For the twelfth edition in a row, Australia will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, and will be present next year in Vienna. Australian broadcaster SBS confirmed the information during its September press conference on 2026 programming.
Twelfth edition for Australia
Australia was first invited in Eurovision in 2015, in Vienna, after being a guest interval act in 2014. Their first participation, “Tonight Again” by Guy Sebastian, had an automatic spot in the final (making it the only Grand Final with 27 participating countries), and finished in 5th place.
Since then, Australia has been re-invited every year, but as a normal participant, having to go through the semi-finals. After securing a 5-year invitation for the 2019-2023 period, the future of the country post-Liverpool was not clear, but it has taken part in 2024 and 2025, and will now continue with a twelfth edition in a row, back to Vienna.
Avoiding the hat-trick of non-qualifications
In the first few years of its participation, Australia enjoyed great success in the semi-finals, easily qualifying (with two semi-final victories in 2016 and 2019), and almost won the 2016 contest, having topped the jury vote.
Since 2021, however, Australia’s fortunes have changed. Unable to attend the contest in Rotterdam, the live-on-tape performance by Montaigne saw the first non-qualification for their country. After two better results in Turin and Liverpool (respectively 2nd and 1st in the Semi-Finals, and 15th and 9th in the Final), SBS had to face two non-qualifications in Malmö and Basel. A return to the Saturday night show will be one of SBS’s main goals for the coming year.
Same commentating team for Vienna
SBS has also announced that its 2025 commentators, Courtney Act and Tony Armstrong, will also be present in Vienna. Last year, the duo took over Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey, who had held the roles of commentators since 2017.
Back in 2019, Courtney Act took part in the first edition of the now defunct national selection Australia Decides, finishing fourth with “Fight for Love”.
Who would you like to see flying the Australian flag in Vienna’s Stadthalle in May? Should Australia revert to a national selection process, or keep an internal choice instead? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media at @escxtra!
