The following is from the Australian Copyright Council’s (2001) "Information Sheet G60: Use of copyright materials for people with disabilities":

“There is no system of registration for copyright protection in Australia. A work does not have to be published or bear the copyright notice to be protected. It is protected automatically from the time it is first written down or recorded in some way, provided it took skill and effort to create it and it is not simply copied from another work… Material which fits within these categories can be protected whether it comes from Australia or from overseas.  In most cases, copyright lasts from the time the material is created until 50 years after the creator dies.”

Information about accessible formats (CD)