There are more than 2.8 million actively trading businesses in Australia, and around 460,000 of them started trading in the last financial year alone, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Most are small, many are sole operators, and a good number have something worth telling people about.
If you are one of them and have wondered whether press releases are only for big companies with PR budgets, the short answer is no. Australian services will publish a release for less than the cost of a decent lunch for two. The harder question is usually whether what you have counts as news, so let us start there.
What counts as news for a small business?
Most small businesses have more news than they realise. A new location, a new service, a senior hire, an accreditation, an award, a milestone with a number attached, or a partnership all qualify. What does not qualify is an opinion piece, a how-to guide, or a general update, which most distribution services will decline.
| Usually works | Usually does not |
| Opening a second location or moving premises | “Why customer service matters in 2026” |
| Launching a new service, product or range | A how-to guide or tips article |
| A senior hire, or someone gaining a qualification | A general “here is what we do” introduction |
| An award, accreditation or industry recognition | A rebrand with nothing behind it |
| A milestone with a real number on it | An opinion about your industry |
| A partnership, sponsorship or community project | A sale or discount, which is advertising |
That second column is not us being fussy. For instance, Get The Word Out’s own terms ask for news announcements only and specifically rule out how-to articles, whitepapers, and opinion pieces. Knowing that before you write saves you a rejected submission.
The useful reframe: you do not need the news to be dramatic. You need it to be specific, recent, and true. “We hired a second physiotherapist and can now take appointments on Saturdays” is a perfectly good release.
Best for a first release on a small budget: News Today (NewsToday.au)
News Today (newstoday.au) is the gentlest place to start, mostly because the cost of finding out whether this works for you is low.
A single release is $39, or $300 for a bundle of ten at an effective $30 each, with credits that do not expire if you want to spread them across a year. Every release goes through editorial review before publishing, which is genuinely helpful the first time you write one, and goes live within 24 to 48 hours. Formatting is built for Google News and search, so the page keeps working as a search result afterwards.
Their published archive is full of businesses like yours: clinics, trades, regional operators, small retailers, across twelve industry categories.
Best for a shot at real media pickup: Get The Word Out
Get The Word Out, based in Brisbane, is built around sending your release to actual journalists rather than publishing it in one place. You upload a release, choose categories so it reaches relevant people, and it goes out to their contacts across TV, radio, print and online, with social distribution and search indexing alongside.
What makes them worth a look for small businesses is the evidence on their own site. Their client stories link out to the coverage that followed, including an ABC News feature for a compostable packaging start-up and segments on WIN and Channel 9. That is small Australian businesses getting picked up, with the receipts attached.
They are also upfront that they cannot promise which outlets will receive or run a release, which is the honest position for anybody in this business. Setup takes about a minute, and their free how-to guide and templates are worth reading even if you go elsewhere.
Best for the widest syndication in one purchase: Australian News Daily
Australian News Daily sells a single, flat-priced package rather than tiers, at AUD 297 for one release.
What you get for that is unusually broad for an Australian service. The release is published on their own site and on EIN Presswire, syndicated across a named set of news and industry sites including AP News, placed on up to 500 online news and media outlets, and given up to five local niche-relevant placements. You also get a full live-link distribution report, so you can see where it landed, and there is no word limit. Every release is reviewed before it goes out, and corrections are possible within 24 hours of publishing.
If writing is the part you are dreading, they offer a writing service from around $99, which, for a first release, may be money better spent than extra reach.
Which one fits you?
| Your situation | Where to start |
| First release, want to test the idea cheaply | News Today (newstoday.au) |
| Publishing regularly through the year | News Today (newstoday.au) bundle |
| Want a credible, indexable Australian page | News Today (newstoday.au) |
| Hoping a journalist picks up the story | Get The Word Out |
| Local story with a genuine angle | Get The Word Out |
| Want the widest syndication in one purchase | Australian News Daily |
| Want someone to write it for you | Australian News Daily |
How much does a press release cost in Australia?
A single press release from an Australian service generally costs between about $39 and $300, depending on how widely it is syndicated. Bundles bring the per-release price down if you publish regularly. Writing help, where offered, is usually priced separately, often from around $99.
For a first attempt, spending less is usually the smarter move. You learn more from one $39 release and an honest look at what happened than from a $300 package bought before you know what you want from it.
Do you need a PR agency to send a press release?
You do not need a PR agency to send a press release. Australian distribution services are self-serve: you write or upload the release, choose categories, and publish. An agency helps most with shaping the story and with relationships, which matters if media coverage is the main goal rather than publication.
For most small businesses, doing it yourself a few times is the best way to work out whether you need more help. You will learn quickly which of your announcements get traction.
One thing worth knowing about links
If someone has suggested press releases as a way to build backlinks, it is worth knowing that Google asks publishers to mark paid and distributed links with rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow”, which means they are not counted for ranking purposes. Search Engine Journal’s summary of Google’s guidance covers it.
Get The Word Out goes further and limits releases to one link, noting that over-linking is a risk rather than a benefit. That tells you something useful about how the serious operators see it.
None of which makes releases pointless. Branded search is the dependable return: when a customer looks you up, a dated announcement on a news site is a reassuring thing to find. Media pickup, where it happens, is a bonus.
Where to start
Pick the most recent real change in your business, write five short paragraphs about it, and put it through a $39 release. Check in a fortnight: search your business name and see what comes up.
That is a small enough experiment to run without a plan, and you will know more afterwards than any guide can tell you, including this one.
