It was the first to air on the Nine Network who signed a deal with Southern Star Group in September 2011 to broadcast the show.

[2][3][4] Benjamin Norris was announced the winner of the ninth season on 7 November 2012, making him the first openly gay person to win Big Brother Australia.

[6] The production was based at the same compound, located within the Dreamworld theme park, that had been used in all previous series of Big Brother Australia.

[1] In September 2011, when the location of the Big Brother compound had not yet been officially confirmed, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh stated that she would do everything possible to see the show return to the Gold Coast.

[7] A spokesperson from Dreamworld, the original home of Big Brother, stated on 21 September 2011 that nothing was locked in but that the theme park would welcome the return of the show.

[8] In December 2011, The Daily Telegraph reported that Fox Studios Australia and Warner Bros. Movie World had also expressed interest.

[9][10] In an interview ahead of the season launch, Kruger suggested that Big Brother would be family friendly and air at 7.00 pm.

[11] Several days after the news Big Brother was to return, Southern Star Group announced on their casting website that they would be accepting pre-audition applications for people who were interested in participating on the season.

[12] The official Facebook page for the show, as directed to by the Southern Star website, was opened on 15 September 2011.

[14] Auditions began on 15 March, and took place in all major capital cities, as well as Gold Coast, in April and May 2012.

[16] The Official Big Brother Australia website reported that 14 housemates would be entering the house after going into lockdown on 4 August.

The show's name comes from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which revolves around a dystopia in which dictator Big Brother is the all-seeing leader.

[1][3][18] The secrets were that: one has the IQ of a genius (Michael), one became scared of birds after an emu attack (Bradley), one has been fired from every job he's ever had (Benjamin), one hasn't had a girlfriend since he was 11 (Ryan), one was a juvenile offender (Ray), one has dated more than 100 women (Josh), and one is a multimillionaire (George).

The secrets were that: one had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (Charne), one was a champion weightlifter (Angie), one is a high school dropout (Estelle), one was a nude protester (Sarah), one used to be an emo (Zoe), one was a hand model (Stacey) and that one is a member of a royal family (Layla).

[21] "Big Secrets" was a live daily show that was broadcast on Day 78 The launch ratings for this season were up significantly from 2008 as the opening night show reached 2.1 million viewers at its peak and averaged at 1.6 million viewers, the franchise's highest ratings since the 2003 series.