Your Streaming Options Just Expanded: HBO's Max Platform Has Officially Launched in Australia
If you're keen to watch HBO's hits, Warner Bros movies, TCM's library of classic films and more, you'll need to sign up to this new streaming service.
Ten years ago, in March 2015, Netflix launched in Australia. It wasn't the first streaming service eager to give Aussies new couch-time choices — it wasn't even completely new, thanks to local film and TV lovers accessing the US version before the platform officially arrived Down Under — but it still gave the nation's at-home viewing landscape a milestone moment. The great streaming service rush followed, spoiling audiences for choice via an array of other platforms. Although another new streamer no longer seems to pop up every week, a big player has just hit the market: Max.
Warner Bros Discovery's Max platform has launched to Australian viewers as at Monday, March 31, 2025. If you're a fan of HBO's TV shows, you'll be excited. You should also be well-aware of Max's Aussie debut, given that it has been rumoured since 2024, was then confirmed the same year, and scored an exact launch date earlier this year before dropping pricing and plan details.
First, the crucial info for The Last of Us fans: this is where you'll need to head to check out the game-to-screen series' second season when it debuts on Monday, April 14. When The Rehearsal returns for its second season on Monday, April 21, you'll also need a Max subscription to see what Nathan Fielder has whipped up next.
If you're addicted to The White Lotus or excellent hospital-set newcomer The Pitt, they're rounding out their current seasons on both Max and Binge, which was previously the home of the bulk of HBO's output Down Under. The Righteous Gemstones is among the other series playing on both platforms until their present run wraps up.
Max is also your go-to for other HBO Originals, returning, new and old alike, such as House of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and any other Game of Thrones spinoffs; Euphoria; upcoming IT prequel series Welcome to Derry; and everything from True Detective, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Oz, Deadwood, Big Love, True Blood, Big Little Lies and Westworld through to Succession, The Larry Sanders Show, Sex and the City, Flight of the Conchords, Bored to Death, Girls, Veep, Barry and Enlightened.
The platform's own Max Originals — so made for it, rather than for HBO — cover And Just Like That..., Peacemaker, The Other Two and more, while the Warner Bros television library also spans Friends, Rick and Morty (including Rick and Morty: The Anime), Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl and others. Adventure Time, Looney Tunes and Scooby Doo are among the cartoon names available on the service. In addition, content TV networks Discovery, Cartoon Network, TLC, Food Network, ID and HGTV are also part of the platform.
If you're a film obsessive, access to recent cinema releases at home is one of Max's drawcards. Movies from Warner Bros Pictures from the year, such as Joker: Folie à Deux, Trap, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Twisters, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, are all available from launch. Going forward, Max is also set to screen blockbusters fast-tracked from their silver-screen dates. Warner Bros is behind big franchises like The Lord of the Rings, Dune, the DC Universe and Harry Potter, too, so expect them as well.
On most streaming platforms, classic flicks aren't a priority. If you like a blast from the past with your viewing, the TCM hub boasts all-time greats such as Singin' in the Rain, North by Northwest, The Maltese Falcon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, A Clockwork Orange, The Exorcist, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Rebel Without a Cause, Bonnie and Clyde, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, All the President's Men, Ben Hur, Cool Hand Luke, Mean Streets, Enter the Dragon and Gaslight, all from launch.
In its first month of Aussie operations, Max will also welcome Brian Cox (The Electric State)-, Lisa Kudrow (No Good Deed)- and Parker Posey (Thelma)-starring new film The Parenting; Fast Friends, a game show about loving a certain sitcom; and Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein's new stand-up special The Second Best Night of Your Life.
From the Warner Bros back catalogue, Dune, The Batman, The Matrix Resurrections, Elvis, Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, all ten seasons of Friends and three seasons of The Leftovers are also on the way.
Regarding plans and pricing, there's three of the former — starting with a basic package that includes ads, then offering standard and premium options. The first spans full HD resolution and two devices streaming simultaneously, as does the second, with the latter also including 30 downloads to watch offline. Opt for premium and 4K resolution plus Dolby Atmos sound are featured, if they're available per title; four devices can stream simultaneously; and the downloads go up to 100.
In a launch special until Wednesday, April 30, 2025, the basic with ads plan is available for $7.99 per month for the first 12 months or $79.99 for the first year (or $11.99 per month/$119.99 per year from Thursday, May 1, 2025). The standard plan special is $11.99 per month for the first 12 months or $119.99 for the first year ($15.99 per month/$159.99 per year afterwards), while premium is available for $17.99 per month for the first 12 months or $179.99 for the first year (or $21.99 per month/$219.99 per year afterwards).
As for Binge, when it launched, giving subscribers access to HBO's catalogue was one of its big selling points. The deal between Binge, Foxtel and Warner Bros Discovery — which owns HBO — was extended in 2023; however, it was reported at the time, accurately so it proves, that Max might debut in Australia from 2025.
Max is available direct to consumers via its website and app stores — you sign up for it by itself — for viewing via mobile, tablet, gaming consoles and connected TV, but it is still keeping a connection with Foxtel. If you subscribe to the pay-TV service, you'll have access to the Max app without paying extra.
Max is available in Australia from Monday, March 31, 2025 — head to the streaming service's website for more details.
