Hi,
You are right Christopher, this has no bearing on the Customs process, just Immigration. I don't know how much it has changed this year but I was passing through Tullamarine (Melbourne) Airport March this year and the people lining up for the Smartgate were being processed a lot slower than "the old way" of a person behind a desk.

I noticed this, and pretended I didn't have an e-passport, and while I may have been tenth or fifteenth in the queue for the "normal" immigration inspector, by the time I got served, the *first* person who was lining up was still struggling with the camera, as was the poor lady trying to help him (staff).
Things may have changed though.

Good luck.