The Government's proposing new criteria to define who's a contractor and who's an employee.

'Contractors' will need to have signed a contract, stating they're an independent contractor.

They must be able to subcontract out any set hours, they can't be prevented from working for other people, and they can't be fired for not taking on extra tasks.

Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden says the Government is looking to change the law next year.

"Most of this has been built through case law over time, so it's not actually clear enough in the law how individual contract arrangements work."

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