The AU Review online magazine was launched by founding editor and publisher Larry Heath in
Sydney on 6 August 2008, and contained reviews of
Vampire Weekend and
Little Red at
The Metro Theatre in Sydney. Later, the focus expanded to include
visual art, film,
theatre, food, lifestyle, travel, and gaming. It is aimed at ages 18 to 25. On its 5th anniversary in 2013, boasting a monthly readership of 70,000+,
The AU Review launched a
crowdfunding campaign on
Pozible, for it "is a 100% volunteer-based organisation", with the aim of supporting emerging Australian writers and photographers as well as musicians and live gigs. At that time, the publication covered "
the arts, film, food, lifestyle, fashion, travel, Asian music and culture, and was about to start covering
video games. It planned to relaunch with a series of events in major capital cities. In 2013 a sister publication,
The Iris, launched to cover home entertainment, film, television, video games and tech content. January 2016 saw Heath stepping down from his role editor-in-chief of
The AU Review, to focus on other initiatives. In August 2018, on the 10th anniversary of
The AU Review, it was merged back into the single banner. Also in August 2018, the
beta version of a new website was launched, which included all content of the previous website, and also promised 35% fewer ads, an enlarged travel, food, and lifestyle section, and easy-to-read reviews with a star rating out of five. To celebrate the anniversary,
The AU Review held events at the
Rocket Bar in
Adelaide, and a stage party during
BIGSOUND in
Brisbane. ==Heath Media==