There are renewed calls for minimum standards for gig workers after police data revealed a 15th food delivery driver death that previously went unreported.
A 29-year-old food delivery driver was killed on the job in November 2022 after he was struck by a van while riding his electric bicycle across an arterial road in Preston in Melbourne's northeast at night.
The man, who held an international licence, died at the scene.
Worksafe Victoria was not notified of the death as workplace deaths are reported if the person is an employee of a company, which many gig workers are not.
More than 900 motorbike and bicycle workers have been injured on Victorian roads since 2016, according to police data.
This coincides with the rise of food delivery services such as UberEats, Deliveroo, Menulog and Doordash.
In 2022, at least 143 motorbike and bicycle riders were injured on the job, a jump from 92 in 2016.
There were thousands more bike injuries recorded over the same period but it is not known whether these riders were working at the time of their injuries.
Five Victorians have died on the job while riding a motorbike or bicycle since 2016.
Two were food delivery drivers while the remaining were logistics drivers.
When Mugdha Deogade started working as a food delivery driver for the now-defunct Foodora, all she got was a jacket and some stickers.
She didn't even complete her first shift after she was flung from her scooter after a car rammed past her.
"When I regained consciousness I found myself lying in blood," she said.
Ms Deogade returned to work shortly after as she was on a student visa and couldn't get access to financial support but had to quit in 2020 after her body gave out from her long-term injuries.
"It can get crazy ... we can't do two things at the same time - do the job properly or drive safely - so we always compromise on safety," she said.
She only received some compensation five years after her accident.
The Transport Workers Union is demanding the Senate pass urgent reforms to enshrine rights and entitlements such as a minimum wage and rules against unfair contract terminations.
States must also make workers' compensation automatic for gig transport workers, it said.
Current conditions put deadly pressure on workers to rush and take risks on the road to earn enough money and retain their jobs, the union said.
The "horrific but not surprising" data shows the lethal race against time many riders face to avoid being sacked, TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said.
"They're having to rush to make a living for themselves and their families. It's a deadly recipe," he said.
"We need the federal parliament ... to step up and pass these laws in February so the pressures are lifted off those workers."
NSW Premier Chris Minns in May pledged to include rideshare and food delivery drivers in the state's workplace laws, extending work compensation cover to gig workers.
More than half of food delivery riders felt pressured to rush while a quarter experienced their accounts being deactivated, a 2023 study of over 1000 transport gig workers revealed.
