Yeh, we bought the Kobo from (Australian) Angus & Robertson, I did realise that the company has had a fair bit of a shake up recently, didn't think it through and what it could mean to the ebook industry over here. Might wait it out a while to see what happens before purchasing any books.
I signed up through the A&R software for an account, it didn't ask for my address/country. But then I went onto the A&R website and logged in using those details, and added my "local store", so presumably it knows I'm in Australia.
Next step looks like it'll be getting ADE installed on mums computer, thanks for the info