Australians love their movies. We love going to the cinema. We also love watching films at home on our TVs or computers snuggled up on the couch with our hot chocolates with toasted marshmallows and freshly popped buttery popcorn on hand.
The costs of online streaming subscriptions like Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, Stan, Foxtel and others can get expensive quite quickly, especially if you like a couple of items from different services.
So what online streaming services can you use to watch movies for free legally in Australia? And more importantly, are there any good movies worth watching on these platforms?
I decided to do some research and I think I’ve found some good ones with a pretty diverse range of movies on offer.
So here is a list of 8 sites to watch movies online in Australia for free right now! Bring on the popcorn!
Table of Contents
Kanopy
Kanopy has an extensive catalogue of over 30K titles available on their video-streaming platform. Their objective is to select films that are thought-provoking, inspiring and challenge our perspectives.
The films on offer include World Cinema, Oscar Winners and Nominees, Cannes Film Festival, British Cinema, Documentaries, LGBTQ Cinema, Short animations, the Conflict in Ukraine as well as Classic movies and more.
Titles available right now include Wild Mountain Thyme, Minari, Staged, Zoe, Occupation Rainfall, The Marksman, Guns Akimbo, The Vault, It Boy and A Cat in Paris.
You can also view unlimited items from the Kanopy Kids catalogue. These include Mr Hublot, Curious George Rides a Bike, Where the Wild Things Are, and Babar and the Adventures of Badou.
You can watch these titles for free when you log into the service using your public library card membership details (if your library subscribes to Kanopy). My local library in Sydney gives their patrons 10 free credits to watch 10 items for free per month.
Beamafilm
Beamafilm is an Australasian movie streaming platform. Their aim is to provide a platform to stream local, independent titles. Their catalogue contains Australian, New Zealand, as well as international documentaries, movies, and tv series.
Current titles available include 2040 by Damon Gameau, Matilda & Me featuring Tim Minchin, I Am Big Bird, Karl Lagerfield: An Intimate Portrait, Born to Dance, Chinese Puzzle, Lion, Rake and Fast and Furriest.
You can watch these titles for free when you log into the service using your public library card membership details (if your library subscribes to Beamafilm).
Otherwise, you can get a 30-day free trial on the Beamafilm website and then subscribe for $5.99 per month after the trial, if you’d like to continue using the service.
SBS On Demand
SBS On Demand is a free video streaming service available in Australia. It consists of over 11K hours of stories from around the world including movies, documentaries, sports, news and live TV.
It’s a hybrid-funded broadcaster and gets the majority of its funding from the Australian Government. But the service does run a limited number of advertisements in order to keep the service free and to invest in new content.
Curated collections include Sydney Film Festival Retrospective, The Cannes Collection, Prized Period Pieces, Th Cost of War, Greek Cinema, Comic Relief, Spotlight on Female Directors, Indie Darlings, Best of British, Wild Westerns, Feature Documentaries, French Connections, Arthouse Essentials, Irish Cinema, Hindi Cinema, Korean Cinema, Out of This World, Spotlight on Jackie Chan, Homegrown Cinema, Scandinavian Cinema, and Fright Night.
Films currently available on the platform include: Serena, Wuthering Heights, Booksmart, Weekend at Bernies, The Breaker Upperers, Bruce Lee Martial Arts Master, The Fifth Element, and David Brent: Life on the Road.
You have to create a free account to be able to watch the movies.
ABC iview
ABC iview enables you to watch ABC Channels live and their programs and movies in their catalogue on-demand.
As an aside, for those with young children, the ABC Kids category includes a great selection of popular series including Sesame Street, Thomas and Friends: All Engines Go! The Adventures of Paddington, The Octonauts and more.
The site has a diverse selection of Australian, classic, critically acclaimed, indie and arthouse type films. Current titles available include Train to Busan, Absolutely Anything, Adoration, The Railway Man, Strictly Ballroom, Yves Saint Laurent, and The Way We Were.
You have to create a free account to be able to watch the movies and other content on this platform.
7plus
7plus is a digital streaming service run by the Seven Network. It supports Video-on-demand, Catch-up tv and online live streaming services. You can watch programs across the 7, 7TWO, 7mate, 7flix channels, News and Sport. The content contains advertisements.
The movies section currently consists of Drama, Romantic, Comedy, Action, Family Flicks, Crime, Thriller, Adventure, Mystery and Science Fiction, Horror, Christmas, Documentaries, and Must-See Specials.
Current movies available for streaming include: Fury, Green Book, Charlie’s Angels, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Striking Distance, Ender’s Game, and Goosebumps 2.
You have to create a free account to be able to watch the movies and other content on this platform.
YouTube Movies
YouTube is a platform that has literally something for everyone. You can follow endless cool creators’ channels to view travel, entrepreneurship, cooking, personal development content and everything in between.
They have recent Hollywood movies available to rent, as well as having a selection of movies you can stream for free with ads. There were 103 free movies when I just looked. These include: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, 10 Years, Blitz, Hotel Rwanda, Rabbit Hole, Bright Star, A Walk to Remember, Brand: A Second Coming, Spy Cat, and Matrix Revisited (Making of the Matrix).
You can get to this selection by selecting the ‘Explore’ menu on the left-hand side then select ‘Movies and Shows’ then scroll down to the ‘Free to watch movies’ section. No signup required.
Tubi
Tubi is a free, premium on-demand video streaming app with a catalogue of over 20K movies and tv shows. Tubi is an ad-supported streaming service that has an extensive collection of movies from studios including MGM, Lionsgate and Paramount.
Movie categories include Action, Comedy, Cult Classics, Bollywood Dreams, Faith, LGBTQIA+, Horror, Indie Films, Martial Arts, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Highly Rated on Rotten Tomatoes.
Current movie titles include Fantastic Mr. Fox, Marmaduke, The Revenant, Brokeback Mountain, Marley & Me, Fight Club, and The Healer, Tulsa, Assassin’s Creed, Under Siege and the Scorpion King 2,3, and 4.
No signup is required to start watching the movies on Tubi.
Plex
Plex is a free ad-supported streaming service that offers thousands of movies from partners including Paramount, Warner Bros, MGM, Lionsgate, Legendary, Magnolia Pictures and Crackle. It also allows you to watch over 250+ free live TV channels.
Movie collections include Crime Time, Cheap Thrills, Action, Backstage Pass, Short-Ass Movies, Take Me to Your Leader, Best of the West, and Festival Favorites.
Current movie titles include HeartBreaker, IP Man 3, Once Upon a Time in Venice, The Bank Job, and Charade.
No signup is required to start watching the movies on Plex.
There are some great streaming sites out there that allow you to watch movies for free in Australia if you’re willing to accept ads. I hope you’ve found this list of free sites and services useful. I’ll be keeping this list updated as I come across more free movie platforms.
Let us know of any good ones we’ve missed and we’ll add them to our next update.
If you like this post, please share this article with your friends and family! Thanks!
