I had no idea Olympus/OM gear was hard to find in Australia, I wonder why?

I mean, that was decades ago. Digital wasn't the only camera market, and Olympus was a small part of the larger camera market, so it was a niche within a niche. We could get lenses, but they took a long time to arrive, were over priced, and sometimes simply weren't stocked.

These days, they're harder to find simply because Olympus/OM is a small player in the digital camera market. There's still plenty to go around, but sometimes, only in small numbers, because of the limited market for them. But online ordering is easier now, so it's pretty much a non issue overall.