From 1 July in New South Wales, food delivery riders in New South Wales must be supplied with high-visibility personal protective equipment (PPE) by food delivery platforms.

The high-visibility protective equipment must include a retroreflective outer clothing item, and a bag or container for safely transporting food or drink, that comply with the relevant Australian Standard.

NSW Minister for Small Business and Fair Trading Eleni Petinos said, “these reforms are ultimately about keeping riders, who are among some of our most at-risk road users, safer on our roads”.

“In March 2021, 21 delivery rider incidents were reported, dropping to 11 incidents in March 2022 despite traffic on our roads increasing with COVID-19 restrictions easing,” Ms Petinos said.

“While there has been a decline in rider incidents in the past 12 months, there is still a need for stronger sanctions to prevent incidents from occurring.

“We now have the strongest safety environment for food delivery platforms and riders anywhere in the world, and will continue to work with industry to ensure a culture where safety comes first.”

On-the-spot penalties of $3,600 will apply to platforms that cannot demonstrate that they have met the requirements.

SafeWork NSW has produced fact sheets to help you get on top of the new requirements.

You can download the fact sheets in multiple languages here.