More workers using digital platforms

Seven per cent of Australian workers used digital platforms for work over the past 12 months.

The five most common platforms used by people in Australia working on digital platforms are Airtasker, Uber, Freelancer, Uber Eats and Deliveroo.

Seven per cent of Australian workers used digital platforms for work over the past 12 months, according to the nation’s largest survey of the gig economy.

The five most common platforms used by people in Australia working on digital platforms are Airtasker (34.8 per cent), Uber (22.7 per cent), Freelancer (11.8 per cent), Uber Eats (10.8 per cent and Deliveroo (8.2 per cent).

A survey of 14,000 people by Queensland University of Technology, the University of Adelaide and University of Technology Sydney found 15 per cent of those working in the gig economy ­relied on digital platforms for “meeting their basic needs”.

While 7 per cent have worked on digital platforms in the past year, 13.1 per cent of survey ­respondents have, at some time, done digital platform work. The rate of participation is similar to recent survey findings in Europe, and higher than some previous estimates for Australia.

More than a third of platform workers access work through more than one platform, and 11.4 per cent are registered on four or more platforms. Almost two-thirds, however, access work using only one digital platform.

The types of work current platform workers are doing include transport and food delivery, professional services work, odd jobs or maintenance work, and writing or translation work.

Platform workers surveyed were highly satisfied with the flexibility of gig work but were less satisfied that the income they received was fair.

For those who did estimate their hourly income, the median response for pre-tax dollars per hour was $25 and the mean (with the top and bottom 5 per cent of responses trimmed) was $32.16 an hour. The median income for males and females was not significantly different. People aged 18 to 34 and males are working through digital platforms in higher proportions than other demographic groups, with females only half as likely as males to work on digital platforms.

The survey was commissioned by the Victorian government to support the Victorian Inquiry into the On-Demand Workforce.

Victorian Minister for Industrial Relations Tim Pallas said the survey findings showed the gig economy affected many Australians. ‘