Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This has been a week in which the national spotlight has focused almost exclusively on the game of politics. We have seen a spill and a new Prime Minister, and now speculation about a new cabinet. In a week like this, I feel compelled to focus beyond the political machinations in this building and instead on the opportunities that are out there on the policy horizon, because being here in this place is not an end in itself—it is a means to making Australia a more innovative, connected and creative place.

The sharing economy is one of the big opportunities I see on the horizon. The sharing economy is changing how Australians buy and sell goods and services. It is also changing how we think about work and the dividing line between private goods and public assets. Two things are clear about the sharing economy. First, it has the potential to dramatically disrupt existing business models and labour market practices. Second, its growth over the past few years has been incredibly rapid. Both are true in Australia and in many other countries around the world.

So why should government take an active interest in the sharing economy? Why not just let it happen? The arrival and development of the sharing economy have outpaced our existing regulatory regimes. This is not a problem just faced by Australia. Around the world, governments are grappling with the question of how to harness the sharing economy’s benefits, while mitigating its risks—and the benefits are potentially manifest. Whether it is via freelancing services such as AirTasker, goods-sharing services such as OpenShed, parking services such as Parkhound or pet-minding services like Pawshake, the sharing economy gives consumers access to a broader range of goods and services, potentially at a cheaper price. That has got to be a good thing for ordinary Australians. The sharing economy can help us make better use of surplus bedrooms, cars and other goods that would otherwise be under-utilised. With our cities facing the challenges of congestion and housing affordability, the sharing economy can potentially make us better off.

While there may be much to welcome, I am not an uncritical cheerleader. Some sharing economy services operate outside of existing rules and regulations that serve to guarantee workers’ rights, protect public safety and ensure people pay their fair share of tax. We cannot just sit back and say, 'She’ll be right,' but neither should we seek to spoil the benefits of the sharing economy by over-regulating it. Labor seeks a sensible middle ground.

In contrast to the coalition’s policy vacuum on the sharing economy, I have spent the last six months speaking with members of the public, sharing economy companies and peak bodies about how to get the right balance between freedom and regulation. Over 500 people and organisations have responded to Labor’s sharing economy discussion paper, which I released in March of this year at the National Press Club. Those concerns have informed Labor's thinking on the issue.

The top concern raised was public safety. More than half of those who responded said we need better rules to keep people safe when using sharing economy services. Wages and working conditions were another big theme coming out of our consultation. Four out of 10 people told us that they want to see people who deliver services in the sharing economy get paid a decent wage and enjoy good working conditions. Then there is tax. One in three people said they are worried some sharing economy companies, and the people delivering services through them, are falling through our tax system and are not paying the right amount of tax. I know this is a concern for good sharing economy providers too, who believe that they have a competitive edge that does not rely on underpaying their taxes.

Another big issue that came up in our consultations was accessibility for people with disability. There were issues around fair competition with existing service providers, transparency in how sharing economy companies operate, and ongoing innovation—the need to make Australia a place where good companies and ideas can take root, such as the caravan sharing service, Camplify, which I visited in Newcastle with the member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon.

Labor is now working on a response to these consultations and a blueprint for how we balance these important priorities. The sharing economy is racing ahead. It’s time we, in this place, took our fair share of responsibility for developing regulatory architecture that can keep up, because Labor wants to see all Australians—customers and workers alike—share in the benefits of the new economy.