List of best-selling albums in Australia
This is a list of best-selling albums in Australia that have been certified by the Australian Recording Industry Association. Since the 1970s, ARIA certified an album platinum for a shipment of 50,000 copies across Australia. In 1983, the number of copies required for a platinum album was raised to 70,000 copies. All albums in this list released after 1982 must have won at least ten ARIA Platinum Awards or fourteen awards if released before 1983. This list is primarily based on the ARIA database, so it does not include some of the albums which were best-sellers before ARIA began tracking records.
According to ARIA certifications, Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf is the best-selling album of all time in Australia with twenty-five times platinum, Whispering Jack by John Farnham is the second-best-selling album and best-selling album for any local artist with twenty-four times platinum, Shania Twain's Come On Over holds record for the best-selling album by a female solo artist with seventeen times platinum. by ABBA is the best-selling compilation album ever, while Madonna's The Immaculate Collection is the best-selling compilation album in solo artist category. All of these records are held by foreign artists. The highest-selling album by an Australian female solo artist is Delta Goodrem's debut Innocent Eyes with fifteen times platinum.
Gold and Platinum certification awards (Timeline)
AlbumsCertification | Until 1983 | Since 1983 | Since 2015 |
Gold | 20,000 | 35,000 | no change |
Platinum | 50,000 | 70,000 | no change |
Diamond | – | – | 500,000 |
Best-selling albums in Australia
Year | Album | Artist | Nationality | Award | Sales | Source | |
1 | 1977 | Bat Out of Hell | Meat Loaf | 25× Platinum | 1,750,000 | ||
2 | 1986 | Whispering Jack | John Farnham | 24× Platinum | 1,680,000 | ||
3 | 1992 2014 | ' ' | ABBA | 17× Platinum 1× Platinum | 1,260,000 | ||
4 | 1997 | Come On Over | Shania Twain | 18× Platinum | 1,260,000 | ||
5 | 1985 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | 17× Platinum | 1,190,000 | ||
6 | 2011 | 21 | Adele | 17× Platinum | 1,190,000 | ||
7 | 1982 | Thriller | Michael Jackson | 16× Platinum | 1,120,000 | ||
8 | 1975 | The Best of ABBA | ABBA | 22× Platinum | 1,100,000 | ||
9 | 2003 | Innocent Eyes | Delta Goodrem | 15× Platinum | 1,050,000 | ||
10 | 1981 | Greatest Hits | Queen | 15× Platinum | 1,050,000 | ||
11 | 1995 | Jagged Little Pill | Alanis Morissette | 14× Platinum | 1,035,000 | ||
12 | 2011 | Christmas | Michael Bublé | 2× Diamond | 1,000,000 | ||
13 | 1973 | The Dark Side of the Moon | Pink Floyd | 14× Platinum | 980,000 | ||
14 | 1978 | Various Artists | Various | 14× Platinum | 980,000 | ||
15 | 1984 | Born in the U.S.A. | Bruce Springsteen | 13× Platinum | 910,000 | ||
16 | 1996 | Falling into You | Celine Dion | 13× Platinum | 910,000 | ||
17 | 1996 | Recurring Dream − The Very Best of Crowded House | Crowded House | / | 13× Platinum | 910,000 | |
18 | 1977 | Rumours | Fleetwood Mac | / | 13× Platinum | 910,000 | |
19 | 1976 | Arrival | ABBA | 18× Platinum | 900,000 | ||
20 | 1980 | Back in Black | AC/DC | 12× Platinum | 840,000 | ||
21 | 1990 | The Immaculate Collection | Madonna | 12× Platinum | 840,000 | ||
22 | 1997 | Savage Garden | Savage Garden | 12× Platinum | 840,000 | ||
23 | 1991 | Metallica | Metallica | 12× Platinum | 840,000 | ||
24 | 2003 | The Complete Greatest Hits | Eagles | 12× Platinum | 840,000 | ||
25 | 1993 | Music Box | Mariah Carey | 12× Platinum | 840,000 | ||
26 | 2008 | Funhouse | P!nk | 12× Platinum | 840,000 | ||
27 | 1987 | Dirty Dancing | Various Artists | 11× Platinum | 770,000 | ||
28 | 1994 | Forrest Gump | Various Artists | 11× Platinum | 770,000 | ||
29 | 1994 | Cross Road | Bon Jovi | 11× Platinum | 770,000 | ||
30 | 2002 | Come Away with Me | Norah Jones | 11× Platinum | 770,000 | ||
31 | 2006 | I'm Not Dead | P!nk | 11× Platinum | 770,000 | ||
32 | 1979 | The Wall | Pink Floyd | 11× Platinum | 770,000 | ||
33 | 1993 | So Far So Good | Bryan Adams | 11× Platinum | 770,000 | ||
34 | 1975 | ABBA | ABBA | 14× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
35 | 1972 | Hot August Night | Neil Diamond | 14× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
36 | 1990 | Led Zeppelin Remasters | Led Zeppelin | 10× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
37 | 1991 | Dangerous | Michael Jackson | 10× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
38 | 1994 | Don't Ask | Tina Arena | 10× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
39 | 1996 | Yourself or Someone Like You | Matchbox Twenty | 10× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
40 | 2000 | 1 | The Beatles | 10× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
41 | 2009 | I Dreamed a Dream | Susan Boyle | 10× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
42 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 10× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
43 | 2008 | Only by the Night | Kings of Leon | 10× Platinum | 700,000 | ||
44 | 1994 | Throwing Copper | Live | 10× Platinum | 700,000 |