Australia and the US have a reciprocal agreement which makes it so any Australian who wants to emigrate to the US can, and quite a few Americans can easily move to Australia. On the America to Australia side it is always oversubscribed, so it's moderately hard to get to Australia. I wonder if timing the application is important.

What are you comparing it to? Americans have a much easier path to permanent residency than a vast majority of the world.

Take a look at the skills lists they aren't that insane. Also you dont need to go straight for permanent residency you can start with a working visa which is easy to get.