Queensland must take urgent action to extend workplace injury rights to gig workers, the Australian Lawyers Alliance says.

The law has not kept pace with the growth and complexity of the gig economy and legislative remediation on workers’ compensation is “imperative”, it warns.

The alliance’s Queensland President Sarah Grace says that when injured on jobs, gig workers should have the same access to medical treatment and other statutory and common law benefits as traditional workers in Queensland.

The need for this coverage is more pressing as the gig economy grows and is becoming “less safe for workers”, she says.

“It is now an urgent issue. We regularly see examples of workplace health and safety practices in the gig economy that fall far short of the safe, secure workplace standards that we strive for in Queensland.”

The alliance says precarious work and contracting, and the use of technology in the allocation of work, magnify the effects of poor employment practices including exploitation of visa workers, young workers and those seeking to rejoin the workforce.  

“Sham contracting is rife, with workers told they must be independent contractors rather than traditional employees. These individuals are then deprived of superannuation, insurance, workers’ compensation, award protections and other workplace benefits.”

The alliance says employers that meet their legal obligations are unfairly disadvantaged by the absence of clear obligations to pay workers’ compensation premiums, which Ms Grace says gig platform owners “exploit to the detriment of their workers and employers who do the right thing”.  

“We are calling on the Queensland Government to make the necessary amendments to the law to give clear and certain workers’ compensation rights to gig workers,” she said. 

“The most marginalised workers are over-represented in the gig economy, and it is these workers being unfairly impacted by the lack of access to workers’ compensation.

“Injuries occur working in the gig economy daily and, tragically, deaths also.”