Shortage???
I would be VERY surprised if there is a shortage of applicants for the RFDS jobs.
I can remember (a long time ago) when there were 175 on the list for Central Section. There are probably less hours in the logbooks of the wannabies now, but Iwould be very surprised if there are not some experienced bush pilots there.
They are generally rewarded better than the average GA pilot (and better than the award), but much, much less than ANY airline pilot, and generally the rosters are chaotic.(due to insufficient staff.)