(19 March 2013) Australia has a good track record in relation to open access, from hosting one of the first country-wide thesis repositories in the world to supporting the development and management of institutional repositories. While initially much of this work was pioneered by the university libraries, the Australian Government has made significant commitments more recently.
Dr. Danny Kingsley, Executive Officer, Australian Open Access Support Group provides an overview of what has been achieved here: http://aoasg.org.au/2013/03/19/centrally-supported-open-access-initiatives-in-australia/
