Digital signage in Australia and New Zealand is usually an ordinary TV, a small player in its HDMI port, and cloud software paid per screen each month. The Amazon Signage Stick is not sold in either country, so most screens here run on a Fire TV Stick, a Google TV device, an Android box or a Windows PC. Before you pick software, check where it stores your data: some vendors host in Australia or Oceania, many host only in the US or the EU.
Many signage firms in Australia and New Zealand are installers and hardware sellers. You need one only to mount screens, run cables or build an LED wall.
Which players can you buy in Australia and New Zealand?
The Amazon Signage Stick is sold in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain only (Amazon Signage). amazon.com.au does not list it. What works instead:
- Amazon Fire TV Stick: sold on amazon.com.au in HD and 4K models. Pick a 4K model for video. Works with signage apps built for Fire TV.
- Google TV Streamer: A$159.99 at the Google Store Australia. Google does not sell it in its New Zealand store. Runs any signage app on Google Play.
- Android TV boxes and TVs with Google TV built in: sold by local electronics retailers in both countries. Check the signage app is on Google Play for that device.
- A Windows PC: for apps with a Windows player, or where a PC is already behind the screen.
- A commercial display with the app built in: some vendors run on Samsung or LG commercial displays, so no player is needed. Check the vendor's list first.
Amazon has no New Zealand store. In New Zealand, buy players from a local retailer.
Can your signage data be stored overseas?
Yes, in both countries, but you stay responsible for it. A signage system holds personal information: the names and emails of the people who log in, its activity log, and any staff names or photos you show on screen.
Australia, Australian Privacy Principle 8 (OAIC):
- Before you disclose personal information to an overseas recipient, take reasonable steps so that the recipient does not breach the APPs. In practice: a contract and a vendor that says where it stores data.
- You stay accountable for what the overseas recipient does with it (section 16C).
- Exceptions include a recipient bound by a substantially similar law, or the person's informed consent.
- A cloud provider that only stores the data, under a contract that keeps you in control, can count as a "use", not a disclosure. The OAIC treats this as a limited case.
- Most businesses with an annual turnover of A$3 million or less are not covered by the Privacy Act, with exceptions such as health service providers (OAIC).
New Zealand, Information Privacy Principle 12 (Privacy Commissioner):
- You may send personal information overseas when the recipient has comparable privacy safeguards, by law or by contract (for example the model contract clauses).
- You may also send it when the person agrees after you tell them it may not get the same protection.
- Storing data with an overseas cloud provider is usually not a disclosure at all. The Commissioner says that "in most circumstances" you "remain responsible for the personal information that you put in the cloud servers", so no model-clause agreement is needed (Privacy Commissioner).
Whatever the law allows, data stored nearby has a practical benefit: screens download new content from storage in the same part of the world.
Local and global vendors, and where they store data
Local software vendors include Fusion Signage (Brisbane), Mandoe Media (Sydney), EasySignage and POMP (New Zealand). From each vendor's own pages:
| Software | Where an Australian or New Zealand customer's data is stored |
|---|---|
| Fusion Signage | Sydney (AWS), with failover in a second Australian region (security) |
| Xibo Cloud | You pick: Australia, Singapore, UK, Germany or US (docs) |
| OptiSigns | US by default; Australia on request, Engage plan or above (help) |
| EasySignage | Google Cloud, region not named (FAQ) |
| ScreenCloud | EU, for any sign-up outside the Americas (FAQ) |
| Play Digital Signage | EU, for any sign-up outside the US (security) |
| Yodeck | EU (AWS Ireland and Sweden) (subprocessors) |
| Rise Vision, Screenly, Kitcast | US only |
Mandoe Media and POMP do not publish where they store data. Ask any vendor that does not publish it before you sign, and ask for its list of subprocessors.
Some firms in both countries sell signage as a project: hardware, installation and software together, priced by quote. That suits a large rollout. For a few screens you change yourself, self-serve software is usually enough.
Software, installer or sign company?
| You need | Who does it |
|---|---|
| TVs showing menus, offers or notices you change yourself | Signage software plus a player on each TV |
| Mounting TVs, running power and network cables | A TV mounting or AV installer |
| LED walls, outdoor or illuminated signs | A sign company or AV integrator |
| Approval for an outdoor or illuminated sign | Usually the sign company, with your local council |
For typical costs, see how much digital signage costs. For software compared side by side, see best digital signage software.
Where Brix fits
- Price: $6 per screen per month billed annually, or $8 billed monthly. Prices are in US dollars. Every feature is on the one plan. 7-day free trial, no card needed.
- Where your data is stored: Brix places each workspace in the region you sign up from. Australian, New Zealand and Pacific sign-ups go to the Oceania region: uploaded media, the database and its backups are stored in Oceania, and the live connection to your screens runs there. That sets where data is stored; it is not a legal guarantee. Support can move a workspace if it is in the wrong region. More on security.
- Why it matters for screens: a screen in Auckland or Perth downloads new content from storage in Oceania, not from the US.
- Players: Fire TV, Google TV and Android TV devices, Android boxes and Windows. Remote restart and turning the TV off at night need the Amazon Signage Stick, which is not sold here. On a Fire TV Stick or another Android device, Brix manages the content and the app, not the device.
- Support: 24/7. Moving from another platform: free migration, usually in a day.
- Not the right fit if: you need your data stored in Australia itself (Fusion Signage stores it in Sydney; Xibo Cloud lets you pick Australia). Also not if you need SAML single sign-on (Brix supports OpenID Connect only) or a synced video wall.
Brix is one of the few that puts Oceania and Asia-Pacific customers in their own region by default, on every plan.
Start a free 7-day trial. No card needed.