"Not a square to spare," the Reuters headline read.
In keeping with the tongue-in-cheek reactions, satirical British TV panel show Have I Got News For You offered up one suggestion to bolster the apparent shortage.
The programme shared a photograph on Twitter of former prime minister David Cameron's memoir, For The Record.
"As coronavirus panic buying causes a toilet-roll shortage in Australia, the first Red Cross supplies arrive in Sydney," the caption read.
New York Times contributor Justin Wolfers, an Australian economist based in Michigan, said there was "deadset toilet paper panic" happening in Australia.
On Twitter, he shared an image of someone selling a 20-pack of Quilton three-ply toilet paper on auction site eBay, which, after 23 bids, was at $58 with 10 hours still left to go.
Tech analyst and journalist Justin Warren, from his Twitter account Humans: Ruining Everything Since Forever, replied: "Does your model account for the Australian propensity to take the piss?"
Wolfers later wrote the economics behind toilet paper shortages were the same as bank runs.
"Even if you're not freaked out about a pandemic, you worry that everyone else is and they'll stockpile ... and you don't want to be left paperless," he said.
"So you run and get toilet paper not because you need dozens of rolls, but because you fear that others are going to stockpile leaving none for you."
Here are some other responses to the Australian dunny roll dash from across the world.
According to this video from the South China Morning Post, Australians weren't the only ones rushing to fill the bathroom cupboards, with similar scenes playing out in virus-hit countries such as Italy and Japan.
In a late-night update, Kleenex manufacturer Kimberly-Clark said staff were "working around the clock" at their South Australian mill to replenish shelves.
"As you can see we won't be running out anytime soon," the company said on Facebook alongside a photo of its well-stocked warehouse.
A truck carrying toilet paper caught fire on Brisbane's Gateway Motorway overnight but responding fire crews said they were able to save half of the "quite precious" load.
