The proportion of the Australian workforce classified as Independent Contractors continues to increase according to the latest ABS Forms of Employment survey.
The results showed that of the 11.3 million people in the workforce, 1.1 million were now classified as independent contractors in their main job. This was an increase of 10% over the 1.0 million contractors in 2009. Contractors now make up 9.8% of the total workforce, up from 9.6% last year. Meanwhile, the percentage of workers identified as employees was down 0.3pp to 80.9%.

The survey reported the highest number of independent contractors (31%) worked in the construction industry, with independent contractors making up 33% of the overall industry workforce. Independent contractors also tended to be older workers, with over half (53%) aged over 45, compared with only 35% of employees. Contractors were also predominantly (74%) male.