Tipping prompts have become common across Australian businesses including pubs, cafes, beauty salons, farmers' markets, rideshare services, food delivery apps and online shopping, The Guardian reported. The Reserve Bank of Australia reported that approximately 75% of payments in Australia were made by debit or credit card in 2025. Tipping was introduced to food delivery and on-demand transport apps including Uber, Uber Eats and DoorDash in Australia in 2019, and on those platforms tips are paid in full to drivers.
There is no legal framework in Australia requiring businesses to pass tips on to employees. The Fair Work Act contains no rules about dealing with tips, according to a Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson.
The spokesperson said workers are entitled to at least the minimum pay rates set by any relevant award or enterprise agreement, and that individual employment contracts may impose further obligations around tips. In the UK and US, laws require tips to go directly to staff.
Square, Zeller and Tyro are among the point-of-sale systems operating in Australia that include tipping prompts, though all three have tipping turned off by default. Fresha, a London-based point-of-sale and booking system, charges a 1.59% transaction fee, which also applies when tips are processed through it. When customers tip through Zeller, Tyro or Square terminals, the platform's surcharge of between 1.2% and 1.6% applies to the total amount including the tip.
Angel Zhong, from the school of economics, said that once tipping is enabled on a terminal, the social cost of requesting tips falls because the screen makes the prompt automatically rather than staff having to ask. She said a tipping screen can create a sense that tipping is expected even when it remains voluntary.
Zhong recalled debates in 2023 and 2024 about the move toward a cashless society and arguments that it would reduce incentives to tip, but said the opposite has proven to be the case. She said the screen-based prompt creates pressure that the physical tip jar never did, with customers reluctant to press "no tip" in front of staff and sometimes tipping to sidestep discomfort rather than to recognise good service.
Aidan Perkins, who has worked in hospitality for 12 years, said most people in Australia assume tips go directly to staff but this is not guaranteed by law. He said he is advocating for laws requiring businesses to pass on tips and to make their tipping policies transparent for both staff and customers. A person identified only as Sharon, with more than 10 years in hospitality, said her tips are routinely withheld by management and described the practice as toxic.
Uber Eats is offering sign-up bonuses to new delivery people across a range of Australian cities before 31 October 2026, Uber said. New delivery people in Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast can receive A$500 after completing 100 eligible deliveries within 60 days of sign-up, while those in Adelaide can receive A$300 after 100 deliveries.
For new delivery people joining in Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast, the platform is also waiving the cost of the required background check. The offer is not open to anyone who has previously completed a sign-up form as an Uber driver partner or Uber Eats delivery person.
Australian workers in hospitality and similar industries have no legal guarantee that tips collected by their employer will be passed on to them. Any entitlement to tips must arise from their individual contract of employment.
Official statements: Uber
Reporting: The Guardian
Written by Pick & Scroll News from the reporting and documents linked above.
