I'm so sorry to hear about Bill Scott's death, Hrothgar! My husband and I are a couple Americans in love with Australian song. Several years ago I ordered a copy of his big book of Australian folklore on abebooks.com and had it shipped all the way from an Australian used bookstore (I think the shipping cost more than the book...), and we've enjoyed rummaging through it and his Second Australian Book of Penguin Folksongs.

Bill was a wonderfully descriptive song and poetry writer, with a wry sense of humor and a treasure trove of songs and stories. A friend gave us Roger Illott and Penny Davies' book of Bill's own songs, and I tracked down their "Opal Miner" CD on which they recorded many of them. We've been singing "Rain Comes to the Channel Country" lately, and Gordon Bok has been performing a wonderfully warm version of Bill's "Trochus Luggers" song, among others.

He will be sadly missed, even over here in the USA.

Here's a link to his obituary in his hometown paper:
Warwick Daily News

and a nice profile from The Folk Rag:
http://users.tpg.com.au/folkrag/profiles/bscott.htm