Minimum wages, job security and better conditions could be coming for millions of Australian workers in the so-called "gig economy".

The federal government is consulting on new laws to boost work security for millions of Australian workers, while new platforms offering better conditions, and a labour shortage, are making it harder for apps to attract people to do the work.

"We basically just let it rip," says Giuseppe Carabetta, associate professor of employment law with the UTS Business School, about the explosive growth of the gig employment model.

This is the gig

The gig economy is task-based work made available through online platforms.

Consumers embraced food delivery and private transport services like Uber and DiDi, but it left workers stuck in a legal mire: treated as independent contractors while being highly dependent on particular apps.

"Gig workers kind of sit somewhere in the middle, because they do have the independence that traditional contractors have. And a lot of them like that independence, that freedom," Dr Carabetta says.

"But on the other hand, they move, quack and swim like ducks. So they look like employees because, in reality, they can be subject to serious control."

Flexible care

The growth of gig work has challenged traditional employment.

When Nicola Harrod needed the assistance of a disability support worker, she used an app to find Gwenyth Todd.

"It's what you need to survive," she says.

"It's your basic living things that everyone has to do....

Read Full Story: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-19/gig-economy-set-for-shake-up-in-employ...