I must be very fortunate with my CASA dealings, I let my class 1 and 2 lapse for a few years due to a couple of arthritic hips. I've had both replaced, the last in July this year, then fronted up to my DAME armed with a letter from the surgeon saying I was fit to fly. Imagine my surprise, when just short of 3 weeks following the DAME visit my class 2 medical turned up! Further to that, my son recently completed his RPC, then sent in his RPL paperwork off to CASA - his RPL arrived after 3 1/2 weeks. He already had an ARN, level 6 English and an ASIC but again, I was very surprised. These two transactions both took place early October this year.
Hopefully we are seeing a turnaround!