Because of the higher costs of living Australians average about 30% more disposable income when compared to the United States. Media (in particular Software especially digital distribution platforms) retails for approximately double price. +30% extra cash to spend should not equal +100% cost, especially when dealing with digital downloads in which products are not actually physically manufactured and shipping is not an issue.

Over the past 15 years Australians have seen a steady increase in the cost for media, I remember the "good ole days" when video games were $79.95 brand new. I stopped buying retail when that wouldn't stop creeping upwards, currently $110 is the RRP for console games and $90-100 for PC games. These prices have transfered over to digital providers, like Steam, and Origin because those services (and others like them) tend to region lock customers and punish those who are found to bypass that region lock.

This forces Australians to "import" games, either physically (and ironically cheaper) or purchase from digital service providers that do not region lock customers but at the cost of a foreign currency transfer bank fee (still ironically cheaper). It's a sad state when you can order a game from the UK via online stores with international shipping, get it a week after release, pay 20% of the cost of the game in shipping fees and still get it cheaper than buying it over the counter locally.

In short, distributors have over the years edged up the price of these goods for what appears to be no good reason, leaving many to believe they are simply doing it because the market had little to no other real choice for convenience sake in order to obtain physical goods. These prices set for physical goods have now become the basis for selling goods online digitally, again for no apparent good reason.