I read in my Australian Flying email update that when part 61 comes in you will no longer need a photo licence ! Any valid ID such as drivers licence or passport will suffice.
That being said, I suspect you will still need an ASIC for certain airports, so it sounds like they are merely dropping the AVID.
A PPL is not that difficult to obtain from the RAA path, I did it as did many others.
Good luck.
PS There is some good advice in the above posts.