Jeez, some pretty passionate responses here.
I guess there are guys here who will take this and see it as an opportunity to move up in their careers. Yes the pay may not be flash in comparison to QANTAS or Cathay or Air NZ. With time to command with the legacy carriers somewhere around the 20 year plus mark. I wouldn't want to be making beds and serving the Captain coffee for the next 5 to 10 years before I get to move into the Right seat for another 10 years..
According to the VAus recruiting page it does state:
"Opportunities to progress from Cruise Relief First Officer to First Officer may exist within the company provided a CRFO has sufficient appropriate experience. It is envisaged that in line with forecasted aircraft delivery dates these opportunities will be limited"
It doesn't say that opportunities to progress to First Officer will never happen and no one will be able to predict what is going to happen, but those CRFOs in the company with suitable experience may find themselves F/Os in 2 or 3 years time, a lot sooner than with a legacy carrier - it may take longer too, point is we just don't know.
I have put my name down for it, just under $60K a year is better than what I am on now flying as an F/O on a turboprop for just under $30K outside of Australia, we all make sacrifices for our careers and what we want to do.