Bonza, I'm an Aussie now too (kinda)
My Permanent Residency application got approved today!
I am now, pretty much, dinky-di(sp?). I can come and go as I please, get Medicare (pshaw!), change jobs easier, work in a different industry if I choose, wear a hat with corks on it, be unemployed if I choose or get unlucky (although I don't qualify for Centrelink for 2 years :P) without being sent home, buy property, get an ABN, apply for citizenship, throw shrimp on a barbie, work for the government (I think), apply for government grants, pay more tax (probably) and support an AFL team.
I'm not sure if this is because the Rudd government has taken action on the skills shortage by increasing the output of the DIAC visa processing center, but this application used to take a minimum of 3 months and maximum of 6, I'd been told by two migration agencies that they rarely saw one less than 4 months.
Mine took 5 days.
As a result I'm not really prepared for the changes this will bring, my income, tax allowances and visa management agency costs are all going to change, possibly on nett for the worse. I'm now able to seriously look at buying property (before I could only get a 70% mortgage, I had to apply for "foreign investment permission" and I didn't get the first home buyers grant). Since my effective rent will now go up and property prices look likely to go down, it might just be the right time for me to buy a place, which is a SCARY thought.
My mind is absolutely buzzing.