The Australian is moving to its own corporate division.

Standing alone will mean the paper has greater scope to grow both in print, online and digitally in preparation for ereaders. News Ltd CEO and chairman John Hartigan expressly stated the brief is to grow the brand across media, not purely digital.

By creating a separate division and deploying more resources, we aim to enter an unprecedented era of growth, said Hartigan.

The shake up comes as an advance move in Murdoch’s plan to erect online pay walls for his stable of newspapers.

The paper had been part of Nationwide News, publisher of The Sunday Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph, mX and Sportsman.