NorCalif: San Francisco and Santa Fe and some other places have "living wage" laws that require all businesses to pay a specific minimum wage, which acts as a floor for pay.

For that reason, the Aussies actually would not be out of line by tipping in San Francisco restaurants the same way they would in Australia because US tipping custom is specifically designed as a pay for service supplement to the wages of waitstaff.

I don't tip a buck a beer for pulling a bottle from a fridge and pulling off the cap -- that's worth a dollar per trip (when I get 2-4). At $1 for 30 seconds' work, that's $120/hour -- a fine figure for the barkeep.