A new report shows young Australians are less engaged with the news than they were in 2023.
It also shows more than a third of young people are asking AI tools about the news.
The report is a joint collaboration between Western Sydney University, the Queensland University of Technology and the University of Canberra, published every three years.
Context
The goal of the report is to understand young people’s changing news practices in the digital era.
Governments and educators have used the findings of past reports to create media literacy programs.
The researchers surveyed 1,027 young people aged 10-17 in February and March 2026. Results were weighted to reflect the Australian population in this age group.
The Good
- 46% agree that news is important
- 77% say getting news makes them feel more informed
- 68% say getting news maeks them feel smart
The Bad
- 74% say news orgs have no idea what their lives are like
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- 82% say news is too focused on negative things
- 70% struggle to find news relevant to people their age
Other findings
Active news engagement has fallen
- In 2023, 51% would hear about something and follow up to find out more. That dropped to 43% in 2026.
- 30% followed social media accounts for news in 2023, compared to 21% in 2026
- In 2023, 28% checked news websites or apps, which dropped to 24% in 2026
The study also showed 26% of young people are turning to AI tools to ask about the news, and a similar percentage are using YouTube to find out the news.
Researchers also found most young people are not confident they can spot misinformation online.
Less than half of young people agreed that they know how to tell if a news story is fake.
Even among those who were confident they can spot misinformation, more than half could not identify how to check if an image was real.
The researchers heard the social media ban isn’t effective for most teenagers and children, but for those who are affected, it has limited their access to news.
