Mable welcomed the process but emphasised its difference from services such as Uber and Deliveroo, saying its providers set their own terms of work, though they are constrained by the market.
“The majority of the proposed standards, as written, appear to apply only to vertical platforms where the platform is dictating the terms of engagement,” said Mable’s chief executive, Peter Scutt. He said they were less applicable to companies such as Mable as a result.
Transport Workers Union senior official Nick McIntosh welcomed the Victorian government’s move to create standards. But he said there needed to be an independent body to enforce rules and let workers bargain collectively.
“Without these critical features, the Victorian government risks exacerbating the serious problems with safety and workplace conditions which make gig work so deadly,” Mr McIntosh said.
In a covering statement, the Victorian government said it expects the industry to put the standards into place to begin with, and signalled it could legislate or take administrative steps if companies do not comply. A government spokesman did not directly answer questions on how it might enforce the standards, instead saying they were being developed in line with Ms James’ report.
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University of Technology Sydney labour law professor Joellen Riley Munton said the standards were on the right track, but enforcement was an open question. The federal government has responsibility for most law covering pay and work conditions for both companies and independent contractors, making state legislation tricky, Professor Riley Munton said.
But the Andrews Victorian government has a history of using innovative legal schemes to tackle labour problems, such as its 2018 labour hire laws that used business licensing powers and its use of the criminal law to crack down on the most severe underpayment cases.
“What you ultimately need is a quick and cheap system for people to check whether there has been compliance,” Professor Riley Munton said.
The office of Victorian Industrial Relations Minister Tim Pallas, as well as Airtasker and Deliveroo, were contacted for comment. Ms James, the former Fair Work Ombudsman, declined to comment.