im self employed - does $113 a year count :) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Parengkuan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CFAussie Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 12:23 PM Subject: [cfaussie] OT: Need help from CF developers earning less than $113K
> Hi all, > > First of all I apologise for this off-topic message. But I > desperately need your help. I need to provide evidence in the Family > Court of the downturn in the IT industry and specifically the > problems in the IT job market for those looking for work. In a recent > Family Court hearing, 11 newspaper articles that I submitted to > illustrate the dire situation in the IT job market were deemed not > admissible as evidence by Justice Boland. The only evidence that she > accepted was Tony Abbott's and Philip Ruddock's joint press release > dated 13 March 2003 titled "Government responds to Changing ICT > Labour Market" that mentioned "the softening of the ICT labour market > and the increased difficulties some Australian computing > professionals are experiencing in finding jobs." > > My appeal to the Family Court is about the fact that my child support > income was assessed by the Child Support Agency (CSA) in early 2001 > at the income cap level for a period of three years to December 2003, > while in reality my actual income has been much lower in the past two > years. The income cap level is defined as 2.5 times the yearly > equivalent of the average weekly earnings and is currently $113,542 > per year. Normally only people with an annual income in excess of the > income cap level have their child support income set at that level by > the CSA. > > However, the CSA will often assess a payer's income at the cap level > if they can find any reason to do so, such as using "earning > capacity" instead of actual income. In my case it was based on high > earnings in the year 2000. I have filed one objection after another, > telling the CSA that current contract rates are much lower. The CSA > refused to change the assessment. They said to me things like "If you > had a high rate once you sure can get it again", and "you should keep > trying" and "people who have to pay child support always complain". > > Imagine if the ATO would apply the following rule: "we know that your > income is $X but we will assess your taxable income at double that > amount because we believe that is what you could have earned if you > tried harder". There will be riots in the streets. But the CSA and > the Family Court apply similar measures to non-custodial parents as a > matter of routine on a daily basis. > > When I asked Justice Boland how else I could provide evidence of the > difficulties faced by IT workers and in particular software/Internet > developers such as myself who are working on a contract basis, she > answered that I should refer to "industry experts". > > So I did that and received some material showing that IT salaries and > contract rates have decreased since 2000 and there is also a recent > ACS study that reveals ICT unemployment is nearly twice the national > average. But that may not be enough. > > I think it would be better if I could find evidence from other people > with similar skills and experience. That's why I am trying to reach > you with this request for help. If you are a Coldfusion developer and > you work on a contract basis then you may have experienced decreasing > contract rates and larger gaps between contracts in the past two to > three years. Or if you work on a permanent basis it may have been > difficult to find a job that is paying $113,000 per year or more. > > What I need from you is information that I can use in the Family > Court to show that an annual income of $113,000 for a Coldfusion > developer is unrealistic in current market conditions. There is no > need for you to appear in Court in person (but you're welcome to > attend the hearing if you wish) nor is it necessary to reveal your > exact income. The information should be in the form of an affidavit > and I can give you all the information you need to make one. For your > information, I am self-represented in Court as I cannot afford the > legal fees. The next hearing is in Sydney on 11 June 2003. > > Thank you for your attention. I hope you can help and thank you in > advance for your help. > > Please send your response to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Kind regards, > > Stephen Parengkuan > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 0419 578899 > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > MX Downunder AsiaPac DevCon - http://mxdu.com/ > --- Outgoing mail has been checked for Viruses - Interactive Redlands offers no warranty that this email is 100% free of Viruses. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.487 / Virus Database: 286 - Release Date: 1/06/2003 --- You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] MX Downunder AsiaPac DevCon - http://mxdu.com/
