Please find anyone who has finished in 2 years in Australia. I know of exactly one person who finished in 3 years. 3.5-4 years is considered a "solid pace". A little less than half the students who started their PhDs at the same time as me (who didn't quit) are still working on theirs 8 years later (albeit part time).
I don't know anyone who's finished in 3, but you do occasionally hear about it. Never heard a reliable account of under that. Personally I think we don't tend to have course work in our PhD's because we don't have the student numbers to support it in most uni's and disciplines.
