How Swoot pays delivery riders
What changed on 17 August 2026
The Fair Work Commission made Australia's first Minimum Standards Order for on-demand delivery workers, the Interim On-Demand Delivery Employee-like Worker Minimum Standards Order. It covers riders engaged through an app to deliver food, drinks, or groceries, and it covers the platforms, like Swoot, that engage them.
Before this order, delivery riders were independent contractors with no guaranteed minimum pay. This order does not make riders employees, but it does set a legal floor under what they can be paid, and requirements around insurance, record keeping, and disputes.
What counts as "engaged time"
Engaged time is the period from when you accept a delivery to when you complete it, as recorded in the app. It does not include time spent logged in and waiting for an offer. The order does not require Swoot to pay the floor rate for every hour worked, only to guarantee your total earnings across a pay period are not less than your total engaged hours multiplied by the floor rate.
If you have delivered with Uber Eats, engaged time is closest to what you may know as active time. It is not the whole time the app is open, and it is not a flat payment attached to each delivery.
The pay floor, by vehicle
| Vehicle | Minimum rate, per engaged hour |
|---|---|
| Bicycle, e-bike, e-scooter, or no vehicle | $31.30 |
| Motorcycle or combustion scooter | Figure being confirmed |
| Car or van, up to 1 tonne carrying capacity | $32.00 |
These rates are set by the Commission and are subject to change, including through the annual wage review. We will update this page whenever they do.
Three quick examples:
- 15 engaged minutes by car: $8.00 of earnings floor for that time
- 30 engaged minutes by car: $16.00 of earnings floor for that time
- 30 engaged minutes by bicycle or e-bike: $15.65 of earnings floor for that time
These are floor calculations, not quoted fees for individual jobs. The final comparison is made across the full 7 day pay period.
How the top-up works
Every 7 days, we add up all your engaged time and compare your actual earnings for that period against the floor for the vehicle you used. If your earnings fall short, we pay the difference as a top-up, on top of what you already earned. If your earnings already meet or beat the floor, no top-up is needed, you simply keep what you earned.
We use a 7 day pay period rather than the 21 days the law allows, because it means you are made whole faster if a quiet run of deliveries needs topping up.
Five engaged hours create a $160.00 floor: 5 × $32.00. If your base delivery earnings for that period are $145.00, Swoot adds a $15.00 top-up to your Tuesday payout. If they are $170.00, no top-up is needed and you keep the $170.00.
Tipping is not available in the pilot, so no tip amount enters either comparison.
Tipping status
Tipping is not available in the pilot. If it is added later, tip amounts will remain separate from base delivery earnings and will never be used to reduce an earnings-floor top-up.
Insurance
Swoot will not start rider deliveries until the personal accident insurance required under the order is in place and verified. This is separate from your own vehicle insurance, which remains your responsibility and must cover delivery use specifically. Joining the pre-launch list does not mean either insurance check has passed.
Working across Victoria and NSW
A rider may cross the bridge during one delivery, so the checks depend on where the work happens. Before any delivery into Euston, a rider must complete the NSW food-delivery induction and have the required training verification record and high-visibility PPE. An e-bike that may enter Victoria must meet Victoria's 250 watt continuous power limit and 25 km/h assistance cut-off.
Food must stay protected from contamination during every trip. Riders use an insulated delivery bag or container and follow the temperature controls covered during onboarding.
If something looks wrong
If your earnings statement doesn't look right, you can raise it directly with us through the app, and we will respond in writing. If a dispute is about your account being deactivated rather than about pay, that runs under a different part of the Fair Work Act, and you can also contact the Fair Work Ombudsman directly for guidance that doesn't depend on us.
Where this comes from
This page is our own plain-English summary. For the official information, see the Fair Work Ombudsman's page on the order, and the Fair Work Commission's case page for the underlying decision.