Ongoing conflict in the Middle East has seen up oil prices escalate around the world.
In Australia, the impact was felt straight away. Diesel and petrol prices jumped, which hit anyone relying on transport across all industries within Australia.
To deal with this, the Australian Government brought in new laws called the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Act 2026. The resulting Road Transport Contractual Chain Order (RTCCO) came into effect on 21 April 2026. The Commission will review the order in late May 2026 and then every 3 months.
Its purpose is to help road transport industry businesses and workers recover fuel costs.
The RTCCO requires parties across road transport contractual chains to pay more to providers of road transport services because of recent increases in fuel prices. Providers include small fleet operators, non-employed truck drivers such as owner-drivers and employee-like workers who perform digital labour platform work.
It is important to note that this order does not necessarily cover all businesses who may have some aspects involving road transport – just a limited group who meet a specific definition.
This group is defined as businesses in road transport who perform work in a defined contractual chain. This covers:
- primary parties,
- secondary parties,
- regulated businesses,
- regulated road transport contractors, and
- road transport employee-like workers.
The definitions provided by the FWC are:
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If a business is engaged within one of these areas, the newly enforceable rules set out that primary and secondary parties engaged in the contractual chain are responsible for adjusting their rates to ensure recovery of the increased fuel costs. Overall, the goal is to spread the risk more fairly across the supply chain, rather than leaving smaller operators to carry the burden when fuel prices spike.
Business owners who consider that they are part of the contractual chain or need to assess whether they are part of the contractual chain, are encouraged to consider their obligations and, if needed, seek legal advice.