Australian spelling – ‘ize’ or ‘ise’ word endings

There seems to be a lot of ‘-ize’ (e.g. organize) spelling creeping into Australian and New Zealand English.

Some people now seem to think it is okay to use ‘-ize’ selectively for words such as organization that are used a lot.

I wonder if ‘-ize’ is creeping into the language because Microsoft Word so often defaults to US spelling. But ‘-ise’ is still the more acceptable Australian and New Zealand usage.

There is an interesting article on this topic at World Wide Words.

PS Some Australian writers choose to use ‘-ize’ if they are writing for a scientific or international audience.