Australia’s New South Wales Labour party has promised to better protect workers in the gig economy and boost their workplace entitlements, if it wins the March election, reports ABC News Australia. The party has announced overhauling industrial relations legislation to "modernise" the law in response to the rise of workers in on-demand contract-style employment such as food delivery drivers. As part of Labour's policy plan to take to next year's election, it will introduce a workers compensation style scheme for people employed in gig economy jobs. It will also set up a portable leave entitlement scheme that will extend to workers in the disability and community services sector.

The government has been under pressure to develop a comprehensive plan for gig economy workers after the death of five food delivery drivers in 2020. In June this year, there was a landmark court ruling in regard to one of the drivers, Xiaojun Chen, who was hit by a bus and killed in Sydney while riding his motorbike for Hungry Panda. The court ruled his widow and children, who live in China, were entitled to an AUD 830,000 (USD 523,730) payout after determining that Mr Chen was an employee, not a contractor.