Netflix password crackdown finally hits Australia, two months later than planned

Netflix has begun sending emails to its Australian customers advising them that the global rollout of its crackdown on password sharing has finally hit our shores.

“A Netflix account is for use by one household,” the email begins. “If you want to share Netflix with someone outside of your household, you can use these features.”

Those features include transferring the profile of a hitherto freeloading user of a subscription “to a new membership that they pay for”, and paying for an “extra member”, a feature that an account holder can share “with someone who doesn’t live with you” for $7.99 per month.

The changes come as part of a worldwide campaign by Netflix to shift as many people as possible from non-paying users of the service to paying users, as the streamer grapples with the harsh reality that its exponential growth may have peaked.

The password clampdown was first flagged in April 2022 as the streamer responded to the first backwards blip in members in a decade. In February, it was rolled out to users in New Zealand, Portugal, Canada and Spain. Australia had been due to follow by the end of March.

The changes impact users who share accounts with family, friends and partners outside of the home, with the freeloaders being shut out immediately.

Historically, Netflix has turned a blind eye to password sharing beyond the account holder’s residence. But the deflation of the streaming bubble has changed the equation for all SVOD (subscription video on demand) players, and now the company wants to convert as many of its 100 million or so freeloaders as possible into paying customers.

Netflix doesn’t want to startle the horse too much, though. If you’re one of these piggybackers, you can continue to hitch a ride on someone else’s account – you’ll just have to cough up.

The $7.99 cost for doing so is the same price as was announced in New Zealand, even though an Australian subscription is slightly cheaper ($16.99 for a standard plan and $22.99 for a premium here, versus $18.49 and $24.99 across the ditch).

A single non-household member can be added to a standard plan, and two can be added to a premium, with access limited to a single device (external to the core household) at a time.

Netflix wants to convert roughly 100 million freeloaders worldwide into paying customers.Credit: Paul Rovere

Netflix account holders will now need to register a primary location for their subscription. This is a physical address, and up to five members at that address can be registered to it.

It will still be possible for a registered household member to watch while away from home, because Netflix will use a combination of IP address, user details and one-time access codes to validate the identity of the person attempting to use the service.

Email the author at [e-mail], or follow him on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.