NSW government opens injury insurance consultation for food delivery riders

A consultation has been announced by the NSW government to consider how workers’ compensation and CTP schemes serve food delivery riders for services like Uber Eats and Deliveroo.

The injury insurance consultation will be led by the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, and is seeking ‘fit-for-purpose solutions for gig platforms’ to ensure that food delivery riders have access to support should they be injured at work.

NSW Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said the consultation would be the first of its kind in Australia.

“The food delivery sector is ever-expanding, and we need to find a modern and tailored solution to the issues facing this sector,” Dominello said.

“We must consider the merits of improving injury insurance for the people in our community who deliver food to earn an income.”

Between private insurance arrangements, the existing workers’ compensation scheme and the CTP scheme, there is the risk that this group of workers are not being protected, Dominello added.

Some of the changes to injury compensation for food delivery riders that have been proposed to government include increased awareness about existing protections; mandating that platforms offer personal injury insurance to their riders; and establishing a new personal injury insurance safety net scheme for food delivery riders.

The idea that a scheme modelled on motor accidents (CTP) scheme benefits be developed for personal injury insurance to food delivery riders has also been floated, as well as changing the law to extend the existing scheme to cover this group of workers.

Submissions will be accepted until 28 May, 2021.

This article was first published by The Mandarin.