Since as stated by John, every household is supposed to have the neutral link bonded directly to the earth stake (or waterpipe if metallic). Since the advent of plastic water piping being used the stake would probably be the norm now I guess. The resistance of the stake to ground is tested and must conform to standards. So with most of the neutral lines being earthed all the way along the streets by the household stakes in addition to the various bonding of the reticulation system it makes for a good stable neutral line should an individual earth be faulty.
From what I have been able to sift from the crap posted everytime this or similar questions come up....
The Australian MEN system is about the same as the US system as far as Grounds ar concerned.
The neutral which of course is the centre of a WYE circuit 230/400 volts is tied to a ground stake at various points of the system. There is a pole transformer outside my house and the neutral is securely grounded there. Then the Neutral and a houshold ground stake are tied together in the building distribution/entry box. After that there is a neutral and a ground (and a hot of course) to every General Purpose Outlet thru the appropriate breakers of generally 16 amps. Although I have 3 phase at the box only one phase is used in the house, the 3 phase is just for the air con. Most houses would only have 1 phase at GPOs so you could not get 400 volts by using 2 outlets like I have heard of being done in USA to get 220volts. There are no fuses in plugs as there are in the UK and many new small appliances are double insulated and do not have a ground connection a all. The ground was NEVER used in this country, as a current carrying conductor, like it was in Edison USA.
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