At 10:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 81.20 points or 1.36 percent at 5,870.90, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 80.20 points or 1.31 percent at 6,061.30.
Following heavy losses by U.S. and European markets, losses were spread fairly evenly across the Aussie market with most sectors down between 1-1.5 percent, however energy saw the biggest decline of 1.67 percent in early trade.
"Oil markets were hit hard as OPEC+ discipline fears amplified the general risk-off tone," CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy explained.
In the financial space, the big banks slumped with the Commonwealth Bank down 1.57 percent, Westpac Bank down 1.69 percent, ANZ down 1.88 percent and National Australia Bank down 1.77 percent.
Mining stocks were mostly lower with BHP down 2.16 percent, Rio Tinto down 1.29 percent and Fortescue Metals down 0.50 percent, however goldminer Newcrest was up 0.54 percent.
The country's oil and gas producers varied with Oil Search down 2.15 percent, Santos unchanged and Woodside Petroleum down 2.60 percent.
Australia's largest supermarkets dropped with Coles down 0.73 percent, and Woolworths down 1.58 percent.
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra dropped 0.53 percent, the national carrier Qantas lost altitude 0.47 percent and biomedical firm CSL plummeted 1.53 percent.
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