Today we launch Guardian Australia, the Guardian’s third international digital edition, focusing our unique style of journalism on this vast and fascinating country.

We'd like to welcome all our readers – from those who have read the Guardian for many years, via the Guardian's UK or US websites, Guardian Weekly or the newspaper in Britain, to those who are discovering the Guardian here today for the first time.

We will endeavour to engage you with up-to-the-moment reporting, investigations, commentary, blogging, in-depth analysis, open journalism, cutting-edge data visualisation, interactive technology, chutzpah and fun.

2013 is an exciting year to launch in Australia. There’s an important federal election; two Ashes series; the Lions rugby tour; a vast array of stories for us to get our teeth into, on the environment, the economy, immigration, gender, media, the arts and much more, and huge global interest in Australian culture, politics and society.

When the Manchester Guardian launched on 5 May 1821, it had 1,000 readers, was published weekly and ran to just four pages. Today the Guardian has more than 40 million readers worldwide, most of them outside Britain, and is the third most-read English-language newspaper website in the world. Already more than a million of those readers are in Australia.

So why should you read us? First of all, Guardian Australia is independent: the only reason it exists is to create excellent journalism. We are owned by the Scott Trust, with no proprietor or shareholders, which means that Guardian journalists are free to say anything. We offer an unparalleled range of opinion, showing all sides of the story. As our legendary editor CP Scott wrote in 1921: “A newspaper is so much more than a business.” He then listed the values of the Guardian, which still guide us today: “Honesty, cleanness [integrity], courage, fairness, a sense of duty to the reader and the community.”

Secondly, Guardian Australia is digital. This gives us enormous freedom to deliver, discover and discuss stories in new ways. And because we are open, with no paywall, we are able to put the reader at the heart of what we do; we are open to suggestion, correction, clarification, engagement and debate.

And third, Guardian Australia is a truly international news organisation. We will combine some of the best writers in Australia with the best internationally. We have a terrific political bureau in Lenore Taylor, Katharine Murphy, Greg Jericho and Simon Jackman. We have a team of talented Australian reporters, including the award-winning David Marr.

And we have a squad of 40 international correspondents around the world, from China to the Middle East, India to west Africa, together with the very best and latest news, features and commentary from our large reporting teams in the UK and the US.

But the Guardian is also interested in finding new Australian voices, and with your help we will be doing that over the coming months. As part of the Guardian's “open journalism” approach, we are introducing a range of brilliant Australian websites to the Guardian Comment Network – part of our award-winning comment site, Comment is free – which will highlight some of the best Australian writing on the web. With our partners, who range from Ausvotes2013 to Junkee, the Global Mail to IndigenousX to the Hoopla, we will cross-post some of the most interesting content while linking back to the original source. As some of the most interesting work is now being done outside the mainstream, we wish to highlight this, while promoting our partner sites to a global audience.

Other networks will be coming soon.

You will find more “open journalism” projects throughout the site, and, in the true spirit of digital media, these will grow and develop, moulded by our users and readers in collaboration with our journalists. We would love you to take part in the success of Guardian Australia. You can do this by:

• Joining the debate beneath the articles; you can talk to our editors and writers there.

• Engaging with our GuardianWitness participation projects.

• Sending us ideas for stories, tips, pitches or feedback via email, to australia@guardiannews.com.

• Engaging with Guardian Australia journalists on Twitter, through @GuardianAus and as individuals.

• Liking us on Facebook, at facebook.com/theguardianAustralia.

• Following us on Instagram, at guardianaustralia, for behind-the-scenes photos.

• Writing to us, at Level 1, 35 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills 2010, Sydney.

So sign up for our daily email, which will keep you up to date with all the best stories on our site each day. And if you prefer to switch to the US or UK editions, that’s easily done: just click the button at the top left hand corner of the site.

I will be live online for an hour at 12.30 AEST today (27 May), to answer your questions. Please post your questions below in the comments section.

Thank you for being part of Guardian Australia, from the very beginning.

