Permit me my thoughts and experiences here.
I've flown Qantas both long haul and short haul. I haven't flown long haul business class since May 2000 so maybe it's changed? I don't know.
I have flown since then Emirates, TAP Air Portugal, Delta and US Airways all long haul business class. All are good, but not as good as Qantas IMHO. Where QF excelled was their customer service and quality that was offered.
Tomorrow I'll experience United Airways business class.
I often do BA, bmi, Alitalia, TAP Air Portugal, Swiss, SAS intra Europe business class. Nothing flash there these days, a hot meal is about all the difference these days.
I have also flown economy BA and Qantas long haul to Australia. QF is better than BA definitely. I have never had a problem with the cabin crew, all have been attentive and worked well as a team and no one was left ignored. QF do a few things that the other airlines don't do (yet) and it does make the drag of the 10+ hour flight a tad less painful.
BA's advantage is with the cabin lay out. QF really do need to look at that. Virgin Atlantic have the "super economy" seats too.
I have yet to experience Virgin Atlantic (flown Virgin Blue, they're fine. My loco benchmark is Ryanair), Cathay and Singapore. (I last flew Singapore about 30 years ago so I think the comparison is a bit flawed).
Is Qantas the worst from the above? No. Definitely not. Is the bean counters making life harder for the cabin crew to do their job well? I'd say so.
The best FA? IMHO it's the FA with a tonne of experience both in the job and in life that still loves his/her job. They're worth their weight in gold for the company.