Key Facts:
OOH net media revenue grew 7.41% in Q1 2026 to $359 million, up from an adjusted $334 million in Q1 2025 (Outdoor Media Association)
Full-year 2025 OOH revenue reached $1.4495 billion, up 11.43% on 2024 (OMA)
Digital OOH now represents 76.7% of total net OOH revenue (OMA)
OOH reaches 97% of Australians weekly — around 22 million people aged 14 and over (OMA)
81% of young Australians aged 14 to 29 say they hate ads, but reject intrusive advertising rather than advertising itself (YouthInsight, 2025)
54% of Gen Z search for a product on their phone after seeing it in an OOH ad; 48% recommend products seen on posters or billboards (YouGov)
Restrictions on under-16 social media accounts have applied in Australia since 10 December 2025
OOH net media revenue hit $359 million in Q1 2026 (extending a record $1.45 billion year) as screen fatigue and new under-16 social media rules push advertisers towards physical media
Melbourne, June 2026 — Australia's out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry has opened 2026 with net media revenue up 7.41% in the first quarter to $359 million, according to the Outdoor Media Association. This extends a record 2025 in which the sector grew 11.43% to $1.4495 billion! The momentum lands at a moment when brands are increasingly questioning whether the most online generation is actually reachable online.
OOH already reaches 97% of Australians weekly, around 22 million people aged 14 and over, with the Outdoor Media Association reporting that 8 in 10 Australians leave home each day, making 95 million trips. For advertisers chasing younger audiences, that physical footprint is becoming harder to replicate on screen.
Research suggests the assumption that Gen Z are simply anti-advertising is flawed. A 2025 YouthInsight study of 1,000 Australians aged 14 to 29 found 81% say they hate ads, but the same research drew a clear distinction: young people are rejecting advertising that feels intrusive, repetitive and disconnected from culture, not advertising itself.
Outdoor's advantage is that it shows up in the places young audiences already move through, rather than following them across the internet. It also travels. YouGov data found 54% of Gen Z search for a product on their phone after seeing it advertised on a poster or billboard, and 48% recommend products they have seen in OOH, turning a single physical placement into earned digital attention.
"The instinct has always been to chase Gen Z deeper into the feed, but that's the most crowded, most ignored space there is," said a Rock Posters spokesperson. "Outdoor belongs to the place rather than following the person. In a media environment full of AI-generated content and synthetic reviews, showing up in the real world has become a genuine trust signal."
The regulatory backdrop is reinforcing the trend. From 10 December 2025, many social media platforms no longer permit Australians under 16 to have accounts. This change signals a broader cultural shift away from the idea that more screen engagement is always better.
With Gen Z making up 18.2% of Australia's population (ABS 2021 Census) and Gen Z and Millennials together forecast to account for 48% of retail spend by 2030 (Afterpay), brands have a growing commercial reason to find channels that cut through. Based on current figures, outdoor is one of the few that can still.
The full analysis
