I'm not sure which part of Australia you guys are in but I live in WA and there is only one place I have had amazing service (and by amazing I mean they actually smiled, had a bit of banter, kept food and drinks coming and made sure we were happy) I have been to America and I didn't find the wait staff bad, I loved that they kept an eye on you and as soon as your drink was empty, they had another ready. Most places I have been to (and this is from travelling to Tas and Vic also) staff can't wait for you to leave. Ignore you, text, mess up orders, or plain forget. It's awful! And then you pay premium for it!! Not impressed.

And that's a very rare thing. I think people should get fair wages, but most wait staff in Australia (and retail for that matter) don't give a flying dick about the customer. They just plain don't care. I hate eating out at restaurants, and bad customer service is the main reason I buy all my clothes/books etc online.

You have got to be kidding me cptsparrow!! You must be quite fortunate, or quite oblivious to the real world! I suggest you step down from your soap box, do a bit of research, and learn what empathy is. Just to get you started:
http://m.vice.com/en_uk/read/hidden-homelessness-daisy-may-hudson