The Kings certainly are widely used in the US. Their success has come from finding ways to help people pass written tests with a minimum of effort.
They teach little rules of thumb to answer FAA test questions. Some of their videos have useful animations to help explain theoretical ideas but overall I have never been very impressed with them. That being said, what is it they are being asked to do in Australia?
Are they being asked to explain the US airspace system? If so then they are certainly good people for the job. Are they being asked to help explain what benefits the NAS has for Australian pilots? If so.... then who's idea was that? They don't know a damn thing about Australia I'm sure.
I do know this. A lot of people make comments on this forum RE: CASA's role in aviation. It seems they think that if noone flies there will be no crashes!
Having flown in both the US and Australia I can tell you there are significant differences between the FAA and CASA. One of the most important ones is this.
In the US the system is much more user friendly. The idea is that everybody should be able to participate & it is the FAA's role to help make everybody as safe as can be. If people violate regulations there are certainly consequences but more of the burden is put on the pilot & the operator with FAA oversight.
If a problem exists then the government help change the circumstances by providing financial aid/legislative support rather than just putting an end to the operation. If an operator continues to be seen as unsafe than market forces either dictate change or put the operator out of business. The government should not be in the position of putting someone out of business except as a last resort.
The government here realised a long time ago how vital aviation is to the economy & in a country spread out like Australia this would only be more true. The Federal Government needs to promote aviation by making it easier for people to get involved.
The Australian system needs an overhaul. It would be great to see some people on this forum coming up with ideas on how to change the system for the better rather than trashing every idea somebody else comes up with.
Also the services provided are available to all pilots VFR & IFR on a workload permitted basis. If you want to hear a good example of ATC and Flight Service helping out a VFR pilot in distress go to
www.naats.org and click on the red MAYDAY MAY DAY MAYDAY link on the right.
This is one of my company's former students who had an inadvertent encounter with IMC conditions and entered a spin. Through the quick actions of ATC he was rescued.
So I know we started out talking about the Kings, & whether you like them or not they are a great example of the American Aviation spirit which is..... everybody should be able to participate. That is why their educational material is directed to the lowest common denominator.