I was at a conference a couple of years ago and the presenter was the head of CASA (Aus regulator). He was pontificating on about how good the Aus ATM system was, in an open discussion a couple of foreign pilots, including me pointed out that Australian ATC was tangibly different to the rest of the world. He was quite put out by this and very defensive. As usual I had not really thought out my argument before opening my mouth, however, I was saved by a Qantas Captain who pointed out that at that time there were 15 pages of differences between Aussie regulations and the ICAO SARPS in the Jepp text, unlike countries like India and the UK who had very few.
One thing I find, is that while the Australian system of aviation is very professional, they do love re-inventing the wheel, creating lots of rules and regulations and basically making things difficult for us dumb jet-jockeys.
Oh and lets not mention Dick Smith
