Re: QANTAS minimum hours.
At times of high recruitment such as about 5 years ago, lots of applicants were getting in with under 1000 hours. When you start, your seniority is based on how many hours you have, and out of 12 on one course I believe the most experienced had 1100 hours. When the demand slows, it seems that a lot of regional drivers, air force etc with several thousand tend to fill a lot of the places at the moment (not all - some with less experience get in).
Or you could do the cadetship, and get 2 years head start on seniority as a bonus.