New rights and protections for Australian workers begin

26 February 2025

New rights under the Albanese Labor Government’s world-leading Closing Loopholes reforms kick in today for casual employees, gig workers and truck drivers.

Eligible casual employees will now have the power to choose whether they want to convert to permanent employment under the employee choice pathway.

This is one of the new rights that Peter Dutton has promised to tear up if he wins the next election.

Under Labor's reform, a casual employee can make a written request to their employer to convert to permanent employment if they have:

• worked for their employer for at least six months (12 months if employed by a small business)
• believe they no longer meet the casual employee definition.

The new casual employee definition will consider the practical reality of the employment relationship, not just how an employee is described in their employment contract.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Senator Murray Watt said these world-leading reforms strengthen protections for casual workers.

“This legislation closes the loophole that left people stuck as casuals when they were working like permanent employees but didn’t get any of the benefits of job security," Minister Watt said.

“We understand many casuals like the flexibility and casual loading, and nothing changes for these workers if they choose to remain casual."

Businesses can still hire casuals, but they will no longer be able to force someone to be a permanent casual with all the expectations of a full time worker, but none of the protections.

The option to convert to permanent employment starts today for workers in large and medium businesses, and from 26 August 2025 for small businesses.

In addition to these changes, Australia’s gig workers, including rideshare, parcel and food delivery drivers, and truck drivers will now have new protections from unfairly losing their jobs under the changes that start today. For gig workers, this includes the right to a human review of the decision to remove them from a platform.

If gig workers and truck drivers believe that their deactivation or termination was unfair, they can apply to the Fair Work Commission for assistance. If the deactivation or termination was found to be unfair, the Commission can order reinstatement. These protections are subject to a six-month qualifying period.

Digital platform and trucking businesses can still terminate a worker’s contract or deactivate a worker for a valid reason relating to their capacity or conduct following a fair process.

“For a long time, digital platform and road transport businesses have been able to punt gig workers off their apps without notice, and terminate truckies’ contracts without a fair process,” Minister Watt said.

“If eligible gig workers and truckies believe they were unfairly treated, they will now have - for the first time - access to a simple, low-cost process to apply for reinstatement.

“The process is fair and transparent and prioritises better communication. It’s reasonable to expect a review of a decision to essentially sack or suspend a gig worker to be made by a real person, not a robot.”

These reforms are all at risk under Peter Dutton and the Coalition who have already confirmed they will repeal the new rights for casuals, while flagging further attacks to workers’ wages and conditions.

“Peter Dutton and the Coalition have not only opposed every one of the workplace protections we've delivered, they’ve also promised to wind them back if they win this year’s election,” Minister Watt said.

“The Albanese Government is focused on delivering secure jobs, better pay and more rights for Australian workers, while Peter Dutton and the Coalition want to strip workers’ rights and make them work longer for less.”

More information on these provisions can be found on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s webpage on Closing Loopholes, and on the Fair Work Commission’s regulated workers and businesses hub.