I can't really make effective use of it because it's the opposite of what I expect when compared to games like Everspace - an option to do this, separate from the flight axis controls, would be awesome!

Yep! I saw it in the options! Though it didn't work for me when playing in cockpit view... It seems cockpit view just forces a specific way to look   TTmTT

But playing in 3rd person, the camera behaved as configured in the settings, it should work for you.   :D