Protesters in cities across the world are taking to the streets to demonstrate against alleged corporate greed and government cutbacks.
Organisers say rallies Around 1,000 people gathered in Melbourne, and hundreds were marching in the New Zealand cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
'Occupy' protests were also being held in South Korea, the Phillipines and in Hong Kong.
As many as 1,500 people had said, via Facebook, they would participate in the "Occupy Taipei" protest planned outside Taiwan's tallest building.
The BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei says such a demonstration is unusual for Taiwan, which has a tradition of looking to family rather than the state for welfare support.
But, our correspondent says, the island's wealth gap is at its worst in history and many middle-class Taiwanese have begun to question whether the system is fair.
Large protests are expected later in the day in the European cities of Madrid, London, Rome and Athens.
It remains to be seen if any of the demonstrations turn into protest camps, such as Occupy Wall Street, which began with a small group of activists in New York's financial district a couple of months ago and has now grown to include several thousand people at times, from many walks of life.
Naomi Colvin, an organiser of the protest outside the London Stock Exchange, said the nature of the rally would be dependent on those that turn up.
"We take the position that we will convene a general assembly in London and like all the other protests which have happened elsewhere, it is the general assembly which is the decision-making body," she told the BBC.
"If the general assembly, made up of everybody who comes today, decides that we want to try and stay, then we will make some efforts to try and stay."
Protests over the global crisis first began in the Spanish capital Madrid back in May, when hundreds took over the city's Puerta del Sol square.
Forming a movement called "Indignant", the protesters said they wanted to demonstrate at the influence of powerful financial institutions over policy-making, and the impact of Spain's deepest economic crisis in decades.
Observers say that, while protesters in Spain had concrete demands such as seeking a cut in working hours to tackle unemployment, many of the 'Occupy' protesters are vague in their demands.will be held in 951 cities in 82 countries from Asia and the Americas, to Africa and Europe.
Hundreds of people have already protested in Australia and New Zealand as well as other Asian cities.
Many protest groups are taking their names from the high-profile Occupy Wall Street rally in New York.
Organisers of the 15 October worldwide protests said on their website that the aim was to "initiate the global change we want".
"United in one voice, we will let politicians, and the financial elites they serve, know it is up to us, the people, to decide our future," it said.
Criticisms
In the Australian city of Sydney, some 2,000 people - including representatives of Aboriginal groups, communists and trade unionists - took to the streets outside the central Reserve Bank of Australia, Reuters news agency reports.
Organisers say rallies Around 1,000 people gathered in Melbourne, and hundreds were marching in the New Zealand cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
'Occupy' protests were also being held in South Korea, the Phillipines and in Hong Kong.
As many as 1,500 people had said, via Facebook, they would participate in the "Occupy Taipei" protest planned outside Taiwan's tallest building.
The BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei says such a demonstration is unusual for Taiwan, which has a tradition of looking to family rather than the state for welfare support.
But, our correspondent says, the island's wealth gap is at its worst in history and many middle-class Taiwanese have begun to question whether the system is fair.
Large protests are expected later in the day in the European cities of Madrid, London, Rome and Athens.
It remains to be seen if any of the demonstrations turn into protest camps, such as Occupy Wall Street, which began with a small group of activists in New York's financial district a couple of months ago and has now grown to include several thousand people at times, from many walks of life.
Naomi Colvin, an organiser of the protest outside the London Stock Exchange, said the nature of the rally would be dependent on those that turn up.
"We take the position that we will convene a general assembly in London and like all the other protests which have happened elsewhere, it is the general assembly which is the decision-making body," she told the BBC.
"If the general assembly, made up of everybody who comes today, decides that we want to try and stay, then we will make some efforts to try and stay."
Protests over the global crisis first began in the Spanish capital Madrid back in May, when hundreds took over the city's Puerta del Sol square.
Forming a movement called "Indignant", the protesters said they wanted to demonstrate at the influence of powerful financial institutions over policy-making, and the impact of Spain's deepest economic crisis in decades.
Observers say that, while protesters in Spain had concrete demands such as seeking a cut in working hours to tackle unemployment, many of the 'Occupy' protesters are vague in their demands.will be held in 951 cities in 82 countries from Asia and the Americas, to Africa and Europe.
Hundreds of people have already protested in Australia and New Zealand as well as other Asian cities.
Many protest groups are taking their names from the high-profile Occupy Wall Street rally in New York.
Organisers of the 15 October worldwide protests said on their website that the aim was to "initiate the global change we want".
"United in one voice, we will let politicians, and the financial elites they serve, know it is up to us, the people, to decide our future," it said.
Criticisms
In the Australian city of Sydney, some 2,000 people - including representatives of Aboriginal groups, communists and trade unionists - took to the streets outside the central Reserve Bank of Australia, Reuters news agency reports.