All the above sounds about right.
muffman is pretty much on the money in his/her respones.
a couple of addditions...
1. What hours are 1st officers generally being recruited at for direct entry?
IMHO, if you meet the relevant minimums they'll be interested in you. If you've got the DE minima's then apply for DE.
Perhaps there are non-flying related reasons that not many 700 hour pilots are getting through an interview.
Qlink are interviewing constantly but they have a low success rate in the interview/sim process. Some of the reasons for this have been discussed before, but IMHO if you're currently flying, are IFR current and you can demonstrate maturity in the interview then you've got a good chance of getting a gig.
2. What is the expected time for progression to CPT?
IIRC, one of the requirements for a captaincy is 2000TE. Depending on your base/fleet you may not fly more than 500 hours per year. FO's in the ICUS program are getting around 75%, so it could easily take a 300 hour pilot five years to get that box ticked.
I think the 'record' as it were for fast upgrade was just under 12 months from DOJ, and there've been a few guys get upgraded within 18 months. But you're talking very experienced pilots here.
Once you meet the requirements, it shouldn't be too long before a vacancy becomes available, provided you're prepared to move base/fleet/company for a Captains position.
3. Melbourne Basing
Turnover in the Melbourne base is very slow. Mainly because the lifestyle is great, relatively stable shifts, generally an older (i.e. more settled) crew, etc.
In my time at Qlink about the only time there are large movements of people into MEL is when new routes/aircraft are established. Otherwise you're only looking at a few people per year.
It is possible to get a Mel base as an FO from the time you join, but very unlikely. I'm only saying it's possible because it happened last year (for the first time in over 5 years) but I'm not holding my breath for when it will happen again. The most common route taken to get to Mel is to be based in Mildura. FO turnover in Mildura is relatively high, and a new Mildura FO can expect anywhere between 6 months to 2 years to get a Melbourne gig.
Captain turnover in Melbourne is very slow. I'm the most junior Melbourne Captain and I was in the company for around 4 1/2 years before I got upgraded.
Captain turnover in Mildura is zero.
Not sure if that's any comfort to you, but that's how it is atm.
DIVOSH!