BBC News website launches Australia page

Readers will notice some changes on the BBC News website regarding Australia.

The biggest difference is that we are launching a new Australia page which will be dedicated to giving you more news and features about Australia, as well as showcasing our coverage of Australian sport, business and areas like technology and entertainment.

We have appointed a new Australia editor, Wendy Frew, who will be looking to broaden the range of stories we cover and offer in-depth features on selected stories. The BBC is a truly global news provider, and we believe we can put Australian news in its wider regional and global context.

We are launching a new Twitter account, @BBCNewsAus, which will be key to our news coverage on social media. And we have improved the navigation at the top of some pages to make it easier to find Australian content.

We're making the changes because Australia is home to one of our largest and most loyal audiences, and we want the BBC News website to better serve their interests and expectations.

The changes are also part of a wider BBC commitment to Australia, which includes a redesigned BBC.com homepage for Australian readers, with a new layout and video player. The BBC will also be producing a series of programmes called Australia Direct to air on BBC World News throughout the upcoming G20 summit.

We would be interested to hear what you think of the changes.

UPDATE : Thank you for your comments so far. I should have made it clearer that all our expanded Australian coverage will be paid for by advertising, which appears on BBC sites outside the UK. None of the money being spent on our new Australian coverage comes from the licence fee. Sorry this was not spelled out.