Welcome to the hobby, BUT hold on, don't rush, I can't tell you about your financial obligation in US but Analog Icom R6 may NOT be the best scanner if you are "new" to the hobby! Don't take me wrong R6 is a good receiver, but it may not be suitable for your needs. Where are you live in US, what state ? what you want to listen to? trunking, analog or digital etc etc. R6 is analog only reveiver and not easy to program or use, as a your first scanner you may be better of with something like Uniden Home Patrol 1 or GRE 800 in fact any scanner with keypad input, they come preprogrammed to your ZIP code. Best if you check some scanner reviews on the web and also check Youtube before you pull the trigger. If you buy in Australia only benefit (if any) is that Australiasian version have NO gaps (Cellular frequency blocked) on end of the day it is no biggie anyway. Good luck, do your homework first
Regards Chris