I'm guessing they're not just regarding "free" as in "free from governmental interference", but "free" as in "editorial freedom".
And let's face it. For all Australia's restrictions on free speech (higher standard for what constitutes protected speech, harder to defend against defamation suits...), the State broadcaster is given a pretty free reign, and the commercial press, while under the thumb of business, are still somewhat freeer than that of America (or so I'm told :-))
How the fuck can Australia be rated as having a freer press than the USA? Or is the chart topside-down?