See if you can get a peak at the system from the other side
Ah but I do Jabba, often, and it is these good folk on the other side who tell me VFR plans for folk like me who are happy to step under CTA and call approaching the nearest VFR point are largely pointless. BTW I am not saying this would get me into Sydney or Melbourne at my convenience, but it has got me into both with minimum delay in the past.
And for the record, I have never had problems with ATC anywhere and never really understood pilots who have. BUT this does not mean I think the system is perfect. Holding at Nobbys for ages is a case in point.