Gig Platforms and the Race to the Bottom

Platform providers differ in the benefits they provide to participants, but a defining factor is whether they treat workers as workers or misclassify them as "independent contractors". When platforms directly employ workers, they provide conditions that allow workers to develop skills, improve the level of support they provide, and provide conditions that enable workers to support participants well. Platform providers which treat workers as independent contractors do the opposite and in so doing, mislead workers about their entitlements, expose participants and workers to significant safety risks, isolate workers and clients, and constrain client and worker choice and control. Proportionate provider registration and positive worker registration are critical to genuinely upholding principles of choice and control and quality standards.

If we do not move to regulate care platforms, we risk seeing quality standards further degraded across the NDIS and regulated providers leaving the market. Continuing to allow unregistered platforms to operate is, quite literally, an accident waiting to happen.

The Health Services Union (HSU) made a submission to the Own Motion Inquiry into Platform Providers Operating in the NDIS Market. We share the stories from union members who have worked for platform providers and outline concerns we have about the low levels of regulatory oversight of platform provider.

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You can read our submission here

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