Anyone know anything about flight training in Australia? I heard you have to get an Australian security clearance (which takes 6-8 weeks to process) before you can even take one flight lesson. Is that true?

I have an FAA private certificate, but I also happen to have Australian citizenship. Anyone know if I can train for my next rating (say, ME or COMM) in Australia without converting my FAA ppl? Or is an Australian PPL a prerequesite? Anyone with any experience doing this? Cost? Hassle?

Next question-- can I log SE PIC time in Australia with an FAA license? Hmmmnnn probably not, right.

BTW I attempted to do a search to see if anyone has already created a thread about this, but I can't find one so I decided to post.