Australians to spend $7.2bn on Black Friday
Consumer watchdog warns retailers against misleading advertisements ahead of the sales period.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Camera IconCash-strapped consumers are still expected to spend up big at the Black Friday sales. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP
Photograph: PerthNow (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Australians are forecast to spend $7.2 billion over the Black Friday weekend, according to the Australian Retail Council.
- This spending is expected to be a 5.5 per cent increase on 2025 sales, despite cost-of-living concerns.
- The average individual shopper is predicted to spend $920 during the sales period.
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a warning to retailers regarding misleading advertisements.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 1 of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Australians are predicted to spend $7.2 billion during the Black Friday weekend, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared to 2025 sales. The Australian Retail Council forecasts that individual shoppers will spend an average of $920. This spending surge is anticipated despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has alerted retailers to potential misleading advertisements. The watchdog will specifically monitor claims such as 'sitewide' or 'storewide' sales that exclude a significant number of products. Countdown offers that extend beyond their stated end dates, false testimonials, and scarcity messaging are also under scrutiny.
Disagreement on spending increase
PerthNow reports that the $7.2 billion forecast represents a 5.5 per cent increase on 2025 sales. The digests from The Age, WA Today, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, and The Canberra Times do not specify the percentage increase on previous years.
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated digests mention the average individual shopper's expected spend of $920. The right-rated digest does not mention the 5.5 per cent increase on 2025 sales or the average individual shopper's expected spend.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 2 times, most recently on 10 Nov 2026, 09:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
4 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports led with the headline 'Australian economy set for major boost as Black Friday looms' or 'Sales frenzy: Aussies set for record Black Friday spend'. They reported that shoppers are expected to spend $7.2 billion in search of savings ahead of Christmas. The digests also noted that Australians are forecast to spend an eye-watering sum despite persistent cost-of-living pressures.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports led with the headline 'Sales frenzy: Aussies set for record Black Friday spend'. They highlighted that Australians are tipped to spend bigger than ever over the Black Friday weekend, with a forecast of $7.2 billion. These reports also noted the consumer watchdog's warning to retailers. PerthNow's full report stated the spending would mark a 5.5 per cent lift on 2025 sales and that individual shoppers are expected to part with $920 on average.
Right
1 rated outlet
- The right-rated report led with the headline 'Sales frenzy: Aussies set for record Black Friday spend'. The digest stated that Australian shoppers are being forecast to spend an eye-watering sum over the Black Friday weekend despite persistent cost-of-living pressures.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Australians to spend $7.2bn on Black Friday?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 57% are rated left, 29% are rated centre, 14% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Australians to spend $7.2bn on Black Friday left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Australians to spend $7.2bn on Black Friday biased?
- Australians to spend $7.2bn on Black Friday is one event reported by 7 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Australians to spend $7.2bn on Black Friday?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Australians to spend $7.2bn on Black Friday?
- 7 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- How much are Australians expected to spend on Black Friday?
- Australians are forecast to spend $7.2 billion over the Black Friday weekend. This figure represents a 5.5 per cent increase on 2025 sales, and the average individual shopper is expected to spend $920.
- What warning has the ACCC issued to retailers?
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned retailers about misleading advertisements. They will focus on 'sitewide' and 'storewide' claims with excluded products, countdown offers, misleading testimonials, and scarcity messaging.
- What are Australians buying during Black Friday sales?
- A survey indicated that one in four shoppers are motivated by starting Christmas shopping early. Clothing, footwear, accessories, technology, and household goods are high on the wish list for many consumers.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
4- Australian economy set for major boost as Black Friday looms (opens The Age in a new tab)
- Australian economy set for major boost as Black Friday looms (opens Sydney Morning Herald in a new tab)
Sydney Morning Herald — is Sydney Morning Herald biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Australian economy set for major boost as Black Friday looms (opens Brisbane Times in a new tab)
Brisbane Times — is Brisbane Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Sales frenzy: Aussies set for record Black Friday spend (opens The Canberra Times in a new tab)
The Canberra Times — is The Canberra Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
2Right
1Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
