I'm not sure if this is an Australian thing or just a local thing, but when I was in primary school we had a 'bike week' where the police came and taught us all the road rules as they related to bikes and we had to do courses and a test on it. We didn't get a formal licence at the end but it was rather similar to what you do when you're getting your car licence. Riding on the road is less common in my area though because a lot of the paths are deliberately designed and dual use and split into lanes so as to reduce cyclist/pedestrian friction. (Most of the roads into or out of the city are freeways and bikes are forbidden from them because they can't make the minimum speed limit, so ensuring there are cycle paths is the only option.)