As promised I would let you all know when my photo licence came back. It was exactly two months. I am not sure if they did my background checks or not it does not say anywhere that they were done. However I have a PPL and a photo licence and it was not the initial issue. all I did was send the form and photos from the CASA website. So far I have not seen any invoice or notification of charge. So looks free at the time being.
Still no luck on the ASIC but I did write a letter to AOPA suggesting they should try and issue them. (might make them useful) They did not reply.