Hugs MN - you aren't a loser - we were told it takes the average person 3 months of solid looking to find a position. We were also told not to apply for too much stuff as it takes your focus and also the knockbacks will affect your confidence.

I found the redundancy help we got very useful - so much so that I contemplated in my last large break seeing a career counselor who I found on the course to try and focus my efforts - I had just got in touch with her when I found my next role (maybe I would have been better off seeing her as my last two jobs have not really gone that well). There was quite a bit of focus on defining what you want next, and also the challenges of being made redundant (lots of people had been in the jobs a long time and that can have particular challenges).

BD - I hope your DD is still doing ok.

Teeki - I hope whatever the exciting stuff is it works out ok.

OP - the hours thing sounds tough - that is the only positive thing I have found about contracting - when they pay me by the hour and combined with the fact I am very clear I will not do any work between 9-5 on my two days off from home - it seems to work out ok. I know when I was a permanent staff member - people didn't really get it. If urgent stuff comes up they have to gmail or text me (and I will attempt a reply) - I won't accept phonecalls (I can never hear properly when the kids are around or concentrate anyway).

My job is soul destroying - I am being treated like I am a 23 year old office admin - not really that sure of my next move, and I can't see any logic in what they are doing at all. If I see out this contract then I will be looking for work Dec Jan which is bad timing for finding work, but maybe I should just stick with it and hope I get some of skills out of this 6 months that I took the job for (but it is destroying my faith that I people ever do the right thing as opposed to what suits their own agendas). I could pull Cerys out of daycare completely which would make not having a job slightly more viable, as will be starting school and if I found something would probably be able to get her back in for those two months anyway.

I was checking out what might happen if I wasn't working and I realized something I don't think I knew before, that when you fill out the online rate estimator you have to separate out the income per person not just put it in as one - e.g. if I put in 95000 split over two people there is a small amount of FTB A and energy supplement etc but if you put it in as one persons income you also get FTB B and energy supplement (120 dollars a fortnight difference). I don't quite get the logic in that - shouldn't the thresholds be the same family income is family income - why should it be different? - if anything you would think given the cost of childcare that if it takes two incomes to reach 95000 then they would be more in need of the assistance. I mean I knew that FTB A cuts out way before FTB B, which I always thought was odd but I thought that was then only impacting the higher income ranges, but I hadn't really realized that income is not treated equally.

I think I must be being taxed as if I am full-time - meaning I will get some money back at the end of the year - I would rather have it now to be honest - not sure who I would address it with - e.g. my payslip says annual salary rate which would equate to a 40 hour week rather than a 24 hour week - presumably if I got agency to change that it would change the rate at which I am taxed?