Union calls on WorkSafe Victoria to probe HungryPanda’s risk controls as a delivery rider’s death exposes a workplace safety gap
A HungryPanda delivery rider has been fatally stabbed in Melbourne’s CBD, and the death has renewed calls for stronger gig worker protections. The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) wants WorkSafe Victoria to investigate whether the platform failed to properly assess and control risks to its riders.
Victoria Police said Feng Jianming, 47, and another rider saw a man allegedly tampering with their bikes on Frederick Way, near Queen Victoria Market, at about 8.10pm on Friday 6 November 2026.
The pair confronted him and a fight followed. Feng died at the scene. The second rider, 34, was still in hospital with serious injuries on Monday. A 51-year-old Footscray man was charged today (9 November) with one count of murder and one count of intentionally causing serious injury. He was expected to appear before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court the same day.
Feng had come from China’s Shaanxi Province. He was supporting his wife, two children and four parents.
Union alleges potential WorkSafe breaches
The TWU said it would write to HungryPanda. It is asking for the risk assessments the union says safety laws required the company to carry out, and for the company’s plan to support Feng’s family and the injured rider. The union has also asked WorkSafe to look into worker reports that riders are penalised for lost or stolen orders.
“HungryPanda has legal obligations to do whatever it can to minimise risk as food delivery riders carry out their work,” said TWU national secretary Michael Kaine. “It must urgently confirm whether it has done this, and we are calling on WorkSafe to investigate whether it has failed in its duties here, as we have seen in the past with its failure to report a workplace death.”
“We have also received reports that workers are being penalised by the company for lost or stolen orders, putting them directly in harm’s way to protect their income,” he said.
According to the TWU, 25 gig workers have been killed in Australia since 2017. The union says HungryPanda did not report the 2020 death of rider Xiaojun Chen in Sydney to the safety regulator as the law required. It says it later took his family’s compensation case to court and won. The TWU also alleges the company blocked rider Zhuoying Wang from receiving orders in 2023 after she spoke out about it.
HungryPanda denies ‘automatic’ penalty policy
HungryPanda told ABC News it does not have an “automatic” policy requiring workers to pay for stolen food. “No rider should feel obliged to put themselves at risk to protect personal property, delivery equipment or food orders,” the company said.
HungryPanda said it will pay the family’s travel and funeral costs and make an extra financial support payment. It also plans to meet Melbourne riders this week to discuss safety. “This tragedy has brought these safety risks into sharper focus and reinforced the need for greater attention to rider safety in public spaces,” the company said.
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll has promised to make “whatever changes are necessary”. “We do know that often people in the gig economy … are some of the most vulnerable Victorians and they do need proper protections in place and workplace safety,” he said.
Where do gig worker protections fall short on safety?
The death comes less than three months after the Fair Work Commission’s Interim On-Demand Delivery Employee-like Worker Minimum Standards Order took effect on 17 August 2026. The order applies to “employee-like” workers: independent contractors who work through digital labour platforms. It builds on the federal Closing Loopholes reforms.
As HRD reported when gig delivery riders got Australia’s first minimum pay order, the order sets an hourly floor of $31.30 for riders on foot, bicycle or e-scooter. Platforms must also hold personal accident insurance for workers. However, the Fair Work Ombudsman says the order has no rules on workplace health and safety. It also makes workers responsible for fines and penalties, unless they were incurred while following a platform’s express direction.
That leaves safety to state law. WorkSafe Victoria’s guidance for gig workers notes that “depending on the arrangement, many gig workers may be self-employed persons” under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic).
“This is a community that’s really exposed,” Andrew Copolov from the Melbourne Gig Workers Hub told 774 ABC Melbourne. “They’re out in the street, they don’t have spaces of their own and that’s a real shame, something that ought to be fixed.”
Organisations that use platform contractors should check whether any pay, penalty or performance settings could push workers to defend goods or equipment rather than step away. They should also confirm how work-related violence and serious incidents involving non-employees are assessed and reported to regulators.
