There are some misconceptions around being a travel agent.
In most cases, travel suppliers and tour companies pay commission to the travel agent and the price will be the same whoever you book with, essentially in these cases you are getting the travel agent’s services for free.
Booking tours, activities, transfers, flights, insurance and accommodation with different suppliers means lots of different points of contact and, given the boom of travel since the end of Covid lockdowns, this can often mean that companies (not mentioning any Qantas) will often be overworked and well understaffed increasing hold times for clients. Working with a travel agent means that you have one point of contact that will pull everything together for you and make changes quickly and efficiently whilst advising on the pros and cons of those changes.