Thanks for the reply Lookleft, and I'm only too flattered to offer any advice I can to said young bloke.
I joined up with then RailCorp in 2010 as a 'Trainee Signal Sectioner'. This position title was basically a glorified way of saying the term 'track-worker'. It was an entry level position which I procured by way of keeping an ever vigilant watch on the 'RailCorp Careers' website, as it were at the time.
I had to jump through all the usual recruitment hoops, including a number of psychometric tests, group interviews, role plays, and so on, and so forth! At the end of all that, I was one of three successful candidates at the time, for a position that literally three thousand or so people had applied for.
Did I also mention the recruitment process, from beginning to end, was approximately six months in total?
Once I had my proverbial 'foot in the door' with this position, I then progressed into the role of a Signaller, and thence into the oh-so-comfy Driver's seat, in which I currently reside, after having completed a thirteen month Driver training course.
Having said all of the above, that process was particular to the aforementioned role. Albeit, the recruitment process for Trainee Drivers, which they periodically advertise roughly every six to twelve months for, is fairly well similar in terms of its components, and testing/selection processes.
Thus, I don't mean to intimate that it is by any means an inherently tough task to become a Train Driver, in New South Wales at least, in this day and age, however there are indeed a number of hoops that one has to jump through!
Therefore the best advice I can offer your mate is to keep his eyes peeled on the Sydney Trains (or other relevant state rail operator) website and to apply for ANY entry level vacancies that may occur. Once he is in the organisation, he'll be able to apply for the role of Driver as it comes around, and will also then have a better understanding of how the railway works.
Furthermore, all of the above relates to my experiences within a government passenger transport organisation. The freight side of things is a whole different kettle of fish yet again, which I am by no means qualified to comment on.
As for the RAA licence, I can't say I've heard much about it, but I suppose I'll have to do my research. I do intend to gain a PPL In the long term, however I feel that it makes logical sense to break that endeavour down into small, bite sized chunks, by attempting to attain an RPL aka GFPT in the short term.
Once again, advice is always welcome, and I hope my advice above does assist your friend in some way Lookleft...