"Wooden spoon" is indeed heard beyond Australia, and in fact originated in the halls of Cambridge University in England. Apparently there was a custom at Cambridge, dating back to the early 19th century, of awarding an actual wooden spoon to the student who comes in last in the final math (or "maths," as they say over there) examination. According to lore, the top scorer was said to have been "born with a gold spoon in his mouth," the second highest a silver spoon, lead for the third, and wooden for the lowest. The gold, silver and lead "spoons" seem to have been purely figurative titles, but there was, until 1909, actually an elaborate ceremony at graduation wherein the most math-challenged graduate was presented with a large wooden spoon. The presentation ceremony itself was not exactly subtle -- the spoon was lowered from the balcony of the hall as the winner stepped forward to receive his degree from the Vice-Chancellor of the University. A photograph of the last wooden spoon awarded, to the awesomely-named Cuthbert Lempriere Holthouse in 1909, can be found at here. Evidently the spoons awarded had gradually grown in size over the years, and that one is about five feet long and made from an oar.