Yes it is about doing things in an uniquely Australian way.
No Dick, it's not, it is about knowing how the system works. You can contact any of the Class D towers without a plan and land in or transit the zone.
The Class C towers do not have any airspace, it belongs to the TCU, however, if you contact the tower at one of the VFR points and request a clearance the tower can often get an airspace release and get you through the zone (Sydney excepted). You may not get direct. It costs too much to land in the capital city primaries. You can even contact Essendon tower at Kalkallo and, depending on traffic approaching RWY 27 at Melbourne, get a clearance direct to Essendon without contacting ML TWR or TCU.
I have transited Williamtown and Brisbane zones without any problems. Once when tracking coastal south past Gold Coast without a plan, just a pop up, the weather turned bad. I requested a landing at Gold Coast and got it.
Maybe students need to be taught how to do a pop up as well as the required flight plan submission.