Australian delivery drivers finally have a legal minimum wage.
According to new regulations approved by the Australian Fair Work Commission, starting from August 17, the minimum wages for food, beverage, and grocery delivery workers will be determined by the mode of transportation used: 31.30 Australian dollars per hour for bicycles, electric bicycles, and e-bikes; 31.50 Australian dollars per hour for fuel-powered motorcycles; and 32 Australian dollars per hour for car delivery services. Starting from January 2027, these standards will increase by another 0.50 Australian dollars per hour. Approximately 250,000 people will be affected.
31.30 Australian dollars, what’s this level like in Australia?
On the surface, this is an income that is significantly higher than the minimum wage. The current national minimum wage in Australia is $26.44 per hour, which means the new rider standard is about 18% to 21% higher. If riders can complete 38 hours of “effective delivery” per week, their annual income would be approximately $62,000 to $63,000 Australian dollars, or around 295,000 to 300,000 Chinese yuan.
But it’s still not considered a high salary. Ordinary temporary employees in Australia can receive a 25% subsidy on top of the national minimum wage, which is approximately A$33.05 per hour. This rate is still higher than the new standards for riders. Riders also have to bear the costs of purchasing vehicles, fuel, maintenance, license plates, and third-party insurance. They also do not automatically enjoy paid leave benefits like employees do.
More importantly, the fee of 31.30 Australian dollars does not represent a fixed amount of money earned within one hour of being online; it only counts the time from receiving an order to completing delivery. Time spent traveling to the merchant or waiting for food can be included, but time spent waiting on the platform to receive orders is not counted. For example, if a courier is online for 10 hours and receives orders in 7 hours, their income would be approximately 219 to 224 Australian dollars (about 1043 to 1067 RMB). This means that the average income per hour of online time is only about 22 Australian dollars, not including the cost of the vehicle.
Therefore, this figure is more accurately defined as the ‘effective wage minimum’ that exceeds the minimum wage, rather than the lowest hourly wage in the true sense.
The truly breakthrough aspect of the new regulations is not just the amount, but also Australia’s ability to avoid the most difficult issues related to identity disputes in platform labor regulation.
Riders remain independent contractors and do not need to be “regularized” as employees. However, the law considers them to be “semi-employees,” allowing the Fair Work Commission to set minimum wages, insurance, information disclosure, and dispute resolution standards for them. In the past, platforms often refused to provide labor protections because riders were considered not employees. The new logic in Australia is that flexibility in assigning tasks can be maintained, but there must be some guarantees.
The compensation rules also provide flexibility for the platform. The platform can still charge per order and set peak rewards, but within a settlement period of up to 21 days, the total income of riders must not be less than “order processing time × legal standard”. Any shortfall must be made up. This essentially adds an additional layer of protection to the complex calculation and pricing methods, rather than directly abandoning the platform’s original pricing system.
In addition, the platform must provide personal accident insurance and disclose the pickup location, approximate delivery area, minimum remuneration, and estimated delivery time when assigning tasks. Income, task completion time, and payment deduction records must be kept for seven years, and riders have the right to access these records. When the platform makes adjustments that may significantly reduce the number of tasks assigned, it must notify the workers and obtain their feedback.
Of course, this system still has significant shortcomings: payment is delayed, and the cost of vehicles is borne by the riders themselves. Additionally, the accident insurance provided by the platform does not equivalent to traditional work-related injury insurance. The rules only require a “reasonable minimum guarantee” without setting a uniform premium amount.
But its value lies in creating a middle path: it does not force platforms to abandon flexible employment, nor does it allow platforms to use “independent contracting” to evade all responsibilities. In fact, Australia is telling platforms that flexibility can be retained, but the minimum income for workers, occupational risks, and the right to know cannot continue to be determined by algorithms.
