1Short title
This is the Owner-Drivers (Contracts and Disputes) Act 2007.
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Bill homepageThis is the Owner-Drivers (Contracts and Disputes) Act 2007.
This Act comes into operation on a day fixed by proclamation.
Different days may be fixed under subsection (1) for different provisions.
Note for this section:
Under section 22 of the Interpretation Act 1984, this section and section 1 come into operation on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —
code of conduct means the code of conduct made under Part 4;
Council means the Road Freight Transport Industry Council established by section 17;
Department means the department of the Public Service principally assisting in the administration of this Act;
goods includes freight and materials;
guideline rates means rates of payment published in accordance with section 27(1)(f);
heavy vehicle has the meaning given in the Road Traffic (Vehicles) Act 2012 section 3(1);
hirer means a person who engages an owner‑driver under an owner‑driver contract;
inspector means an Industrial Inspector as defined in the IR Act section 7;
IR Act means the Industrial Relations Act 1979;
minimum notice period, in relation to the termination of an owner‑driver contract, is —
90 days; or
if the aggregate term of the original contract and any consecutive series of successive contracts between the same parties that contain substantially similar terms and conditions is less than 90 days — 7 days;
notice period, in relation to the termination of an owner‑driver contract, is the period —
beginning on the day on which one party gives the other party written notice of termination of the contract; and
ending on the day on which the termination of the contract is to take effect;
owner‑driver has the meaning given to that term in section 4;
owner‑driver contract has the meaning given to that term in section 5;
party, in relation to an owner‑driver contract, means a party to the contract;
payment claim means a claim made under an owner‑driver contract —
by the owner‑driver to the hirer for payment of an amount in relation to the performance by the owner‑driver of the owner‑driver’s obligations under the contract; or
by the hirer to the owner‑driver in relation to the performance or non‑performance by the owner‑driver of the owner‑driver’s obligations under the contract;
prescribed representative body means a body that —
represents the interests of owner‑drivers or hirers; and
is prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;
Registrar has the meaning given to that term by the IR Act section 7;
transport association means —
a representative body prescribed by the regulations for the purpose of this definition; or
the Transport Workers’ Union of Australia, Industrial Union of Workers, Western Australian Branch;
Tribunal has the meaning given to that term in section 38(2);
workplace means a place, whether or not in a vehicle, building or other structure, where owner‑drivers or hirers work or are likely to be in the course of their work.
[Section 3 amended: No. 47 of 2011 s. 27; No. 8 of 2012 s. 151; No. 17 of 2014 s. 30; No. 36 of 2022 s. 4.]
In this section —
listed public company has the same meaning as it has in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 of the Commonwealth;
officer, of a body corporate, has the same meaning as it has in the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth.
For the purposes of this Act an owner‑driver is —
a natural person —
who carries on the business of transporting goods in one or more heavy vehicles supplied by that person; and
whose principal occupation is the operation of those vehicles (whether solely or with the use of other operators); or
a body corporate (other than a listed public company) that carries on the business of transporting goods in one or more heavy vehicles that are —
supplied by the body corporate or an officer of the body corporate; and
operated by an officer of the body corporate (whether solely or with the use of other operators) whose principal occupation is the operation of those vehicles; or
a partnership of persons, at least one of whom is a person referred to in paragraph (a).
For the purposes of this Act, an owner‑driver contract is a contract (whether written or oral or partly written and partly oral) entered into in the course of business by an owner‑driver with another person for the transport of goods in a heavy vehicle by the owner‑driver.
It does not matter that an owner‑driver contract provides for an owner‑driver to perform services other than transporting goods, as long as the services to be performed under the contract predominantly relate to the transport of goods.
To avoid doubt, an owner‑driver contract does not include a contract that is a contract of employment.
This Act applies to and in relation to owner‑drivers who are engaged —
under an owner‑driver contract that is entered into in Western Australia or that is subject to the law of Western Australia; or
to transport goods wholly within Western Australia; or
to transport goods from Western Australia to another place, or from another place to Western Australia, if a substantial part of the services under the owner‑driver contract are performed in Western Australia.
However, this Act does not apply in relation to an owner‑driver contract if the owner‑driver who is a party to the contract has the benefit of, or is otherwise covered by —
a contract determination made under Chapter 6 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 of New South Wales; or
an order made under the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005 of Victoria,
in relation to the contract.
A provision in an agreement or arrangement in force on, or entered into after, the coming into operation of this section, whether an owner‑driver contract or not and whether in writing or not, that —
purports to exclude, modify or restrict the operation of this Act or the code of conduct; or
is contrary to or inconsistent with anything in this Act, the code of conduct or an order of the Tribunal,
has no effect.
A provision in an agreement or arrangement that has no effect because of subsection (1) does not prejudice or affect the operation of other provisions of the agreement or arrangement.
Any purported waiver, whether in an owner‑driver contract and whether in writing or not, of an entitlement under this Act has no effect.
Despite subsection (1), during the 6 months beginning on and including the day on which this section comes into operation, a provision of an owner‑driver contract that is contrary to or inconsistent with a provision of this Act or the code of conduct prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.
This Act binds the Crown in right of the State and, so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, in all its other capacities.
A provision in an owner‑driver contract has no effect if it purports to make the liability of a party (A) to pay money under the contract to another party contingent, whether directly or indirectly, on A being paid money by another person (whether or not a party).
A provision in an owner‑driver contract that purports to require a payment to be made more than 30 days after a payment claim for the payment is made is to be read as being amended to require the payment to be made within 30 days after the claim is made.
A provision in an owner‑driver contract has no effect if it purports to allow a party to terminate the contract by giving notice of less than the minimum notice period.
[Section 10A inserted: No. 36 of 2022 s. 5.]
A provision in an owner‑driver contract has no effect if it is a provision that is prescribed by the regulations to be a prohibited provision.
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