Just got the following email from the Apple Customer Service team (who, might I add are delightful):
The iPhone 4S pre-order will begin today [Friday 7th of October] near 6pm Sydney time on the Australian online store http://store.apple.com/au.
I would recommend going ahead and placing your order online as soon as the site is ready!
Apple's operators will also be working over the weekend from 9AM to 6PM both Saturday and Sunday.
Interestingly, this morning when I hit the Apple Australia website, it linked me to the US information page. Much hilarity and confusion played out once I finally got through to the customer service team. They had no idea why I was seeing the wrong info (actually they coolly glossed over it). At the end of the call they agreed to email me with an update today. I hung up feeling quite stupid yet not being able to pin-point why... very smooth Apple, very smooth!
PS: Steve, I still miss you