oicur - in regards to dispatch in Oz, both QF and VA(and TT) are the only operators with 'real dispatch' in the full sense of the word in that it's a department that does both flight planning, and flight watch. JQ used to have it, but they now have a mixed model where their flight plans are done by a contractor in the Phillipines, and they have a Co-Ordinator in Oz that does any late min changes, and flight watches the EDTO flights. All other operators as far as I am aware, their pilots do their own planning, and they have no form of flight watching.
As far as CASA go - they pretty much let it be a self regulation as such, the only legal requirement is that all EDTO(ETOPS) flights are dispatched under the requirements of the companies policy, and that they are flight watched. As far as I am aware, JQ tried to totally outsource dispatch, but ended up having to hire the 'co-ordinator' to flight watch their EDTO plans.
As per the report, at the time both QF and VA only had a policy that non EDTO plans and in the VA case flights below 3 hours were flight watched and info passed on on a workload permitting basis, however VA now flight watches all flights. I believe that VA flights are the only ones that are totally flight watched out of any RPT aircraft in OZ.
The US mandates that all operators of RPT ops have a flight dispatch department, with flight following, and all people working in these departments are licensed by the FAA, and have to pass exams which are ATPL in nature. Australia has no licenses, but VA and QF have some internal testing , but again nothing mandated by CASA.
As stated in the report also - both VA and QF have their own Met department as well.