Sharing economy
Last Updated: 15 October 2019
The sharing economy connects workers to consumers through mobile apps or websites. Find out about your rights and responsibilities if you work in the sharing economy.
Sharing economy services
The sharing economy is sometimes called the platform economy or gig economy.
Common sharing economy services in Australia include:
- ride sharing services for a fare (Uber, SheSafe, Shebah, GoCatch, Ola and Taxify)
- delivery services for a fee (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Zoom2u and Sendle)
- personal services, including creative or professional services like graphic design, or odd jobs (Airtasker, Expert360, Freelancer, Upwork, Sidekicker, Helpling, Hipages, Mad Paws, Mynder and Wipehero)
Workers may be contractors or employees
If you’re a worker in the sharing economy, you may be engaged as a contractor or as an employee.
If you’re not sure which one you are, go to our Employee or contractor? page.
Rights and responsibilities
Unlike employees who work in someone else’s business, contractors run their own business. Contractors have different workplace rights and protections for employees. They also have different responsibilities.
If you’re a contractor working in the sharing economy, you should know about your rights and responsibilities including:
- workplace rights and protections
- workplace safety
- insurance
- superannuation
- taxation
- licensing
