In this new report, Contractual distancing, insecure work and the law, Professor Emeritus David Peetz examines how businesses and organisations have used layers of contracting (including casual employment, labour hire and gig-style ‘self-employment’) to distance themselves financially and/or legally from the workers who produce their goods and services, while retaining control over their labour.
Described as the most significant overhaul of the Fair Work Act since it commenced in 2009, ‘Closing Loopholes’ (the name given to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment [Closing Loopholes] Act 2023 and the Fair Work Legislation Amendment [Closing Loopholes No. 2] Act 2024) reforms rolled out in stages between late 2023 and 2025, and touch many parts of workplace law.
Most relevant to this report are the measures that provide a tighter definition of casual employment with a pathway to permanent work: ‘Same Job, Same Pay’ orders, allowing eligible labour hire workers to seek pay parity with directly employed staff on the same enterprise agreement; and expanded Fair Work Commission powers to set minimum standards for ‘employee-like’ gig and platform workers, including road transport contractors.
The report comes as there are signals that the government is unlikely to proceed with a national labour hire licensing scheme, and as it weighs its response to the Closing Loopholes Review conducted by Susan Booth.
Peetz finds that Closing Loopholes has had a demonstrable impact on both labour hire and casual employment.
Key findings
- Labour hire: The number of people employed in ‘labour supply services’ fell by about a fifth, with direct employment rising by a roughly equivalent number of workers. The report attributes this shift largely to the ‘Same Job, Same Pay’ provisions, which have delivered substantial pay rises for labour hire workers, including an average $31,300 increase for around 1,500 mineworkers.
- Casual employment: A tighter definition of casual work and a clearer pathway to permanency have coincided with a statistically significant fall in the casual employment rate – almost a fifth lower for full-timers, though the drop is much smaller for part-timers.
- Gig and ‘regulated’ workers: Digital platform workers and owner-drivers have gained new access to the Fair Work Commission, including protection against unfair deactivation and, most recently, a road transport contractual chain order responding to fuel cost pressures from the 2026 Middle East conflict.
Peetz concludes that Closing Loopholes is best understood as an important first step – evidence, he argues, that government policy can make a real difference in reducing the exploitation of workers with little bargaining power, rather than a complete solution. He points to unresolved issues, including gaps for casuals who want permanency, questions about the adequacy of Same Job, Same Pay in female-dominated industries, and the need for coordinated state and federal action on workers’ compensation.