Katharine Viner

Editor-in-chief, Guardian Australia and deputy editor, the Guardian

On Twitter: @KathViner

On Facebook: KathViner

guardian.co.uk/australia

Later this year guardian.co.uk/australia will be moving to a new global domain at theguardian.com, along with all of the Guardian’s online properties.

We acknowledge that the Guardian’s Sydney office is located on the traditional lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and pay our respects to the Elders past and present.

Your questions and comments

Jonas 77 says: I even laughed a bit when I saw 'soccer' on the main page this morning!

Kath Viner replies:

@Jonas77 - I have to admit I'm a little mortified by 'soccer' but it's a term universally understood! And I'm really enjoying footy...

pass1234 asks:

Glad to see the Australian edition launch finally. Will the Australian edition be available on the iPad and iPhone apps?

Kath Viner replies:

@pass1234 - yes, hope so

davidonformosa says:

The sport section doesn't look very Australian. I am sure Australians want to read about Cadel Evans instead of Mark Cavendish and football means something different here than it does in the UK.

Kath Viner replies:

@davidonformosa - have you seen this? http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia

Iankinsey says:

Please simplify your web address so more people will know it. The .co.uk is not well known. May I suggest www.tg.com.au and it could direct us to the Aussie page. All the best but K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple stupid).

Kath Viner replies:

@Iankinsey - yes - we will soon be moving to a global domain, theguardian.com. The current web address is temporary - apologies that it is a bit fiddly

5thwall says:

I think someone has asked about this already, but when i look at the Culture section it will revert to the UK edition, even though the little tab in the top left corner says AU. minor bug, to be sure. Looking forward to some decent arts discussion & comment in days to come.

Kath Viner replies:

@5thwall - we have an Australia culture blog here: http://gu.com/p/3g5c7/tw and we will have fresh Australian culture content every day. We hope to grow this more over the coming months; in the meantime, a lot of culture is global and we have fantastic arts coverage

p1rategas says:

We are owned by the Scott Trust, with no proprietor or shareholders, which means that Guardian journalists are free to say anything.

Whilst I welcome The Guardian's introduction into Australia, I highly doubt whether this is true.

Kath Viner replies:

@p1rategas - I'd say it's the best ownership model for journalists in the world

Chris Kühle says:

How will ACJimbo and BarryG cope with having to cover AFL in the Footie Weekly podcast? And will they start to mention the A-League in standard Football Weekly?

Kath Viner replies:

@Chris Kühle - aren't we in the off-season? Looking forward to the Socceroos until the season begins

LondonKiwi says:

Happy days! Although clearly an Aussie edition, will Guardian Australia also give a little focus to us poor Kiwi cousins over the Tasman Sea? We are also starved of quality independent journalism here, and our establishment could certainly do with some proper scrutiny ...

Kath Viner replies:

@LondonKiwi - Our focus is very much on Australia to start with, but we'll certainly be looking over the pond more than before...

Phlanger says: Great initiative - but get your own url. I don't appreciate clicking 'Guardian' in my favourites to be redirected here. Very bad form.

Kath Viner replies:

@Phlanger - if you prefer to go to the UK site, just click on the button at the top left-hand corner

elmondo2012 says:

Just thought I'd mention The Conversation which is a (really good) news and analysis website sourced from the academic and research community.

http://theconversation.com/au

It's well worth looking at.

Kath Viner replies:

@elmondo2012 - yes - it's part of the Guardian comment network

Fingerband72 says:

Thank you and the very best of British luck to you. Please remain balanced in your political reporting and avoid the "right and left" barracking that passes for political news locally.

Can we also have an Australian Football Weekly podcast? I think Barry Glendenning should emigrate to head it up so that I can enjoy a pint with him ;-)

Kath Viner replies:

@Fingerbang72 - as our sports editor Tom Lutz says, 'a pint with Barry Glendenning can lead you to some very interesting places'... be careful what you wish for!

JamesAdelaide says:

I fear that the impact of our beloved Guardian is currently limited.

My Google News (9:15 am SA time) lists it towards the bottom of the Australian politics page. When clicked there were eight stories, including two unrelated Murdoch stories. The remaining six (3 for the Guardian itself, and 3 for obscure websites. The Drum listed is a website, not the ABC site.)

