GA today is probably the most dysfunctional industry in Australia, at least at its lower rungs.
Its charges are based on what it thinks the client can afford, not on what is the true cost of the operation; it pays lip service to the GA Award (I think only the NT, ACT and perhaps WA is it mandatory); it is mostly run by enthusiasts who started their business to get their passion for flying paid by someone else; and it has no idea how it is going to fund its capital replacement when its finally flogged its aircraft to death.
Pilots wages are but one small aspect of the whole problem.
By way of contrast when I learnt to fly (nearly 40 years ago now) the aircraft were new, the instructors were a mixture of full and part time but the full time ones were paid sufficiently to raise a family without resorting to a second job. Admittedly, noone was going to get rich on it but it was a damn sight better than what is on offer today in GA.