Pay to get paid: NDIS workers raise concerns about gig economy platforms

Murdoch is speaking about Express Pay, a third-party payment service offered by the gig economy platform Mable, which helps connect disabled clients and support workers.

Workers who use Mable are independent contractors and therefore not entitled to the same rights as employees. Workers are engaged and paid by their clients rather than Mable, with Mable collecting the fees from clients and distributing them to workers.

Mable says in 90% of cases contractors using the platform are paid within two weeks, results it achieves by paying them on the same day it receives funds from clients in almost all cases.

But delays can be caused by many things: by clients or plan managers not approving timesheets, by clients spending more than they are entitled to after a cut to their disability support package, or by clients exceeding the NDIS price cap for a particular type of service.

Mable offers a solution for those who want more certainty of payment: by opting to use Express Pay, contractors are charged a fee of 1.5% by a third-party finance provider and given their earnings within three days.

Lloyd Williams, the national secretary of the Health Services Union, disputes the idea that care workers are small businesses.

Contracting platforms are not the only technology solution to help support workers find clients and vice versa. Hireup is a similar app-based platform that directly employs its support workers.