What is open access and why should we care?

"...what is open access, why should we care about it and how is it going to be achieved in Australia?... publicly funded research should be publicly available. But it is much more than an idea of fiscal accountability. Opening access to research is the only way we as a global community will be able to solve the world’s biggest problems...insurmountable subscription cost of high-end journals has effectively shut out many researchers worldwide...Funding bodies around the world are making open access to research results a condition of funding... all publicly funded research grants in Australia will be required to be made available for all to see"