Australia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in2015 by invitation from theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) as a "one-off" special guest to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Eurovision. On 17 November 2015, the EBU announced that SBS had been invited to participate inthe 2016 contest and that Australia would once again take part. This invitation has been extended each year and Australia is invited to participate in the contest until at least 2023.[2]
The entrants from 2015 until 2018 were internally selected. In September 2018, SBS announced that from 2019, it would organise a national contest to select the artist and the song that will compete at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest and placed a call for entries. The show was to be calledEurovision – Australia Decides.[3]
SBS asks for submissions, then selects ten entries and their running order for the contest. The contest takes place over a weekend in February, with a jury preview show, a matinee preview show and a live final. The winner is determined via the combination of public televote (50%) and the votes of a professional jury panel (50%).[3]
In November 2022, six months after the2022 Eurovision Song Contest, SBS announced that it would not be continuingEurovision – Australia Decides, reverting back to internally selecting the Australian entries for Eurovision.[4]
