Here in the ACT, it is illegal for a child to ride in the front of a vehicle IF there is a seat available in the back (ie a sedan, wagon, etc). If there is no seat available in the back, (ie Ute, wagon with luggage on top of the rear seat) then you can do it legally. If it was illegal across oz, would ford be putting the child seat anchorage point in the ute??? They could save a couple of bucks in production costs.
I researched this before purchasing my ute, and even rang the coppers for their advice...