunston remains sweet, innocent and completely clueless to incredible comedic results (His facial reactions to The Who drummer Keith Moon’s combative welcome is historically hilarious).
Airing for three seasons on ABC (and a 90s revival) and netting McDonald a Gold Logie, The Norman Gunston show is a slice of Australiana comedy that’s worth a revisit.
Where to watch: Brollie
The Secret Life of Us
The cast of TV series The Secret Life of Us.(Supplied)
Now 25 years old (!!!) The Secret Life of Us was one of the first Australian shows to chronicle the lives of young people at the turn of the century.
The long-running series followed the lives of 20- and 30-somethings living in the then-affordable suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne. Years before Lena Dunham was declaring herself the voice of a generation in Girls, The Secret Life of Us was tapping into the relationship dramas, professional headaches and personal heartbreaks of pre-iPhone young people.
A showcase for actors that would soon become permanent fixtures such as Deborah Mailman, Claudia Karvan and Joel Edgerton, a rewatch also uncovers delightful guest spots from the likes of The White Lotus’s Murray Bartlett and Marvel star Ben Mendelsohn.
Where to watch: iview
Snapshot
Sigrid Thornton in Snapshot(Supplied: IMDB)
Nothing like a good old Ozploitation, and Snapshot comes from one of the most unlikely places — Free Willy director Simon Wincer, in what was his feature debut.
Naive yet headstrong hairdresser Angela (Sigrid Thornton), desperate to get out from under the thumb of her controlling mother, agrees to pose for topless photographs. Soon she’s sucked into an ice cream nightmare as a stalker decked out in a Mr Whippy van begins to hunt down his favourite model.
Tense, tight and sprinkled with just the right amount of racy schlock, Snapshot is a beguiling look back at a moment in Australian filmmaking history.
Where to watch: Brollie