[cdsx]

I'm curious what your experience in Australia has been for you to think that. In my experience that's not what I'd call a lot in Australia, most commonly your average basic IT contactor will charge $80-120/hr, let alone any sort of speciality.

[bananaboy]

What's a basic IT contractor? $100 seems to start getting to the upper end of what I'd call a basic IT contractor. > $100 seems to be for more management/architect type roles according to http://au.hudson.com/portals/au/documents/salary%20guides/20... and http://www.greythorn.com.au/media/greythorn/greythorn%20mark....

[lacampbell]

Don't most contractors use recruiting companies when they start out, then rely on word of mouth/networks? Might be why the hudson/greythorn rates seem low.

[bananaboy]

Hm, yeah that could be true. I think the big organisations like the banks, insurance companies, super companies, Telstra, NBN etc don't often take on contractors directly either.

[catmanjan]

I've always been in a startup or just a full-time employee - my point still stands though, if that's an average rate then why did the article point it out?

[stirlo]

Someone above suggested because the journalist is lazy and the number sounds big enough to the general public. Of course professionals with these skills would demanding "more than" quite regularly.

[whatusername]

Is that a contractor doing 40+ hours a week, 45+ weeks a year for the same company? Or are you talking people doing shorter more targeted projects?