as for the show setting itself in the future, to avoid the alien invasions of Doctor Who & SJA, well that kinda suggests that this show is set in the normal Whoverse timeline, which IMO it is not.
They wouldn't be able to - or want to for that matter liaise with Cardiff. The near future is vague enough to co-exist as much as anything else.
Here's the thing for me though - Australia did some cracking good Kids Sci-fi in the 90s, when the BBC wasn't making Doctor Who.