Closing Loopholes No.2 Act 2024 – Regulation of Employee-Like “Gig Workers” Summary

The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No.2) Act 2024 (Closing Loopholes No.2 Act) inserted provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) relating to independent contractors who are either employee-like workers performing digital platform work or employee-like workers engaged in the road transport industry.

The provisions do the following:

• provide a framework for the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to exercise functions and powers that relate to the road transport industry (see Summary - Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes No.2) Act – Regulation of Road Transport Contractors);
• insert a new jurisdiction enabling the FWC to set minimum standards orders and minimum standards guidelines in relation to employee-like workers performing digital platform work and regulated road transport industry contractors (see below and, for the road transport industry, see Summary - Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes No.2) Act – Regulation of Road Transport Contractors);
• enable digital labour platform operators and road transport businesses to make consent-based collective agreements with registered employee organisations (see below and, for the road transport industry, see Summary - Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes No.2) Act – Regulation of Road Transport Contractors);
• empower the FWC to deal with disputes over an employee-like worker’s unfair deactivation from a digital labour platform, or the unfair termination of a road transport contractor’s services contract by a road transport business (see below and, for the road transport industry, Summary - Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes No.2) Act – Regulation of Road Transport Contractors); and
• enable independent contractors earning below a specified high-income threshold to dispute unfair contract terms in the FWC.

This Summary deals with the provisions as they relate to ‘employee-like workers’ who perform digital platform work. For information about employee-like workers who are road transport contractors, see Summary - Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes No.2) Act – Regulation of Road Transport Contractors.