Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John Fairfax Holdings. However, the family lost control of the company in December 1990. The group's Chairman is Roger Corbett and the Chief Executive Officer is Greg Hywood. As of May 2008 Fairfax Media had a market capitalisation of over A$5 billion. By September 2011 this had fallen by more than 60 per cent to less than A$2 billion.

In early February 2012, Gina Rinehart, a mining business woman and reportedly Australia's wealthiest person, increased her shareholdings to over 14% of Fairfax Media to make her the group's largest non-institutional investor.

John Fairfax purchased the Sydney Morning Herald in 1841. Several generations of the Fairfax family continued to control the company.

The Australian Financial Review was founded in 1951. In that decade, Fairfax started two television stations, ATN and QTQ. Fairfax began expanding in the 1960s, acquiring, among others, The Age, The Newcastle Herald and the Illawarra Mercury. In 1979, Rupert Murdoch attempted to take over rival The Herald and Weekly Times. Due to the costs of defending the takeover, Fairfax sold its television properties, including the Seven Network. In 1988, Fairfax sold its magazines (including Woman's Day, People, Dolly, and Good Housekeeping) to Australian Consolidated Press, and discontinued its Sydney afternoon tabloid The Sun, transferring some of its content and the sponsorship of the City to Surf to its new Sunday tabloid The Sun-Herald which also replaced the broadsheet Sunday Herald.