You get all sorts of support, it is fabulous. All your lecturers are an email or forum post away, a phone call even most of them. But the student community is all external too, so everyone is in the same boat re support and happy to help each other.
There are lectures, tutes, workgroups and study groups, all like on campus, they just happen online on a forum (so no trouble getting the hang of that ;P).

You get a student card etc and have access to all the uni facilities as any on campus student would, so can use the libraries but you also have the online access to the libraries and databases. Some people do get together too with others in their tutes who are in the same area to study and meet up.

It really is self-guided in every sense - you choose how much involvement you have with other students, how and where you study, what resources you access to do it.

I think though you need to look at what type of student you are, how you learn most effectively and how self disciplined you are. I know external study is not for some, and it can create more problems than it solves, but for me it is the only option.
We get very very little in way of Child Care Benefit, due to DH's wage, not FTB etc, so therefore no Austudy for me, but I CAN access FEE HELP, so I do. And this way the kids don't need to go into extra child care. DD1 is at kinder 3 days a week for 5.5 hours, and once DD2 is a little older we will be getting a nanny in to help out (works better for us than CC).