QF has really cut back on the service for these short flights. I took MEL-SYD in F about a year ago and the breakfast was twice as elaborate as what you describe (and very delicious, I still remember the passion fruit). In fact the MEL-SYD breakfast was similar to the AKL-SYD F breakfast (when QF still had F service on its metal on that route). Rather amazingly CX serves an even more elaborate meal for the equally short HKG-TPE route.
The D sticker is essential. I also remember the QF lounge at SYD having very good prawns, but those appear some time after breakfast. As an aside, MEL-SYD is one of the 3 busiest routes in the world (and has more traffic than SFO-LAX, for example).