Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with the song "Promise", written by Alex Canion, Ashley Doodkorte, Daniel Estrin, Scott Kay, and Simone Dow. The song is performed by Voyager. The Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) selected the Australian entry for the contest. The song and artist were officially revealed by SBS as the Australian entrant on 21 February 2023.
Australia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in by invitation from the European 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 in the 2016 contest and that Australia would once again take part. In 2015, Australia was guaranteed a spot in the final of the contest and was allowed to vote during both semi-finals and the final; however, from the 2016 contest and onwards, Australia would have to qualify to the final from one of two semi-finals and could only vote in the semi-final in which the nation was allocated to compete.
Australia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 11 May 2023.
In the second semi-final, Australia qualified for the final on 13 May.
Background
Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest since 1983, and the contest has gained a cult following over that time, primarily due to the country's strong political and cultural ties with Europe. Paying tribute to this, the 2014 contest semi-finals included an interval act featuring Australian singer Jessica Mauboy. Australian singers have also participated at Eurovision as representatives of other countries, including Olivia Newton-John (, ), two-time winner Johnny Logan ( and , ), Gina G (, United Kingdom), and Jane Comerford as lead singer of Texas Lightning (, ).
Tying in with the goal of Eurovisionto showcase "the importance of bringing countries together to celebrate diversity, music and culture", the 2015 theme of "Building Bridges", and arguing that they could not hold "the world's biggest party" to celebrate the 60th edition of Eurovision without inviting Australia, the EBU announced on 10 February 2015 that the country would compete at that year's edition as a special guest participant. Along with the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the host country of Austria, Australia was given automatic entry into the final to "not reduce the chances" of the semi-final participants. On 17 November 2015, the EBU announced that SBS had been invited to participate in the 2016 contest and that Australia would once again take part, however they would have to qualify for the final from one of two semi-finals and could only vote in the semi-final in which the nation was competing. On 12 February 2019, SBS signed a contract securing Australia's spot at the contest until 2023. In , Australia was represented by Sheldon Riley and the song "Not the Same". The country ended in fifteenth place in the final with 125 points. On 20 October 2022, SBS confirmed Australia's participation in the 2023 contest.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
SBS announced in November 2022 that the Australian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 would be selected internally, foregoing the use of the national final Eurovision – Australia Decides which had been held since 2019, with SBS stating: "Over the past few months, we have been exploring ways we could deliver the event to Australian audiences next year. However, a variety of factors contributed to us coming to this decision." Australia's creative director, Paul Clarke, mentioned during an interview: "Australia Decides comes together as a result of different layers of funding. Some of those changed and we just fell a bit short. Unfortunately, we ran out of runway."
On 21 February 2023, SBS revealed that the band Voyager was selected as the Australian entrant for the 2023 contest with their song "Promise". The band had finished runner-up in Eurovision – Australia Decides the year prior with the song "Dreamer".