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Southern Hemisphere, seasons are reversed from ours.

Well, duh - I know that.

Try answering the question that I asked, though.

How is it they are OVER A MONTH into spring, when we are NOT QUITE THREE WEEKS into autumn?

OK,I didn't take your question that literally.

The short answer is not all countries and regions use the equinoxes to determine seasons.

The Wikipedia answer is as follows:
In the USA and some other regions in the Northern Hemisphere, the astronomical March equinox (currently around 21 March) is often taken to mark the first day of spring, and the Northern solstice is sometimes taken as the first day of summer (usually 21 June in the Northern Hemisphere). In another US tradition, 2 February, Candlemas, can be regarded as the start of spring if it is mild (see Groundhog Day). The US spring season can also be regarded as beginning on the day after Presidents’ Day (the Tuesday after the third Monday in February) and ending on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend (the Friday before the last weekend in May). In South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, spring begins on 1 September, and has no relation to the vernal equinox.”

A serious answer to your question from an Australian. The seasons in Australia are not only opposite from those of the northern hemisphere (for obvious geographical reasons relating to the tilt of the earth, as you know) but are also considered to begin on different dates for historical reasons.

In the early days of European settlement, when Australia was settled by military personnel and convicts and everybody was dependent on the government for supplies, both soldiers and convicts were issued with new clothing where necessary on the 1st day of each month. They had two uniforms - summer and winter. By the 1st December, temperatures in the area around Sydney (the first settlement) were already extremely warm - too warm to safely wear winter uniform, so that became the date that summer uniform was issued. Our mild (by European standards) winter meant that issuing winter uniform six months later at the start of June, didn't cause problems (while it can start getting cold in April and May, it's still not bad compared to Europe), and so that was what was done. Over time, these dates became the official start dates for summer and winter for all government purposes and we wound up with four seasons of three calendar months each.

It doesn't work perfectly - March, which is officially part of Autumn is often a very hot month, but it's what we've wound up with.