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Owner drivers and forestry contractors

Commonwealth protections

Commonwealth laws provide protections for independent contractors working in the road transport industry and gig workers. These laws operate alongside Victoria’s Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005.

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An interpreting service is available and we have translated information about engaging owner drivers and forestry contractors in 8 languages.

There are laws hirers and freight brokers must follow when engaging owner drivers or forestry contractors. Failing to comply with some of these laws is a crime.

If you are an owner driver or forestry contractor, the hirer or freight broker who engages you must adhere to the laws set out below. You can report a business you think is breaking these laws through our online form.

The Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005 and Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Regulations 2017 outline the requirements you must follow when engaging an owner driver or forestry contractor.

Who is an owner driver?

An owner driver is someone that runs a business transporting goods using up to 3 vehicles supplied by them. The owner of the business must also operate one of the vehicles.

Information booklet for owner drivers

Who is a forestry contractor?

A forestry contractor is someone that runs a business to:

The contractor supplies the vehicles and operates at least one of them.

Information booklet for forestry contractors

Requirements for hirers and freight brokers

A hirer is someone that engages an owner driver or forestry contractor.

A freight broker is a broker or agent that procures or arranges the engagement of an owner driver or forestry contractor by a hirer. This includes online platforms that facilitate the engagement of owner drivers or forestry contractors by hirers.

Providing information

If you are engaging an owner driver or forestry contractor for a total of 30 days or more in any 3-month period, you must ensure they receive the relevant:

Information booklet

Rates and cost schedules

This information must be provided at least 3 business days before they start work.

Where the engagement was initially for fewer than 30 days within a 3-month period but is extended, this information must be provided on the 30th day of the engagement.

Tip truck owner drivers in construction must receive this information for engagements of any length of time.

The rates and cost schedules are regularly updated. You must provide the current version of these documents, which are available at the links above.

The maximum penalty for not providing an information booklet to a contractor before entering into a contract is:

The maximum penalty for not providing the relevant rates and costs schedule to a contractor before entering into a contract is:

Contracts must be in writing

You must use written contracts if the engagement is for 30 days or more or has no fixed end-date. The contract must include the:

The maximum penalty for not providing a written contract for ongoing engagements of no fixed duration or for a period of 30 days or more is:

Terminating a contract

Hirers who want to terminate the contract of an owner driver or forestry contractor are required to give a minimum period of notice of termination or make payment in lieu of notice. The requirement to give a minimum period of notice only applies where the engagement proceeds beyond 3 months.

The minimum notice periods are:

There is no requirement to give notice if the hirer is ending the contract because of serious and wilful misconduct by the owner driver or forestry contractor, or if the contractor is ending the contract because of a material breach by the hirer.

Where an owner driver or forestry contractor considers that the notice period is not needed, they may contact the Victorian Small Business Commission. The Commission may then issue a certificate to waive this requirement.

A hirer can choose whether to give the minimum notice period or make a payment instead of notice (how to calculate this payment is set out in the Act).

Hirers are responsible for keeping records of when they terminate an engagement with a contractor. If the hirer provided payment in lieu of notice to the contractor, they must record the date it was provided and the amount paid. See the section on record-keeping below.

The maximum penalty for not providing sufficient notice before ending a contract or making payment instead of giving notice is:

Protections for contractors

You must not subject or threaten an owner driver or forestry contractor to any detriment for:

Unconscionable conduct

Hirers, owner drivers and forestry contractors must not engage in ‘unconscionable conduct’ with respect to each other, including during negotiations.

Generally speaking, unconscionable conduct occurs where a stronger party to a transaction exploits a weaker party in a way that is unreasonable or unfair. However, what may amount to unconscionable conduct or an unjust term will depend on all of the parties’ circumstances. It is important to seek legal advice on this.

Owner drivers, forestry contractors and hirers can refer allegations of unconscionable conduct or unjust contract terms to the VSBC for alternative dispute resolution. If not resolved, they can then be referred to VCAT.

Record keeping

You should keep records that show you are meeting your obligations under the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005 because you may have to provide them to an investigator monitoring compliance.

Hirers must record:

Freight brokers must record:

A maximum penalty of $20,351 in the case of a body corporate or $12,210.60 in any other case applies for:

Resolving disputes

Owner drivers, forestry contractors and hirers can arrange low-cost dispute resolution through the Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC) for disputes relating to:

Disputes that are not resolved by the VSBC may be referred to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for determination. Generally, parties must go to the VSBC before going to VCAT.

Hirers are responsible for reimbursing owner drivers for toll costs incurred if they direct the owner driver to take a toll road, or if the owner driver needs to take a toll road to complete their trip.

If the hirer does not reimburse the toll costs the owner driver will need to include these costs as part of their cost calculation. The price of a trip will depend on the following factors: how far you travel, the type of vehicle you use, whether you travel in peak or off-peak times and the account or pass you choose. There are trip toll caps for heavy commercial vehicles. To check the current costs, use the following toll calculators provided by Linkt and Eastlink.

Hirers must engage owner drivers using a written contract for ongoing engagements of no fixed duration or for a period of at least 30 days. It is best practice for written contracts to contain a term setting out responsibility for payment of tolls. A model contract has been developed for use by owner drivers and hirers.

Where there is no written contract, or where the written contract does not cover responsibility for payment of tolls, it is best practice for the parties to confirm responsibility for toll payment prior to engagement.

Our role

Our role is to:

If we find contraventions of the law we may:

Report a business breaking the rules

Use our online form to report non-compliance with the law or to submit additional documents for an existing report.

Report a business

Updated 23 December 2025

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