How CHOICE is funded

As a nonprofit organisation, CHOICE exists to help consumers like you, not shareholders. So any money we make goes straight back into our mission.

On this page:

• Our mission
• How we’re funded
• Our guidelines

Our mission

Our mission is simple: we work for fair, safe and just markets that meet the needs of Australian consumers. We do that through our independent testing, advocacy and journalism.

When we talk about what’s good or bad about products or services, it’s based on:

• scientific testing in our accredited labs
• genuine expert opinion (the expert’s actual opinion, free from influence)
• verified data analysis (fact-checked before we publish)
• products and services as you would buy them (wherever possible, we buy the products we test from retailers or via mystery shoppers)
• independent surveys, and/or
• fun (like when we ask kids to test Easter eggs).

How we’re funded

When we see something that’s shonky, we’re not afraid to call it out. That involves taking on some of the biggest businesses in the world – including big banks, global tech companies and multinational corporations. And this takes money.

Funded by our members

Our members make our work possible. We wouldn’t be here without them. If you like what we do, consider becoming a member to help us do even more.

Other funding sources

Membership fees provide most of our income, but we also make money from these other sources, where consistent with our mission and values.

Donations

Making a one-off donation to CHOICE is another way to support our consumer advocacy and lab testing. From time to time we’ll also ask for donations to support our work on topical or urgent issues. To keep ourselves accountable, we abide by four key guardrails in the way we receive and use your donation.

CHOICE Recommended 

If a product or a brand performs well in our independent tests or reviews, they can display a ‘CHOICE Recommended‘ logo on their products and in ads, for a fee. 

They’re strictly prohibited from being involved in our testing process in any way. The CHOICE Recommended program doesn’t influence the outcomes or results of our testing.

We like to see businesses compete to be recommended by CHOICE, because it means they’re trying to make products that work better for you.

CHOICE Test Research 

Through our CHOICE Test Research program, companies can ask us to test their product or service for feedback on how to make it better, safer or fairer. We’ve seen the products that you can buy improve as a result of our testing, so we know this works.

CHOICE Test Research never influences the rankings or recommendations in our independent tests.

We also test for government departments and regulators, so they know whether products are safe and reliable.

Affiliate links 

To make it easier to buy products we’ve tested and reviewed, we include links to retailers on some of our pages. 

Some of these links are affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase, CHOICE may earn a commission. We work with a range of retailers and partners, including Squirrel, to provide these links and prices.

Our reviews, ratings and recommendations are completely independent and are never influenced by affiliate commissions, retailers or pricing information.

We can’t show every retailer or every available offer, and prices can change at any time. An affiliate link doesn’t mean we endorse that retailer, and you may be able to find a better price elsewhere.

When you click on an affiliate link, cookies may be used to track whether you make a purchase. For more information, including how to manage your cookie preferences, see our Privacy Policy.

As a nonprofit organisation, any money we earn from affiliate commissions goes straight back into funding our independent testing, research and advocacy work, helping us continue to stand up for consumers like you.

Other partnerships

From time to time we may have other business, government or philanthropic partnerships, but only if they benefit consumers, and meet our guidelines.

Our guidelines

In any business partnership:

1. We’re driven by our values

Our values of TRUTH, HELP and IMPACT guide every decision. We’re happy to turn down money, hand it back or give a Shonky Award to a business that we’ve previously recommended where it’s the right thing to do. 

2. We decide what to test and investigate

We decide which products and services to investigate, test, research or campaign on, based on the best available data about where consumers need our help. No business can influence the outcomes or results of our testing.

3. We’re always transparent

Where possible, we disclose the names of our business partners, including CHOICE Recommended and ‘buy now’ partners.