Rtyom, as you probably know, I am Russian living in Australia. English spoken in Australian TV and radio doesn't differ much from English. In fact, I was able to understand it well before coming to live in Australia and found it easier to understand than American English. Mind you, I am talking about standard English spoken in Australia (e.g. spoken by TV announcers), not the Aussie slang.Originally Posted by Rtyom
As for the Australian English spoken in the street, you might need some adapting. You might be put off by the vowels. At first 'lake' sounded like 'like' and 'time' like 'toym' to me. I heard Americans complain that Australians speak faster and less clearer, well, for me it's the other way around now, no problem with Australian English at all but I prefer to watch some American movies with subtitles...
http://www.australiatravelsearch.com.au/trc/slang.html
http://www.imagesaustralia.com/australianslang.htm