The first place to look for current obituaries all over the USA is http://legacy.com but older obituaries cost to view more than the beginning snippet. Old obituaries are one of the hardest things to find, and it is usually a better bet if you do not have access to the library databases like Proquest Historical or Newsbank's America's obituaries, to join mailing lists for the towns or counties most relevant. Then you have people with more certain access and the queries are on topic for that region. You also should check and see what American databases your libraries there in Australia may give you access to. They most likely carry the NY Times, but that is not where you want to look for the areas in question. Proquest Historical is another possibility. Joe Beine's http://deathindexes.com has excellent resources for every state, and it is where I go when I run out of ideas. Of course, the pay sites have obituaries for those areas, but they are very expensive, and coverage varies for each area.