There's a kind of faux-standard Australian English, but it's just the Australian accent with the rough bits knocked off. Newsreaders and actors are taught to speak in it, I believe (though to some extent, it's also just a byproduct of being taught to enunciate "properly", breathe properly, etc), but it doesn't really reflect any actual Australian social class. But if you were looking to imitate an Aussie to get the accent right, then Russell Crowe's accent is reasonably representative of a "typical" Australian accent, I suppose (and yes, I know he's as much a New Zealander as he is an Aussie). Just synthesise a mix of Russ, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Steve Irwin (but not too heavy on the Steve - the results could be disastrous; or at least incomprehensible), and you'll be right.
Unfortunately, these names do not tell me much :( In any case, I believe that in English it no longer matters if someone speaks with any foreign accent (as long as he's intelligible), because English is so widespread among people of all nationalities. However, in case of small languages, that few foreigners care to learn (like Lithuanian for example) it is really uncommon to hear a foreigner speaking it. So we would normally find someone speaking Lithuanian with a foreign accent really weird.
I've been used to hearing English spoken with many different foreign accents ever since I can remember. It's interesting to me that it's easier for me to understand someone whose native language doesn't have many of the sounds of English (Cantonese, say) and who has a very strong accent than it is to understand the Glaswegian accents I've heard in movies. It all depends on what you're used to.
Vytenis, since you apparently don't have lots of experience hearing foreigners speaking Lithuanian, have you had a problem understanding those who have spoken it?
That is interesting. Due to the way the world is, I suppose English speakers are probably better at understanding strong, foreign accents, simply because we hear such a variety of them constantly.
The Minogue sisters sound English and Nicole Kidman sounds American at times, she doesn't have a clear Australian accent.
There is the newsreader English, bit I suppose that is just General Australian. Remember AusE is supposed to come in Broad, General and Cultivated.
Vytenis - it doesn't matter that you speak with a foreign accent in English, I don't think most people would care down here, if you did.
<< Due to the way the world is, I suppose English speakers are probably better at understanding strong, foreign accents, simply because we hear such a variety of them constantly. >>
american nic, I think being able to understand a lot of foreign accents is more a matter of living in a cosmopolitan area than of being an English speaker. Someone from Paris or Amsterdam would have an easier time understanding foreign accents than an English speaker who comes from a very homogeneous, English-speaking region.