The general rule under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) is that the first owner of copyright is the creator of the work, or the person responsible for making the sound recording, film, broadcast or published edition. There are, however, important exceptions to this general rule set out in the Copyright Act.
Please see the following Australian Copyright Council Information Sheets for more information:
A ‘work’ can be defined as the communication or expression of a physical or quantifiable idea. These include textual materials (such as books, journal and newspaper articles), computer programs, artistic, dramatic and musical works (such as plays, photographs, and paintings), films, websites, etc.