Airsupport
I'll try to keep it as simple as possible as perhaps non-LAMEs are perusing the forum topic.
You do your required dozen or so basic exams for CASA. Big bucks and alot of time.
You do a CASA approved aircraft specific type course. Inhouse or external.
You complete the required practical training logbook. Time, lots of it.
You submit it to CASA ($) and when they get around to it and are satisfied that you have met all their requirements you are then issued with a rating for that aircraft/engine type on your licence. You are now technically ready to certify accordingly.
Now comes then interesting bit. You take your new rating to QF, in this case, and the training dept looks over it and compiles a list of outstanding, bridging, airline specific, documentation procedures, human factor courses etc etc that you need to complete before you can certify for this new rating you acquired. This process can literally take months and I've heard years to complete. When completed all this 'stuff' is again checked by the training dept and QA and your rating is listed onto a computerised system, eQ.
Now you can begin certifying.
Qantas has used this ability to withhold these courses from individuals to limit the number of ratings they need to pay for. So guys spend all this time (hundreds of hours) and money ($thousands) then navigating an administration nightmare before they reach that goal. So the airline is now empowered with who can be a LAME or not, regardless of you having the CASA issued licence. Perhaps, just perhaps, some get a little impatient.
I may have missed a couple of processes in this rant. Please feel free to fill in the blanks.