So we’re clear Climb150, the award for Single Engine 1360kg - 3359kg was last $690 a week full time in 2011. It is currently $899 a week.
Accepting that $690 might have been the full time award, as a casual employee you would have been entitled to $56.23 per flight hour (1/800th of the annual award plus 25% in lieu of annual leave and job security). Still at your 20 hours on average a week this comes out to $1124.50 plus super, or $1231.33.
Even if you were full time, cashing out annual leave accrued adds 11.5% (6/52 of the annual salary) and then 9.5% super. $834.90 per week. Add allowances and you’re on par with your $900, but with a guaranteed income each and every week, job security, sick leave, protection against being dismissed on a whim, renewals, medical, loss of licence and ASIC paid for, no grey area over legal responsibility as a contractor, no time spent doing invoices, no quarterly activity statements to the ATO.
Said company is not employing pilots as contractors because of some altruistic notion that it’s better for the pilots. They are employing pilots as contractors because it saves the company money. If employing them as employees and paying award was cheaper, they would be.