Last year's Hottest 100 featured just 27 Australian songs, the lowest number since 1994.
This contrasts with the years 2014 to 2022 when Australian artists produced more than half of the songs in the Hottest 100.
The analysis shows that the decline in Australian songs in the Hottest 100 is mirrored in data from streaming services – the number of Australian songs and artists featuring in global streaming services like Spotify is declining rapidly.
This is because Australian artists are crowded out by other English-speaking acts, particularly those from the USA.
The analysis concludes that Australian music can be rejuvenated with policy support focused on increased funding and better regulation of streaming services.
"The decline of Australian songs in the Triple J Hottest 100 is caused by lack of funding and governments' failure to regulate streaming services," said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.
"When it comes to Australian music, streaming has changed everything.
"Whereas once the main source of music for Australian listeners was Australian radio stations, audiences are now listening through global streaming services. These work on algorithms that filter for language but not for geography, so Australian artists are competing against American artists, which the streaming services are biased towards.
"It's not that Australians don't want to listen to Australian music, the problem is the world has changed and Australian governments aren't changing with it to give Australian artists a fair go.
"It doesn't have to be this way. Just because Australia is smaller than the USA doesn't mean our acts can't compete.
"Look at the example of Taiwan. Taiwan's musicians sing in Chinese and compete with China's singers.
"Not only do Taiwanese acts dominate the charts in Taiwan, but they are also popular in Mainland China, where Taiwanese artists like Jay Chou are superstars.
"How does Taiwan do it? Their public funding of contemporary music is double Australia's, as a portion of their economy. They also have different streaming services and internet regulation to Mainland China.
"Australia can do this too. It is possible to regulate Big Tech. We've seen it with the world-leading social media ban for under 16s and the News Media Bargaining Code.
"Arts funding in Australia is low by international standards. If you consider the basic economic theory of subsidising things we want and taxing things we don't, our governments are choosing to allow the slow death of Australian music."
