Australia certainly seems unusual to me in that they don't have co located DME's on all their ILS's and in some cases don't even have an ILS. That is not 'worlds best practice' or whatever they like to say.
Also, I have often flown with Englishmen and Americans who have trouble understanding the Australian accent when it is spoken quickly as it often is over the radio.
That said, I think that quality training probably is the biggest issue in this incident.