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ARTICLE · 23 SEPTEMBER 2026

Road Transport Contracting Reforms: Is Your Business Ready For The Next Binding Order?

Coleman Greig Lawyers
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New Australian legislation allows the Fair Work Commission to issue binding orders across entire road transport contractual chains, potentially affecting businesses that procure, arrange or supply transport services even if they don't directly engage drivers. The first order addressed fuel cost recovery and demonstrates how quickly compliance obligations can arise, raising questions about which businesses fall within scope and what steps they should take to prepare for future regulatory intervention.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Alex Ong
Alex Ong
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Businesses that procure, arrange or supply road transport services may be subject to a binding Fair Work Commission order if they are within the road transport contractual chain and class of persons covered by that order, even if they do not directly engage the driver or subcontractor. Under the new regime, orders may regulate matters such as payment terms, fuel cost recovery, rate review mechanisms and other contractual arrangements permitted by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) across a road transport contractual chain.

How the New Road Transport Regime Works

Chapter 3B of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), which commenced on 26 August 2024, allows the Fair Work Commission to make road transport contractual chain orders. Section 15RA defines a road transport contractual chain as a chain or series of contracts or arrangements under which work is performed for a party to the first contract or arrangement by a regulated road transport contractor, a road transport employee-like worker under a

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