Australia’s Fair Work Commission has approved new minimum pay and insurance standards for food and grocery delivery workers, establishing requirements for hourly compensation and on-the-job injury coverage.
Under the order, gig delivery workers will receive at least A$31.30 ($22.11) an hour for engaged time. That rate exceeds Australia’s national minimum wage of A$26.44 an hour. The new standards take effect Aug. 17 and are expected to apply to about 250,000 workers.
The Fair Work Commission defines engaged time as the period between a worker accepting a delivery job and completing it. Therefore, the minimum hourly rate applies specifically to the time workers spend completing accepted delivery assignments.
The order also introduces new insurance requirements for companies and workers. Companies must provide workers with what the commission described as “a reasonable minimum level of cover” for personal accident insurance. However, the order does not specify a minimum amount of coverage.
At the same time, delivery workers will remain responsible for maintaining third-party insurance for vehicles they use to make deliveries.
The new requirements follow several years of changes involving working conditions for gig workers in Australia. Gig workers typically operate as independent contractors rather than employees, which has excluded them from many workplace protections available to employees.
Australia’s Parliament passed laws in 2023 and 2024 that expanded gig workers’ ability to negotiate minimum pay and working conditions. Those laws also gave the Fair Work Commission authority to establish standards for compensation and insurance.
The Transport Workers Union called the Fair Work Commission’s decision a “landmark moment for the Australian gig economy.”
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said in a joint statement with Uber Eats and DoorDash that Australian gig workers will receive a new set of workplace standards beginning Aug. 17.
Uber Eats and DoorDash also addressed the changes in the joint statement. The delivery companies said the rules would demonstrate that stronger worker protections can operate alongside the flexibility valued by gig workers. DoorDash has also expanded its operations beyond restaurant deliveries.
The Australian order comes shortly after the International Labour Organization adopted its first binding employment standards for gig workers in June. Those standards could provide gig workers with rights involving pay, safety, and social benefits. However, individual governments must ratify the standards before they take effect in their jurisdictions.
The Australian requirements establish specific standards for both compensation and insurance while maintaining the independent responsibilities of delivery workers for third-party vehicle insurance.
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