Several prominent transport organisations have partnered in support of a ‘safe, sustainable and viable’ industry.
This transport industry alliance, which comprises the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation (ARTIO), the National Freighters Road Association (NRFA), National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) and various state-based organisations, have long campaigned for laws to establish an expert panel on the Fair Work Commission to set different safety and sustainability standards in the road transport industry.
These laws extend the Fair Work Commission to gig workers and owner drivers for disputes and the setting of enforceable standards for the first time.
As of February 2025, the laws will also include automatic protections against unfair contract terminations.
Through the enforcement of industry-wide standards, this new division of the Commission will also promote fair competition and harmony across different roles within the industry.
The standards implemented by the new Expert Panel will be informed by consultation with the industry through a Road Transport Advisory Group (RTAG).
Newly-appointed TWU NSW/QLD Secretary Richard Olsen and ARTIO Secretary Peter Anderson will chair subcommittees with industry participants on relevant standards for the RTAG.
“Transport is now getting the recognition it deserves with a dedicated system to establish harmony and sustainability,” said Anderson.
“As a member of the Road Transport Advisory Group, I look forward to consulting with the broader industry to ensure standards meet the road transport objective of making our essential industry safe, sustainable, and viable.”
In the last decade, SafeWork Australia has recorded 486 transport worker deaths, and 19 transport gig worker deaths as of 2017.
Since 2014, ASIC has recorded 2,577 transport business insolvencies, costing tens of thousands of jobs.
“These changes bring hope that insolvency rates will reduce, that road tragedies will reduce, and that we can work in an industry that is sustainable and viable for all participants,” said NatRoad CEO Warren Clark. “We have been given the tools to build a stronger transport industry, it’s up to us to use them.”
This call for reform has come from the transport industry’s collective concern for the future, following years of inaction and the rise of gig economy competition, which have reduced standards for workers and companies.
“These powerful new laws bring the opportunity to reshape Australia’s deadliest industry, and we intend to use them without delay,” said TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine.
“Over time, we will build up standards to obliterate the Amazon Effect that has squeezed the life out of contract chains and ripped away the fragile standards that existed through exploitative gig competition.”