ChatGPT plans in Australia: every tier, compared.

“K” means thousands of tokens — roughly, 1K is 750 English words. A bigger number means ChatGPT can keep more of a long document or conversation in mind at once.

Currency and GST

• Web subscriptions are billed in Australian dollars. Subscriptions bought inside the iPhone or Android app are billed by Apple or Google instead, at slightly different prices. API usage is billed in US dollars.
• GST is the open question. OpenAI’s pricing pages don’t state whether the A$ prices include GST; its terms say only that it will charge tax where required. We could not confirm it either way without completing a purchase. If you claim GST credits, check the checkout total and make sure the receipt is a valid tax invoice.
• Business is card-only. If your accounts team needs a purchase order and an invoice, that is an Enterprise feature.

Where your data is stored

• Personal plans: no choice. Data is stored and processed overseas.
• Enterprise, Edu and the API: since November 2025, Australia is one of ten regions where data can be stored at rest — conversations, uploaded files, memory and generated images, including backups. On Enterprise it costs nothing extra, but must be chosen when a new workspace is created.
• Storage is not processing. For Australia, the residency promise covers where data sits, not where the model runs. Your prompt still travels overseas to be answered. In-region processing is offered only for the United States, Europe and the UAE.
• Business: OpenAI’s own pages disagree. A help article says regional storage for Business is “rolling out gradually” and is chosen at checkout; the pricing table says Business has no data residency. Even where it is offered, a copy of prompts and responses is kept in the US for a limited time for abuse monitoring. Don’t assume — look for the region selector when you sign up.
• Not covered even on Enterprise: Codex on the web, ChatGPT Sites, and anything still labelled beta.

If you handle personal information, storing or processing it overseas has consequences under the Privacy Act’s cross-border rules (APP 8). That is a question for your privacy adviser, not for a pricing page — but it is the reason the residency lines above matter.

Training and retention

• Training: on by default for Free, Go, Plus and Pro; off by default for Business, Enterprise, Edu and the API. Temporary chats are never used for training. Clicking thumbs-up or thumbs-down can share that conversation even if you have opted out.
• Deletion: deleted chats are removed from OpenAI’s systems within 30 days, with exceptions for legal and security reasons. Enterprise administrators set their own retention period.
• The New York Times court order: for part of 2025 a US court required OpenAI to keep consumer conversations indefinitely. OpenAI says that obligation ended on 26 September 2025 and normal 30-day deletion has resumed, though data from April to September 2025 remains under legal hold. Enterprise and Edu were never covered by the order.
• Zero data retention is available only to approved API customers, by arrangement with OpenAI sales.

Certifications and government use

• Certifications: OpenAI’s trust portal lists SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, 27017, 27018, 27701 and ISO 42001 (the AI management standard). Scope varies by plan: Business is covered by SOC 2 only, while Enterprise, Edu and the API also fall under the ISO certificates.
• IRAP: we found no IRAP assessment of OpenAI’s own services on its trust portal or compliance pages. Agencies that need an IRAP-assessed platform have generally used OpenAI models hosted by Microsoft in Azure, which Microsoft had assessed to PROTECTED in 2024. Note that on Azure’s Australia East region, the newest models are offered as “global” or Asia-Pacific “data zone” deployments rather than strictly in-country.
• ChatGPT Gov is a United States government product. It isn’t an Australian offering.

OpenAI in Australia

• OpenAI opened a Sydney office in December 2025 and launched “OpenAI for Australia” the same week, including a memorandum of understanding with NEXTDC for a data-centre campus at Eastern Creek. As at this writing that remains a plan, not a place your data is processed.
• Ads arrived for Australian Free and Go users on 16 April 2026.

• Standard rates for normal-length requests; very long requests cost more. Batch and Flex processing are half price, the “Fast” tier is double.
• Australian endpoint: approved customers can use an Australian API endpoint that stores data in Australia. It adds 10% for newer models, needs a retention amendment arranged through OpenAI, and still processes requests offshore.
• Codex (OpenAI’s programming agent) is included in every ChatGPT plan — limited on Free and Go — or can be run pay-as-you-go against an API key.
• Through Microsoft: the same model families are sold in Microsoft’s Azure cloud, including its Australia East region. Older models can be run strictly in-region there; the newest ones are global or Asia-Pacific deployments.

Two things worth knowing if you are reading older advice: no current ChatGPT plan includes video generation, and what used to be called “connectors” are now called apps or plugins.

• Just you, now and then: Free is fine. Switch off training in Data controls on day one.
• Just you, most days: Plus. Go saves A$17 a month but keeps you on the lightest model and may show ads.
• Two or more people: Business, on Standard seats. On annual billing a seat is A$28 — less than Plus — and you get the things a business actually needs: no training by default, an administrator, single sign-on, and the ability to remove someone’s access the day they leave. A drawer full of personal Plus accounts on staff credit cards is the arrangement to avoid.
• One or two heavy users in that team: give those people Premium seats rather than moving everyone up.
• Health, legal, finance, or anyone with a contract that says “data stays in Australia”: read the residency section carefully before choosing. Enterprise stores data here but processes it offshore. If that isn’t enough, the answer may be a different product rather than a bigger plan.
• Pro: for individuals whose work is the tool — developers running Codex all day, analysts living in deep research. Few office roles need it.

Compare with Claude’s plans and Microsoft Copilot’s plans before deciding — the three are priced differently and the right choice depends on the software your team already lives in.

• OpenAI, ChatGPT pricing (Australian view)
• OpenAI Help Centre: About ChatGPT Pro tiers; Ads in ChatGPT; ChatGPT Business; Data residency for ChatGPT; How your data is used to improve model performance; ChatGPT release notes
• OpenAI, Enterprise privacy and Trust Portal
• OpenAI, Expanding data residency access to business customers worldwide (25 November 2025)
• OpenAI, OpenAI for Australia (4 December 2025)
• OpenAI, How we’re responding to The New York Times’ data demands
• OpenAI, API pricing and Data controls in the OpenAI platform
• Apple, ChatGPT on the Australian App Store (in-app purchase prices)
• Microsoft Learn, Foundry model region availability