I think you're making an assumption or two regarding IF requiring actual or simulated cloud. All it really requires is to be in conditions less than VMC, which in turn requires a certain clearance from cloud or less than 5km viz below A100 or 8km viz above A100.
At night with no horizon it could easily be argued that viz is effectively reduced. Additionally some where in the regs it states that VFR flight is impractical above F200, or thereabouts. Therefore in an aircraft above that level, one can log IF time.
CAO 40.1.0, states in part:
10.9 Instrument flight time may be logged by the pilot monitoring or providing input to the autopilot/auto-stabilisation equipment when it is engaged or by the pilot manually manipulating the controls when the aircraft is flown by reference to instruments under either actual or simulated instrument flight conditions.
On the matter of BIC hours. I worked years ago in an earlier life with such a chap. I was somewhat surprised to bump into him years later at a CASA sponsored seminar, particularly as he was a CASA FOI!
