It's not rude to call me Dr Polack, it's just a little distancing and formal. It puts me on the spot, here, and is often someone trying to say "You're not one of us, so I'm being polite." Mind you, people call me it as a joke, the same way they say "Dr Dr Polack."

Australia was more formal in the 30s, but it was way less so than Britain, and Travers would have been called by her first name right up to when she left (and introduced by first name and surname, not by "Miss" in the same way Mary is introduced). Some people were given more formal treatment than others, but there was still enough difference between Australia's minimal class culture and its expression through manners and Britain's and it's very different expression so that Travers must have experienced it.