The Big Issue in Australia is a street newspaper which began in 1996. The Australian edition of the paper is a project of the UK-based The Big Issue. The first magazine was launched in Australia on the steps of Melbourne’s Flinders Street railway station on 16 June 1996. Since its founding in 1996, about 7,000 street vendors have sold more than 13 million copies of the magazine, collectively earning more than $31 million. Today, the magazine sells for $9.