When I renewed my Australian IR earlier this year I got talking to a couple of guys at the flight school, that had just interviewed at QF for SO jobs. They were both instructors that had about 2500 hours a piece and from what I could learn, most of the guys they thought QF was taking for the SO positions came from the cadet scheme.
QF is NOT what it used to be; with the introduction of Jet*, QF pilots have essentially allowed an alter-ego airline on their turf that has so far taken over the QF A330's and is due to receive the majority of the 787's that QF has on order.
Competition for QF is beyond anything you could imagine and really, without having grown up in the Australian Aviation petri dish you're probably SOL.
There was a time when I'd have given my left nut for a job there, but not any more.