Digital TV is available in Australia right now.!  Freeview is the digital platform brand name for free to air digital television and includes ABC, SBS, Seven, Nine, Ten, Southern Cross, Prime and WIN. 

Currently Analogue and Digital broadcasting are both being transmitted.  However, between 2010 and 2013 the government will be gradually fazing out the free to air analogue chanels that are currently viewed throughout Australia and Freeview will be providing digital television viewing. The purpose of Freeview is to progressively introduce more digital format chanels at no cost to viewers (as opposed to paid TV). Once you switch to digital, you will be able to view an additional five chanels immediately.  These are Chanel One, ABC2, SBS Two, Seven HD and Nine HD.  The other advantage of digital TV is there is an on screen chanel guide.  Freeview will be providing more chanels and services in the future.

The benefits of digital television is the vastly improved picture and sound quality, including widescreen picture and digital audio (including radio broadcasts).

If you haven't got a High Definition digital TV, it's time to think about changing over very soon. Any easy check to see if you have a television that is capable of receiving digital broadcasting, is to see if you can tune into one of the digital chanels currently broadcasting.  Try chanel One, a 24 hour sports program or ABC2. If you can't tune into to these chanels, then you probably don't have digital capability and it's time to explore your options on upgrading your existing equipment.

Most televisions these days come with a High Definition tuner built in, so for those analogue users it may be worth considering getting rid of the old TV and buying a new one. Flat panels have come down in price over the years and are much more affordable than the used to be. From April 2009 all new televisions will have Energy Efficient labels to help you choose the most efficient model.

A cheaper alternative for those on a budget, is to purchase a set top box that can attach to your analogue TV and this will allow you to receive the digital signal. Another alternative is to purchase a PVR, which incorporates a set top box with the added functionality of recording to a hard drive which allows you to record programs and watch them later. There are also DVD/Vido recorders available that have set top boxes built in.