The current arrangements, conditions and pay rates for gig economy workers in Australia are not acceptable, a Senate Select Committee on Job Security said in an inquiry into work services platforms such as Uber and Deliveroo.

The ‘First interim report: on-demand platform work in Australia’ said arrangements, conditions and pay rates for gig workers are ‘not acceptable and do not provide them with sufficient income and other protections to provide for themselves and their families.’

“The committee considers that it is essential for gig workers, and all workers for that matter, to be paid at a rate that rightly recognises the value of the work that they do, that they are provided with other conditions that ensure they do not have to work when they are sick, they are safe at work and their families are not left destitute when they are injured or killed, that they are paid superannuation to underpin a financially stable future, and that they can access other labour protections providing dispute resolution and mechanisms for addressing discrimination and harassment,” the report states.

The Select Committee on Job Security was established to inquire into and report on the impact of insecure or precarious employment on the economy, wages, social cohesion and workplace rights and conditions in Australia.

The report also highlighted safety concerns for work services platform workers.

The current arrangements for gig workers clearly do not offer the health and safety protections that Australian society expects, as seen in other employment arrangements, nor requirements and ongoing supports that are necessary to keep gig workers as safe as possible at work and to look after them and their families if they are injured or killed,” the report stated.

“Unrealistic time and performance pressures, combined with high-risk work environments, and lack of training and appropriate protective equipment for gig workers place them at higher risk of injury at work,” the report added. “When these factors are combined with other elements of gig work, inadequate job security, earnings and conditions, it is clear that gig workers are vulnerable and have little capacity to make safety improvements to their work environment, to the detriment of them and their families.”

Last year, five food delivery riders died in Australia within two months, and a separate New South Wales inquiry into the gig economy heard that riders made as little as AUD 8 (USD 6) a trip, were being rushed to complete orders, and had their pay cut during the pandemic.

Last week, a student from Turkey, Burak Doğan, was hit and killed on 2 April 2020 in Sydney. According to ABC News, his death was not reported as a workplace fatality because his last trip was cancelled 25 minutes before he was killed.

According to The Guardian, on Friday the chair of the Senate committee, Labor’s Tony Sheldon, said the recommendations would have made delivery work safer and prevented deaths.

“If this legislation had been put in place prior to this, then [Doğan’s] death is very likely to not have happened,” he told Guardian Australia.

The committee’s recommendations would grant more rights to food deliverers, he added.

The report also considers what changes may be required to Australia's legal and regulatory frameworks to better accommodate on-demand platform work for the future.

Proposals from inquiry participants include:  maintaining the status quo; expanding the definition of 'employment' and employees' in the Fair Work Act; reclassifying platform workers as employees;  and other proposals, including: a portable benefits fund scheme; or a legislated 'third category' of worker; as well as extending rights and minimum standards to contractors, and providing an oversight body; and options for sector-specific regulation in the rideshare and disability care sectors.

The committee is due to present its final report by 30 November 2021.