I've only made one cider, but it's pretty easy. If you have an apple tree or a relative with an apple tree(s), your apple supply is secured. I don't know if crabapples grow or are available in Australia, but they make nice cider if you can find them. Crabapples are small, slightly sour, apples. Sometimes they're intensely sour. I've tasted a few ciders made with crabapples (but not by me) and they were all great.
Apple variety makes a big difference in the finished cider, but I don't know enough about them to tell you which varieties are best. Obtain apples, hopefully a large quantity, and run them through a juicer. If you're after authentic spontaneously fermented stuff, you don't have to do anything to the juice - just let it ferment. If you want something cleaner/more repeatable, pasteurise the juice. I had to juice about 12 gallons of apples to end up with 5 gallons (~20l) of juice.
I pasteurised my one attempt and it turned out fine. I heated the juice to 80C, then turned off the heat and sealed the pot using cling film so that no dust could be sucked in while it cooled. I left the pot on the stove, with the heat off, for about 45 minutes to cool naturally and to also remain at elevated temperatures for an extended period to ensure that the juice was pasteurised. I then cooled the juice by putting the pot in a cold water bath. Once it was thoroughly cooled, I poured it into a carboy and added the yeast (US-05).
I did add pectic enzyme about 1 week into the fermentation to eliminate any haze my pasteurisation attempt may have caused. Adding yeast nutrient and diammonium phosphate to the cider to aid fermentation is a good idea.
If you can find 100% pure apple juice, by all means use it. Don't use juice with any additives.
