I reckon Oz falls somewhere in between. It's been a while since I have done any of their exams so please excuse the finer errors.
PPL exam.
Flying is up to GFPT. General flying progress test. (aka restricted PPL)
Then do some navs, voila, full PPL.
After this you can add a Night rating or an IR. IR requires another theory exam (80% pass mark).
CPL theory.
CPL training.
ATPL theory (if you wish, no requirement unless you want to fly bigger stuff).
After the CPL you can add an Instructor rating etc.
ATPL flying? Just get the hours required, usually the most difficult is the 100 hours night. No multi crew time etc required.
Most folk usually get as many twin command hours as possible (eg min of 500 hours) because to fulfill the requirements of CAO 82.3 (low capacity airlines - less than 38 seats) you must have that command time prior to getting command on a Bandit/Dash 8 (1-200) etc. Note, in Oz, you cannot log command in any form from the RHS unless you are an instructor (and instructing) or a check captain approved to sit there.
The exams are multi choice now and the venues used to be dedicated rooms but now the exams are available through the internet at designated portals etc.
It is possible to do all the training to CPL (VFR) full time. This brings the hours down to 150 hrs. I *think* the "part time" syllabus for the CPL is 200 hours. This does not include the IR.
All details can be found on the CASA website.