Australian Consumer Advocacy Group Blasts Ticketing Giants for ‘Fleecing Fans’

Australian consumer group Choice has criticised Ticketek and Ticketmaster, naming both in its 2026 Shonky Awards for ticketing practices it says drive up prices and make costs harder to understand. Choice chief executive Monique Perry said tactics such as dynamic pricing, “in demand” tickets, concealed prices and short purchase time limits take advantage of fans during a cost-of-living crisis.

Choice cited a Ticketek sale for a John Farnham tribute concert, where an Ultimate premium ticket cost A$1,650. Ticketek said that price was fixed and applied to less than 1% of tickets; it said fewer than 7% were affected by variable pricing, with more than 92% sold at unchanged prices. Ticketmaster said event organisers set ticket prices and denied using surge pricing or algorithms that automatically raise prices with demand.