• What are RTTCOs?

  RTCCOs are binding orders made by the Commission that set enforceable standards across road transport contractual chains. RTCCOs can override existing contractual arrangements and impose mandatory requirements relating to payment rates and cost recovery, and they bind all parties regardless of the terms of existing contracts. 

• Are RTCCOs new?

  Importantly, these provisions are not entirely new. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) already contained a framework for regulating the road transport industry, designed to provide owner drivers and similar workers with employee-like protections, which included the Commission’s power to make RTCCOs. However, under the standard pathway, an RTCCO could not take effect until at least 12 months after a notice of intent and draft order were published, or 6 months in urgent circumstances. 

  The Fairer Fuel Act fundamentally altered this position by introducing an "emergency application" mechanism, which applies where events or circumstances are causing, or are likely to imminently cause, a significant national negative impact on the road transport industry, and it is in the public interest to act. This mechanism allows the Commission to make an RTCCO in a markedly compressed timeframe.

• Who can make an RTCCO?

  An RTCCO may be made by the Commission on its own motion or by application from an organisation representing persons in a contractual chain, a regulated business, a primary party, or the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.

• What is the purpose of this RTTCO?

  The Commission made the Order with the intention of ensuring increases in fuel costs are passed through contractual chains, so that regulated road transport contractors and employee‑like workers are able to recover those costs.

• Who is affected by this RTTCO?

  The Order covers the following persons in road transport contractual chains performing work in the road transport industry: 

  • primary parties (those at the top of the supply chain, such as retailers and manufacturers and their direct suppliers with whom they contract – noting not all orders apply to a small business employer which is not a road transport business)
  • secondary parties (those that subcontract to perform the work)
  • road transport businesses
  • digital labour platform operators in the road transport industry
  • road transport employee-like workers, and 
  • regulated road transport contractors. 

  The Order requires primary parties and secondary parties to make mandatory fortnightly (or twice per calendar month) adjustments to the rates paid for road transport work, to the extent necessary to ensure recovery of the increased cost of fuel. 

  Businesses (including government entities) will be affected by the Order where they:

  1. form part of a road transport contractual chain and at least one party to that chain is a constitutional corporation
  2. the relevant work falls within the road transport industry, and 
  3. that work has involved increased fuel costs. 
• What are the key features of the RTTCO?

  Fortnightly (or twice per calendar month) fuel cost adjustments

  • Primary parties must, within each fortnight or twice per calendar month, adjust the rates they pay to other primary parties within the road transport contractual chain by the amount necessary to ensure recovery of increased fuel costs. While the wording is ambiguous, this is so even if the other primary party provides road transport services by using only employees rather than sub-contractors. 
  • Primary parties must also take reasonable steps to ensure secondary parties adjusting rates paid to regulated road transport contractors and employee‑like workers do so on the same basis. 
  • Secondary parties must similarly adjust, within each fortnight or twice per calendar month, the rate they pay to other secondary parties, regulated road transport contractors and road transport employee-like workers by the amount necessary to ensure recovery of the increased cost of fuel.

  Increased fuel costs are measured by reference to the difference between current fuel prices and fuel prices as at or before 6 March 2026. Importantly, any rate adjustments implemented before the Order commenced may be taken into account. This is practically significant for businesses that have already made rate adjustments in response to the fuel crisis, as those adjustments may be credited against obligations under the Order. 

• Rate adjustment obligations

  Rate adjustment obligations to reflect fuel cost increases can be satisfied by:

  • a rate adjustment in accordance with an applicable State or Territory industrial instrument which involves the application of a ‘rise and fall’ formula or cost model;
  • a rate adjustment under a ‘rise and fall’ formula, cost model or cost benchmark in an applicable collective agreement or contract;
  • an agreed ongoing or special arrangement in a road transport contractual chain which adjusts the rate in accordance with an agreed ‘rise and fall’ formula, cost model or other benchmarking methodology.

  The rise and fall formula cost model or benchmarking method may be applied in a standardised way on the basis of reasonable averaging. While many road transport contracts already contain fuel price review formulas or fuel levy mechanisms, the Order does not displace those arrangements. Instead, the critical distinction lies in timing: existing contractual mechanisms typically operate on longer review cycles, for example annually, whereas the Order requires fuel‑related rate adjustments to be made on a fortnightly basis.

• How long will the RTTCO remain in place?

  The Order will remain in force until revoked or until the weekly average national terminal gate price for diesel falls below $2.00 per litre. 

  Non‑compliance with the Order constitutes a breach of a civil remedy provision, exposing the party to potential penalties and court‑imposed orders. Disputes about compliance are expected to be dealt with through engagement between the parties in the first instance, with escalation to enforcement processes if unresolved.

What should businesses do?

The fuel crisis, and its impact on the road transport supply chain and road transport workers, is unprecedented and continues to evolve. For businesses operating within the road transport supply chain, the following steps should be considered:

• Review existing contracts: Businesses should urgently review their road transport contracts to identify existing fuel cost recovery mechanisms, including any fuel levy, rate review or price adjustment provisions, and assess whether these are adequate in light of the new requirements.
   
• Implement systems for fortnightly (or twice monthly) adjustments: Businesses that are primary or secondary parties in road transport contractual chains must ensure they have systems in place to conduct fortnightly or twice-monthly fuel cost reviews and implement required rate adjustments in accordance with the Order. Businesses should consider structured compliance approaches, including mapping contractual chains, issuing written directions to contractors, confirming adjustments are passed on, and monitoring compliance.  
   
• Be alert to broader impacts: The Order is one regulatory response to the fuel crisis, but it is unlikely to be the only one. Businesses should remain alert to other potential developments if fuel price volatility continues. For example, Australian unions have recently applied to the Commission to increase vehicle allowances under modern awards for workers who use their own vehicles during work hours.