my PPL had a 'short field landing' included in the test
Short field landings were a wartime military teaching and never meant to apply to civilian flying school syllabus of training. That was because war time emergency landing grounds could be of unknown or un-measured lengths and to touch down at the absolute min safe speed was important. Landing on aircraft carriers was an example.
Since most instructors who came back from the war became civilian flying school instructors because of lack of available jobs in the start-up airline industry, these instructors taught what they in turn were taught by military flying instructors. Usually the technique was to knock off 10-15 knots from the normal over-the-fence IAS and plonk it on the threshold and slam on the brakes and hey presto there was your short field landing.
Try knocking off 10 knots below Vref in the Boeing and Airbus and as you say it is tea and bikkies with the chief pilot.
Nowadays short field landings on singles and twins are still required to be demonstrated for the PPL and CPL as per CASA syllabus but speeds used are as per normal threshold speeds from the AFM or POH. Knock off 10 knots over the fence in the CASA test and you fail. Then join an airline and there is no such thing as a short field landing in an airliner - not legally, anyway.
There has been no attempt by CASA to delete the syllabus requirement for a demo of a short field landing for the PPL and CPL tests. It is long overdue. Caution
All the above is IMHO.