List of free movies and TV shows you can watch online in Australia

How are you going with staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic? It's not easy, is it? When you add children to the mix it becomes a heck of a lot harder, too. (I feel your pain fellow parents!) And then there is the job insecurity to deal with as well as fears you or a family member may catch coronavirus.

It's such a stressful time!

If there is one thing you can do to unwind and improve your mental health during these tough times, it's to escape into a good movie or TV show. Dare we even use the term, "binge"? Thankfully, there is no shortage of options available nowadays after a host of new services appeared through 2019 and into 2020. On top of that, a few key online services have made some of their content free to help meet the sudden demand for streaming TV.

Where can I watch free movies and TV shows in Australia?

So, what's available to you? Below you will find lists of the TV shows and movies that are offered free right now by some of the biggest providers, including Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime. We've also included a link to all the free trials we could find so they're all in one place.

Many services have increased the time you get to try them for free, too. As such, it's a good time to try out any streaming TV service you may have previously not experienced. There's enough free TV and movie content below to get you through your coronavirus isolation in the best shape possible.

List of free streaming TV during COVID-19

List of free Apple TV+ content for coronavirus

Launching in the calm before the Disney+ storm with only a relative handful of shows, Apple TV+ went somewhat unnoticed. Which is a shame! Focusing on original content only, what it lost in quantity it overcomes with quality. In particular, The Morning Show (Morning Wars in Australia) is a gem!

In support of those suffering through COVID-19 isolation, this streaming TV newcomer has made a number of its shows available for free. This is in addition to the 7-day trial that gets you access to the rest of the content. Here is what you can stream live through the Apple TV app without cost. It's unclear at this point if this is a limited time offer or not, so best get in quick.

• Servant
• For All Mankind
• Dickinson
• Little America
• The Elephant Queen
• Snoopy in Space (for kids)
• Helpsters (for kids)
• Ghostwriter (for kids)
• Fraggle Rock: Rock On (for kids)

Fraggle Rock comes to Apple TV+ for free

A reboot of beloved kids TV show Fraggle Rock, by muppet master Jim Henson, was announced and released on the same day, 22 April, 2020. The shorts run for for three to five minutes and will air every Tuesday moving forward for free. You access it through the Apple TV app.

List of free Amazon Prime Video TV shows for coronavirus

In a bid to help families survive homeschooling and isolation during COVID-19, Amazon Prime has released a number of its kids' TV shows for free. It varies per country, but the list of shows made available to Australian audiences is listed below:

Preschool Children

• The Stinky & Dirty Show
• Pete the Cat
• Bug Diaries
• Wishenproof
• Tumble Leaf
• Creative Galaxy
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
• The Snowy Day
• Jessy and Nessy

Ages 6-11

• Just Add Magic
• Just Add Magic: Mystery City
• Lost Oz
• Niko and the Sword of the Light
• Little Big Awesome
• Costume Quest
• Danger & Eggs

All Kids

• Pokémon the Series: Black and White
• Pinkfong: Baby Shark Special
• Pinkfong: Baby Shark Sing Along
• Pinkfong: Wash Your Hands with Baby Shark
• Zafari
• Mother Goose Stories
• Dog City
• Elias: Rescue Team Adventures
• The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss
• The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin
• Lighthouse Island
• The Song of the Cloud Forest
• Living with Dinosaurs
• Pajanimals

List of free Netflix TV content

While the decision by Netflix to cancel its free trial period is unfortunate, the streaming TV giant has provided some educational content for free. You can watch select documentaries, films and shorts from Netflix free via it's YouTube channel. Notably, this includes eight episodes of Our Planet. You can take a look at the list of available content below.

• 13th (Film)
• Abstract (Series - Season 1)
• Babies (Series - select episodes)
• Chasing Coral (Film)
• Explained (Series - select episodes)
• Knock Down the House (Film)
• Our Planet (Series)
• Period. End of Sentence. (Short)
• The White Helmets (Short)
• Zion (Short)

Note for Foxtel Movies Pack owners during coronavirus

If you have the Foxtel Sports add-on pack with your Foxtel Now or Foxtel IQ subscription, Foxtel is giving you the Foxtel Movies pack for free until June 30. This is to counter the fact that there is no sport happening in the world at the moment; at least none fit for broadcast. To reiterate, this is just for those subscribers already signed-up for the Sports Pack. However, the Foxtel Now trial also comes with movies, which is another option for you to explore.

Watch these free YouTube Originals during COVID-19

The YouTube Premium service is home to a lot of original content. In response to coronavirus, YouTube has moved some of these shows from behind its paywall so they can be viewed for free. As these YouTube Originals have been made free temporarily to support people during COVID-19 isolation, they may move back behind a paywall at any time. So apologies, if there are any discrepancies with the below list.

• Escape the Night
• Matpats Game Lab
• Step Up High Water
• Impulse
• Sherwood
• Sideswiped
• The Sidemen Show
• Foursome
• Me and My Grandma
• MyLifeAsEva
• F2 Finding Football
• Overthinking with Kat & June
• The Fake Show
• IDOLiSH7 Vibrato
• Re:Set
• Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television
• We Are Savvy
• Hyperlinked
• Fruit Ninja Frenzy Force
• Kings of Atlantis

Watch free TV shows made available on YouTube by owners

The below TV shows, which include some classics, aren't part of YouTube Premium. Instead, they have been uploaded to the YouTube channels of the copyright owners and are free to watch for an undisclosed amount of time.

