Not sure if you are Australian or not, but - unlike the in the US - in Australia there is no assumption that publicly funded work will be in the public domain.

Generally the way it works here is that bodies like Nicta (and CSIRO) are expected to make a return on the investments that are made in them - ie, they are expected to make money somehow. The default way they do that is generally IP licensing.

Personally I think this is very short sighted, but it shouldn't surprise anyone.