Gentlemen, to blame CASA for the legislation which permits crew training to be done in aircraft when a simulator is available, as several posters to this thread have done, is to miss the point.
The legislation is the minimum acceptable standard to which any organisation is required to meet. It does not prevent an organisation from setting higher standards.
QANTAS, Virgin Blue, JetStar at al could all train and endorse in the aircraft should they so desire but for a variety of reasons, including safety, they choose to use a simulator. Perhaps it is time for operators to review their training standards in the light of this most unfortunate crash.