• Peppa Pig - Official Channel
• Danger Mouse
• Count Duckula
• Round the Twist, Lockie Leonard
• He-Man Official
• She-Ra Princess of Power
• The Lone Ranger
• Bravestarr Official
• VOLTRON
• Beano/Bananaman
• Official Pink Panther
• The Dreamstone Official
• Dogtanian and the three Muskehounds
• Casper the Ghost
• Mortified - Official Channel
• NickRewind - Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life, Hey Arnold etc
• The Fairly OddParents - Official
• BattleBots
• G.I Joe: A Real American Hero

Lionsgate Free Streams

Major movie creation studio Lionsgate is going to broadcast four of its movies on YouTube for free. All you need to do is head to its channel at the times below to watch the films. Times are in AEST.

• 18 April at 8:00am – The Hunger Games
• 25 April at 8:00am – Dirty Dancing
• 2 May at 8:00am – La La Land
• 9 May at 8:00am – John Wick (age check required)

Free Pokémon movies and TV shows

You can currently watch a tonne of free Pokémon content via Pokémon TV, both movies and episodes of popular shows. This content is being added to every week, so you may find more than what is on the list below depending on when you click across. Here is a list of free Pokémon movies and TV shows you can watch during COVID-19.

Pokémon movies

• Pokémon: The First Movie
• Pokémon the Movie 2000
• Pokémon 3: The Movie
• Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew
• Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea
• Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai
• Pokémon: Giratina & the Sky Warrior
• Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life
• Pokémon—Zoroark: Master of Illusions
• Pokémon the Movie: Black—Victini and Reshiram
• Pokémon the Movie: White—Victini and Zekrom
• Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice

Pokémon TV shows

• Pokémon Origins - 4 Episodes
• Pokémon Generations - 18 Episodes
• Pokémon: Indigo League Season 1 - 52 Episodes
• Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands Season 2 - 60 Episodes
• Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Season 10 - 51 Episodes
• Pokémon: DP Battle Dimension Season 11 - 52 Episodes
• Pokémon: DP Galactic Battles Season 12 - 52 Episodes
• Pokémon: DP Sinnoh League Victors Season 13 - 34 Episodes
• Pokémon: Black & White Season 14 - 48 Episodes
• Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies Season 15 - 49 Episodes
• Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon Season 20 - 43 Episodes
• Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon — Ultra Adventures Season 21 - 48 Episodes
• Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon — Ultra Legends Season 22 - 54 Episodes
• Pokémon: Twilight Wings - 4 Episodes
• Ash Meets Tree-mendous Pokémon - 11 Episodes

Free Quibi content

New shortform streaming TV service Quibi is all about exclusive content, but it's made some of its episodes available on its YouTube channel to help coronavirus sufferers. You'll find full episodes from these shows on the jump.

• The Stranger
• The Most Dangerous Game
• Dummy

Free concerts on Stingray Qello

Qello is a site that focuses on providing on-demand streams of concerts and music documentaries from some of the world's most popular musicians and bands. The site has released 26 of these for free during the coronavirus outbreak. You can see the full list below and find the concerts here.

• A$AP Rocky & A$AP Ferg - Live at The Hordern Pavilion
• Alabama Shakes - Live at The Metro Theatre
• Alice Cooper - Live at The Enmore Theatre
• Beck - Live at Les Eurockéennes Festival 2016
• Black Sabbath - Up Close and Personal
• Bon Jovi - Music In Review
• Bruce Springsteen - Music in Review
• Coldplay - Live at La Cigale 2012
• Coldplay - Phenomenon
• Green Day - ¡CUATRO!
• Guns N' Roses - Rock Case Studies
• Hall & Oates - Live at The Sydney Entertainment Centre
• Kenny Chesney - Summer in 3D Concert
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Live from Freedom Hall
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Rock Case Studies
• Madonna - Confessions Tour
• Madonna - Music in Review
• Maroon 5 - Live at Casino de Paris
• Megadeth - Live at The Sydney Entertainment
• Michael Bublé - Meets Madison Square Garden
• Poison - 7 Days Live
• Slash - Live at The Sydney Entertainment Centre
• The Lumineers - Live At Musilac 2017
• Various Artists - Coachella
• Various Artists - Ultra Music Festival Miami 2017
• Zac Brown Band - Pass The Jar

Free Shakespeare's Globe plays

Depending on when you are reading this, there are six plays from Shakespeare's Globe that can be enjoyed for free via this YouTube stream. Look at the dates below to see what you can still access.

• Hamlet (2018): on from 6 April - 19 April
• Romeo & Juliet (2009): on from 20 April - 3 May
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (2013): on from 4 May - 17 May
• The Winter's Tale (2018): on from 18 May - 31 May
• The Two Noble Kinsmen (2018): on from 1 June - 14 June
• The Merry Wives of Windsor (2019): on from 15 June - 28 June

Additional coronavirus free streaming deals

There is a vast range of streaming TV deals emerging in the wake of coronavirus and the stay at home isolation many people are going through right now. Deals are always popping up and as we catch them, we'll add them to the table below. If you know of any we've missed, be sure to let us know.

Image source: Getty