The public broadcaster's commercial arm has tied up a £1m deal for the equity stake in Freehand Group.
BBC Worldwide already has a pre-existing relationship with the company, having collaborated with it on Australia's version of 'Honey We're Killing the Kids' as well as 'Celebrity Dog School'.
The money will be partly used to fund new shows for Australian audiences, with the first show likely to be a version of BBC One's West End musical-themed show, 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'.
Colin Jarvis, director of formats at BBC Worldwide, said: "The Australian and New Zealand market is a key territory for us with great relationships with all broadcasters. This alliance with Freehand expands our role from simple distribution to full production."
The move is the latest step towards BBC Worldwide establishing a global network of production bases under Wayne Garvie, BBC Worldwide director of content and production.
In 2005, it set up its first overseas production office in Los Angeles and recently announced it would open a dedicated base in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to cover production and distribution in Latin America.
There are also plans to open production offices in India, Argentina, France, Germany and Poland. It is also considering ways to establish a presence in China.
BBC Worldwide's plans to create a global network of production offices have attracted criticism, with some arguing that taking on programme-making costs is much riskier than distribution and licensing and the margins are likely to be lower.
However, BBC Worldwide believes production is a valuable way to leverage BBC brands and get better returns on licence fee money.
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