Amazingly, after ’s promise Canon have called me back in only a day and a half. That’s the good news…. The bad news is that they’re waiting on a part and the parts have to come from Japan. Apparently Japan is a long way away from Australia and parts from Japan travel very very slowly. They expect that the parts will be in Australia in another two to three weeks, but they will mark on the job sheet that it is urgent, so I should manage to get my camera back in around two months total! They’ll extend the warranty for the time it’s been in for repairs too — most magnanimous of them — but I think they’re legally required to do that anyway.
Six months use of the IXUS700 then two months repairs. Hooray for Canon!