Times and Sunday Times stablemate the Australian, which is to launch a redesigned website and mobile site to coincide with its paid content plans
The Australian newspaper has confirmed it will launch digital subscriptions on its website on Monday, following in the footsteps of News International titles the Times and Sunday Times in the UK.
The freemium model, which the newspaper said in a report has been based on that operated by News Corporation's Wall Street Journal, will offer some stories for free but will charge for "premium content", such as analysis, opinion and "specialist material".
Readers will be given a three month free trial before the introduction of a charge of $2.95 a week for "a basic digital subscription".
Other packages, which combine print and digital subscriptions, will cost up to $7.95 a week, the report added.
"Publisher News Limited said the national broadsheet's strategy was built around a digital content pass which would provide access to The Australian online and on mobile and tablet devices using a single log-in."
The Australian also announced it would launch a redesigned website and new mobile site to coincide with its paid-content plans.
"The Australian has a lot of loyal readers for both the newspaper and online and we think what we do is valuable - and the fact that loyal readers are prepared to pay for our news via the newsagent and subscription shows that," editor Clive Mathieson said in the report.
There will be no charge for existing print subscribers.
Similarly to other sites which have adopted a digital subscriptions model, the Australian will allow some premium content to be access via external links, up to five stories a day via Google and once from Facebook. However it will not allow free access via links on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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