Delivery driver pay rise 2026:
what it means for your GST and BAS.

From 17 August, Uber Eats, DoorDash and Menulog riders get a guaranteed minimum pay rate and clearer pay statements. Bigger numbers on your dashboard change what you need to track, even if the rules haven't changed.

What actually changed on 17 August

The Fair Work Commission's new minimum standard for food delivery platform workers takes effect from 17 August 2026. It applies to riders and drivers on Uber Eats, DoorDash and Menulog, and covers two things:

• A guaranteed minimum rate: roughly $31.30 to $32 an hour, including time spent waiting for an order, not just time spent actively delivering
• Pay transparency: platforms have to show a clearer breakdown of how each payment was worked out, instead of a single lump figure

Neither of these is a tax change. Nobody at the ATO has adjusted anything because of this decision. But if your income is about to look different, and for many delivery riders it will, your GST position is worth a second look.

Why a pay rise can trigger a GST obligation you didn't have before

Rideshare drivers (Uber, DiDi, Ola) have always had to register for GST from their very first dollar of income. That part doesn't change here.

Delivery-only riders are different. You only need to register for GST once your income across all gig platforms combined hits $75,000 in a rolling 12-month period. That's the standard small business threshold, and until now it's been a genuine gap between what many full-time delivery riders earned and what triggered GST.

A guaranteed $31.30 to $32 an hour, including waiting time, closes that gap faster. If you're delivering close to full-time, this pay rise can be the difference between staying under $75,000 and crossing it within the next 12 months, sometimes without you noticing until a platform statement makes it obvious.

The fix isn't complicated: add up your last 12 months of delivery income. If you're within striking distance of $75,000, or you cross it partway through a quarter, register for GST before you cross the threshold, not after. Registering late doesn't remove the obligation, it just adds a scramble to catch up.

What pay transparency means for your record-keeping

The new pay statements are meant to break down exactly how each payment was calculated: base rate, waiting time, distance, any bonuses. That's genuinely useful for you beyond compliance. Clearer statements make it much easier to reconcile what you were actually paid each quarter, which is exactly the number your BAS needs.

It doesn't change what you report. Your BAS still covers the GST component of your income and the GST component of your work expenses. It just makes it faster to get those numbers right.

What doesn't change

A few things stay exactly the same regardless of this pay rise:

• Rideshare drivers are GST-registered from dollar one, no threshold, pay rise or not
• Your deductible expenses are unchanged: fuel, phone, vehicle running costs, platform fees, tolls and parking are all still claimable
• BAS due dates haven't moved: quarterly, roughly 28 days after each quarter ends, or about 25 extra days if you lodge through a registered BAS agent

What to do about it

If you're a full-time or near-full-time delivery rider, this is a good moment to check where you actually sit against the $75,000 threshold, rather than waiting for a platform notice to tell you. If you're already GST-registered, either through rideshare or because you crossed the threshold earlier, nothing changes except the numbers going into your BAS each quarter are likely to be a bit bigger.

Frly checks your GST status as part of onboarding and flags it if you're getting close to the threshold, so you're not finding out after the fact.

Common questions