Big News for Owner-Drivers!!

Independent Contractors Act gives them protection

TWU fails Owner-Drivers

An extremely significant court case has important implications for owner-drivers across Australia.

In the first unfair contracts application under the Independent Contractors Act, the Federal Magistrates Court has changed the contract terms of three owner-drivers to remove unfairness in the contracts.

What is amazing is that the contract which has been found to be unfair was a Transport Workers Union contract. Owner Drivers of Australia has to ask: what is the TWU up to? They spend a lot of time claiming that they look after owner-drivers, yet their own contract has been found to be unfair.

Since forming ODA, we have been in dispute with the TWU over its version of how to protect owner-drivers. Before the 2007 election, the TWU did a political deal with the Howard Government that kept in place the owner-driver laws in NSW. ODA sees these laws as significantly disadvantaging owner-drivers. We maintained all along that the Independent Contractors Act was a much better model for owner-driver protection. This first test case of the unfair contract provisions of the Independent Contractors Act proves that we were correct. For information on the decision, click here.

• If you are a member of ODA, click here for legal information on the test case and click here [independent contractors] or here [engagers of contractors] for information on how to ensure you have good contracts.
• Click here for links to quality owner-driver laws [Victoria] that will assist you.

Federal Government breaks core election promise
in political deal with Transport Workers Union

Last week, the Federal Government announced (click here) that owner-drivers in New South Wales and Victoria would be excluded from the promised Independent Contractors Act.

The day after the government announcement, the Transport Workers Union called off its truck blockade of Canberra, planned for Sunday 7th May.

The government has caved in to the TWU's noisy, political campaigning and sold out owner-drivers to the clutches of the union movement.

The Federal Government's election policy (click here) promised that independent contractors would be protected from industrial relations laws that forced us to be employees and which consequently denied us the right to be our own business.

• The NSW Industrial Relations Act (Chap 6) declares that every owner-driver is an employee and subject to a NSW award. This gives the TWU legal power to control our businesses---even when we don't want this and when we refuse to belong to the TWU. This effectively stops us being our own business.
• The Victorian Owner Drivers Act has the power to create awards for owner-drivers.

We don't want the NSW and Victorian arrangements. The Government promised that we would be protected from laws like these which destroy our small business rights. It has broken one of its most important election promises.

The Government has done a political deal with the Transport Workers Union. Will it now do the same to owner-drivers in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT?

The Government announcement also declared that an inquiry into owner-drivers would be conducted in 2007. But this inquiry will proceed with an Independent Contractors Act already pushing us into the bad business laws that operate in NSW and Victoria. This means the inquiry is a sham before it starts. We reckon the inquiry will recommend that NSW and Victorian-style laws which destroy small business should be applied to owner-drivers nationally.

ALL owner-drivers in Australia have been sold out.

ILO supports Independent Contractors

The ILO Conference in Geneva has just passed its Recommendation on the employment relationship. Independent Contractors of Australia has issued a detailed report on the ILO's Recommendation and its implications for Australian policy on independent contractors, including owner drivers. For the full report, click here.

Key Information for Owner-Drivers

ODA has received many enquiries from existing owner-drivers and people who want to be owner-drivers. Most of those queries relate to contract and price issues. One of the best sources of information on these matters is the Victorian Government's website:

http://www.business.vic.gov.au/BUSVIC/STANDARD/543268662/PC_61955.html

This site supplies a free information booklet, as well as model contract and pricing information. Even though ODA has concerns with aspects of the Victorian Owner Drivers Act, we are supportive of most of the Act. The information supplied on this link is most helpful for owner drivers.