Hours
The RFDS operates out of some capital city bases these days, and have reasonable facilities to come home to. However many of the bases are not in capital cities, and have lesser facilities to came home to. Most of the destinations have dirt airstraips, no vhf coms, no navaids, no fuel, and portable lighting. (if any)
Logbook hours are an indicator, and are necessary, but OUTBACK BUSH EXPERIENCE is necessary, as well as local knowledge.
They need sone one who knows if it is safe to land on that airstrip after 20 mils of rain?? Ersa won't tell you, and you cannot risk the aeroplane and crew unless you know. There is not enough of anything now. A bogged aircraft is no use to anyone. And you will not make any freinds by unnecessarily aborting the flight.
They need someone who knows do do a right hand circuit at this location at night, because there is a big, unlighted hill there, and even if you do you will have a tailwind component on base and that invisible hill is waiting for you to overshoot the centreline when you turn on to final.
And Wallabies looking at you as you taxi back after your first light landing at a strip that does not have lighting.
And lots of other things.
The apprenticeship for this job needs to include a year or so in Mulga Bill's 172, and lots of charter type flying in the area.
Lots of flying up and down the coast in shiny aeroplanes is not enough.
This is a vocation requiring long term committment and dedication.