Why isn it customary to tip for meals or services in Australia?
Tipping depends on the country. My British friends think it is ridiculous to tip. When they were here they could not understand why we had to tip so much. Servers/bar tenders/etc make more money in Great Britain and therefore tipping is not required. But, when you make only $2.15 an hour here, tipping is what sustains you. No one can live on $2.15 an hour. Once I explained how little servers make here, they understood why we tip. And they saw the theory that servers will work harder when their income depends on it. And to the first comment, yes, I do gage my tip on the service received. Tipping everyone the same regardless of service rewards those who did a bad job and punishes those who did a good job. To sum up, I would guess that servers in Australia make more than they do in America and that is why tipping is not practiced.