Kath Viner replies:

@JamesAdelaide - it will take time for us to establish us a voice and authority on Google in Australia, but we've got off to a very good start today and I hope you'll see more of us on Google News soon

Dexter2315 says: Does this marvellous reincarnation of 'proper journalism' in Australia mean that I will no longer receive my regular tea timely trashy fiver email?

Kath Viner replies:

@Dexter2315 - you'll still get full football/soccer coverage...

ID155472 says:

How much will this cost?- does one subscribe as for the UK digtial edition - I am happy to do this, and will it appear as the typed print edition?.

Will you include the Guardian Saturday Review section in the Australian version? If so I definitely will subscribe.

Kath Viner replies:

@ID155472 - it's free. Yes - all of the Review articles will appear

davecanb says:

Did I miss something? I don't recall being asked if I wanted to swap my Guardian log on for an Australian version of the Guardian.

I began reading the Guardian in the mid 60's at university in Leeds and even at great distance and at times great inconvenience I continued to read the Guardian to this day. It would have been nice if you had asked me before changing what I wanted.

Clearly my next task is to change things back the way they were and log onto the UK version which is what I want to read with my mid morning coffee, not another article on Possums or a let's be nice to Julia Q&A.

Kath Viner replies:

@davecanb - I'm sorry you're so disappointed and I'm glad you enjoy the Guardian so much. All the Guardian's global content is still there - you can go back to the UK site by clicking on the 'UK' button at the top left hand corner. You should only have to do this once and it should remember your preference

Richardhunter says:

Looking forward to reading news and political coverage from the Guardian. How long will it take you to ramp up all the other unique Australian content for things like arts, theatre, literature, sport, education, health, religion etc? You'll need that to provide a competative coverage from your main readership base.

Kath Viner replies:

@RichardHunter - we're starting small, but we'll grow

LaxyAU says:

You change the 'soccer' link to 'football' in line with the rest of Australia's media. We aren't the USA.

Kath Viner replies:

@LaxyAU - we need to stick to 'soccer' as there are four different types of football in Aus!

MeeganLea says:

Hi, I'd love to take part in the Guardian Masterclasses (in particular, food & food writing) like you have in the UK. Really looking forward to Aussie edition of my favourite UK paper!

Kath Viner says:

@Meegan Lea - we're hoping to launch masterclassses here too! This one in Melbourne http://gu.com/p/3dkyz/tw was a success, so watch this space

revoltionnumber10 says:

Fantastic and very best of luck to you. EXCEPT, it's not soccer, mate, it's football.

Kath Viner replies:

@revolutionumber10 - oh no.. today is turning into #soccergate...

bigyahu says:

Pleased to see a new entrant, hope to see more Australian-generated content in the Australian version soon too.

Might be a good idea to remove the Guardian Jobs and Guardian Books sections from the right hand side and replace with local jobs and books partner promotions.

Kath Viner replies:

@bigyahu - thank you, we're looking for commercial partners here...

Graham Stewart says:

Is the Australian version available on ipad?

Kath Viner replies:

@Graham Stewart - not yet but soon I hope

monday13 says:

I like the idea of "open journalism” projects, but a little unclear about what it's all about. Apart from commenting, what else can I do to get involved?

Kath Viner replies:

@Monday13 - you can join GuardianWitness, upload your pictures and suggest assignments https://witness.guardian.co.uk/; email the editors http://www.guardian.co.uk/info/2013/may/26/australia-team; and keep an eye out for people's panels, open threads and more. Thank you for your enthusiasm!

moxy25 says:

I hope you can change it to 'football' sometime soon! Will you be bringing us great coverage of the A-League and world football here like you do with the Guardian UK? Welcome to Oz!

Kath Viner replies:

@moxey25 - yes, Socceroos and then A-league when it comes back.

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Thanks a lot for all your ideas and feedback, it was a pleasure to hear what you make of Guardian Australia. We'll be posting about #soccer soon. Keep in touch!