Guardian Australia is the Australian presence of the global online publication and British print newspaper, The Guardian. Available solely in an online format, the newspaper's launch was led by Katharine Viner in time for the 2013 Australian federal election and followed the introduction of Guardian US in 2011. As with other Guardian Media Group publications, Guardian Australia is ultimately owned by The Scott Trust, which aims to stay independent and free from 'commercial pressures'. The online publication relies on digital advertising and voluntary reader donations or subscriptions for revenue, eschewing enforced paywalls implemented by other news websites. Guardian Australia is only available online, although Guardian Weekly is also available in print edition. Guardian Australia's headquarters is based in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, with bureaux in Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra. It employs over 80 journalists, editors and other personnel as of 2018, including editor-in-chiefLenore Taylor who assumed responsibilities in 2016. Prior to its 2013 launch the British edition of the website was already popular with Australian audiences, with over 1.3 million users per month helping it rank just outside the top 10 most-visited news websites in Australia. Guardian Australia has subsequently become one of the top 5 most visited news websites in the country.
History
Following an investment from businessman Graeme Wood prompted by Malcolm Turnbull, Guardian Australia was launched on 27 May 2013 in the lead-up to the 2013 Australian federal election. The British team was joined by local journalists, some of whom previously worked at News Corp Australia and Fairfax Media, including Lenore Taylor, Katherine Murphy and David Marr. The Guardian Australia has a Comment is Free section edited by Gabrielle Jackson featuring opinion pieces from regular writers, politicians, other public figures and members of the public. In 2016, it was announced that the then political editor Lenore Taylor would take over the editorship following the end of Emily Wilson's tenure. In May 2017, as part of a confidential legal settlement, Guardian Australia issued an apology to Noel Pearson over a story they published in January 2017, which made defamatory claims. The newspaper said it "accepts that the comments regarding Mr Noel Pearson in that article were false, unreservedly retracts the statements made in the article regarding Mr Noel Pearson and apologises for the harm and distress caused to him." Guardian Australia turned its first profit after five years of operations with a balance of $700,000 in financial year 2017-2018. Previously, the online publication posted a loss of 7.5 million against a revenue of 3.79 million in 2013–2014, a loss of 6 million in 2014-2015 and a loss of 14 million in 2015–2016.
