shelbs
i havent started GS yet but have already been given the timetable for it so i'll let you know what i can see.
ground school is 7 weeks, give or take a few days. it will be conducted all in sydney, and looks like 1 day in melbourne. i dont think you will be trained anything in your home base, im from sydney though so i cant comment on that part as the interstate people may have been given different instructions to me.. not sure about accommodation either, sorry =/
the ground school hours are very random, some 8:30 starts, some 4pm starts, some 5:30am starts. i think one time a person told me that they started training at 3am and finished at 10 in the morning! nothing like that is on my timetable though. also, ground school is also conducted on weekends! with a few random weekdays off here and there.
good luck!