Employers love independent contractors because it makes things easier for them. Sometimes cheaper, in an unfair world, but even if they pay the same overall package (where the contract rate accounts for salary + super + sick leave + annual leave, etc) it is still cheaper due to far lower adminstrative costs. Administration of contractors is about as challenging and paying a power bill!

Of course the paperwork complexity is transferred to the contractor. The perks for the contractor are that they are allowed a level of taxational freedom that a regular employee could never envisage, but the headache of paperwork is a big deterrent.

The tax laws are quite clear about who is and is not deemed an independent contractor. They must not work more than a certain percentage of their time on one contract or at one employer’s - sorry, client’s - workplace. They must provide something other than simply labour - be it their own tools and equipment, or other capital required for work. The work must be of a contracted nature, i.e. task for money, not time for money. It goes on.

For some reason, the ATO never seem to investigate this farce. The amount of lost taxation dollars must be astronomical.

I spent 5 years also as a so called i.c. which was very part time work that grew to half and nearly full time. No holiday or super in any of that time. And it was in the community media sector. I thought I was helping democracy, doing my duty etc and maybe I still do. I get the feeling this is a US style business approach to labour as if their culture has anything to offer regarding equity. Freedom, creativity, entrepeneurialship maybe, equity no.

In parallel another part time job with super and a fat Christmas bonus. But actually I wanted it structured as i.c. for a while there so I could exercise my own level of discretion. In fact that was the deal I made with the manager in this second part time job job to keep my political independence as a community news blogger.

But I tell you the 3 tax forms as an i.c. each year is a mind bender. The third one is a supplementary to the 2nd one which is a supplementary to the first one. I even let it go three years and caught up last year. Phew.

From memory there is a threshhold of 20K revenue to qualify as an i.c. sole trader and other rules about controlling your own work and own plant and equipment etc and more than one client etc. It’s more of an overall test than one or other factor. All this might make sense in an upwardly mobile boom, but you can see where the unions are coming from in a downturn where security is a premium. Good luck to them.