the routeFive guides, five drops
- Employee-like workers and minimum standardsWho the Fair Work Act calls an employee-like worker, and what the on-demand delivery order sets: hourly safety net rates by vehicle, insurance, records and disputes.
- Unfair deactivationWhen a platform switches a worker off: the six-month regular-work test, the Deactivation Code’s warnings and notices, and the 21 days to apply.
- Unfair terms in a contractor’s agreementHow the Fair Work Commission can set aside or vary an unfair term in a services contract, and the earnings threshold that decides who may apply.
- Food delivery riders in NSWInduction training, high-vis gear, records and penalty notices under Part 4.10 of the NSW Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025.
- Riders and the road rulesFootpaths, helmets, bike lanes and which e-bikes count as bicycles in NSW, with the e-bike change announced for 2029.
the wordsThree terms the law uses
| Term | Where it is defined | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Digital labour platform | Fair Work Act s 15L | “an online enabled application, website or system operated to arrange, allocate or facilitate the provision of labour services”. Its operator engages contractors or acts as an intermediary, and payments for the work go through the operator, an associated entity or a contracted processor |
| Employee-like worker | Fair Work Act s 15P | A contractor doing digital platform work, none of it as an employee, who does all or a significant majority of the work and meets at least two of four tests, such as low bargaining power |
| Food delivery rider (NSW) | Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 s 184M | An individual engaged by a food delivery booking provider to deliver food or drink, “using a bicycle, motor bike or electric scooter” |
The first two come from Commonwealth law; the third is New South Wales law only. The Fair Work Act also says a worker covered by an employee-like worker minimum standards order “is not an employee of any person in relation to that work” (s 15KA(2)).
the regulatorsWho keeps each rule
The Fair Work Commission makes minimum standards orders and hears unfair deactivation and unfair contract term applications. The Fair Work Ombudsman, a separate body, gives information to regulated workers and platforms and can investigate and enforce minimum standards orders. In NSW, SafeWork NSW covers the rider safety rules, and the NSW Government’s E-Bike FAQs track the e-bike rules.
the datesKey dates
- 26 August 2024Chapter 3A of the Fair Work Act, on minimum standards for regulated workers, commences.
- 25 February 2025The Digital Labour Platform Deactivation Code (F2024L01573) commences.
- 12 June 2026Amendments to the Code commence, for deactivations after that date.
- 1 July 2026The contractor high income threshold becomes $190,100 for the year, as the Fair Work Commission states it.
- 17 August 2026The Interim On-Demand Delivery Employee-like Worker Minimum Standards Order commences operation.
- 1 January 2027The order’s hourly safety net rates step up for the year.
- 1 March 2029The date the NSW Government has announced from which e-bikes must comply with EN 15194 to be used on NSW roads.