A podcast produced by the notoriously media-shy immigration department has flopped, but despite its meagre audience figures, there are more episodes on the horizon.
The Australian Border Force took to the airwaves late in 2016 in a bid to cut out the media middle-man and trumpet its various operations.
Four episodes have since gone to air, featuring interviews with senior officers and commanders about the agency's work, with topics ranging from illegal fishing to drug and people smuggling.
But stream and download figures provided to a Senate Estimates committee show the podcast has failed to launch.
The first episode, which included ABF commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg, was streamed or downloaded 1242 times.
Audience figures then plunged rapidly, with the second episode clocking up 834 streams and downloads and the third just 613.
The fourth episode, published on April 28, was streamed or downloaded just 316 times in the five weeks to June 6, according to a breakdown provided to senators.
The podcast is produced in-house by the immigration department - which has 77 communications staff - and is understood to cost very little.
A spokeswoman for the department would not be drawn on whether the figures were a success, saying the podcast was designed to supplement existing social media channels.
"As such there is no set expectation about its reach," she told AAP on Thursday.
It provides an opportunity for the department to speak directly to the public in an open and transparent way about its role and contribution to safety and security, the spokeswoman said.
"We do expect to produce more podcasts in the future."
The podcast has so far received roughly two dozen reviews - very few of them positive - with the word "propaganda" appearing often.
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