I applied online for an Australian Work Holiday Visa about a day ago, hoping to leave sometime in mid-January.
Just checked the status and it says "Processing Commenced". How long should I expect to wait for approval?
Since this information might be relevant: I'm an American (23 y/o) with no criminal or illness record
For Europeans, processing time if usually 1-2 hours, although I think the official figure is 48 hours. Might be a bit more than that for you, but I'd be very surprised if it take more than a week.
Think most get granted within a few ways if applied for directly online. Mine took 4 weeks via STA Travel, wish i'd done it myself in the end, it was a gruelling 4 week wait! But oh well, least I got it! 
Am sure you'll hear back soon.
You should be fine if you didn't tick any of the 'no no' boxes like criminal record/illness etc. Like Sander mentioned, a few hours is then enough in case of the WH visa, but the US one is a little different, so probably a slightly lengthier procedure.
Tracy, 99.99% guaranteed 3 weeks and 6 days of that waiting was you waiting on STA to actually file the visa application. The real waiting period was probably 1 to 2 hours like Sander mentions. That must have been annoying!
Just got my approval, so if any other Americans are wondering the same thing it took about 3 days.
Thanks to everyone for the reassurance... now to book a flight!