Uber and APOD offer great start deal to ex-Defence
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World car-sharing phenomenon Uber and Australian Defence-discounts directory APOD have joined forces to offer ex-service members a big boost to a new self-employment opportunity.
In partnership with the Royal Australian Regiment Association, Enabled Employment and APOD, Uber has created a special offer designed specifically to help veterans and their spouses transition to civilian life and provide them with flexible, well-paid work.
Veterans and their spouses who sign up as an Uber driver partner before 31 December 2015 will pay 0% commission – meaning they will take 100% of every fare – for their first 3 months on the Uber platform from the date of their first trip.
This offer is also extended to more than one in 10 existing uberX partners who have a military background.
Uber spokesman Casper Nixon said that for hundreds of thousands of service men and women who have spent their lives defending Australia, facing adversity has become part of everyday life.
“Unfortunately while many of these men and women have risked everything for our country, transitioning from military to civilian life can be equally challenging,” Mr Nixon said.
“In fact, more than nine in 10 veterans do not feel that private employers will understand what their service experience offers, while 82% of veterans say they can’t find a civilian job that fits their skills and experience.
“At Uber we understand that members of our armed forces are some of our nation’s most talented and skilled people.
“That’s why today we’re excited to announce a number of partnerships with ex-service organisations to extend flexible economic opportunities provided by the uberX platform to tens of thousands of their military service members, veterans and military spouses.”
Michael von Berg, President of the Royal Australian Regiment Association applaud Uber for extending a helping hand to Australian heroes and their families.
“Uber is clearly committed to providing our former service men and women with the opportunity to access meaningful and well-paid economic opportunities,” he said.
“We are proud to be part of their commitment to find work for thousands of our nation’s former military members, veterans and spouses.”
Jessica May, CEO, Enabled Employment, said that even the strongest, bravest and toughest men and women often had to fight to be given the chance to do what they choose when they left the ADF.
“At Enabled Employment we believe everyone who has served our country deserves the dignity to be able to support themselves when they return to the civilian workforce,” she said.
“That’s why we’re proud to be working with Uber to extend flexible, well-paid work to hundreds of our ex-service members.”
APOD Director Rebecca Rutherford said APOD was always looking for new opportunities to support defence families and Uber was the latest company to join its constantly growing defence discount directory.
“This will provide access to new economic opportunities that could enhance former members’ quality of life,” she said.
“We’re proud to be able to partner with such incredible individuals, who help make Uber a service that more than 1 million Australians choose in cities across this country.”
Terms and conditions
To be eligible for the offer, partners will need to provide their APOD membership number and verify their military status by completing their service details.
Flexible income. Set your own schedule. Great support. Sign up to drive today.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has upset some readers who accuse CONTACT of “encouraging law abiding citizens and service people to break the law”. Therefore, (to cover our collective arses)…
CONTACT advises all readers to seek independent legal advice before signing any legal contracts.
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That is just rediculous, Brian. Have you done any research at all?
Each state and territory has their own legislation for public passenger services, including taxis. In the ACT, the government own all of the licences and they lease them out on an annual basis. The prices can go up and down and people have the option to hand the lease back. It would have been easy for the government to reduce the lease prices to encourage Uber drivers to lease licences. It will be interesting to see how they police that.
In Queensland, the licences are sold as perpetual licences by the government. They are an investment, like a property.
In Queensland, it is illegal to provide a taxi service (a paid fare, booked and dispatched electronically) in a vehicle other than a taxi. A taxi must be attached to a Taxi Service Licence. The vehicle that is used as a taxi must be identifiable as a taxi and affiliated with one of the approved taxi booking companies, either Yellow Cabs or Black and White Cabs. The vehicles must be equipped with a meter, security cameras and gps tracking. Safety and service is priority. The driver must be properly licenced with criminal and traffic history checks, daily licence checks and be answerable to their operators and booking companies (that hold Operator Accrediations) for their service provided as professional drivers.
The drivers of Uber vehicles in Queensland have been fined for operating unlicenced taxi services, being that they don’t hold a Taxi Service Licence and a “T” plate. The drivers in NSW have had their cars impounded. If you take a paying passenger in your private vehicle in Queensland or NSW, then you are breaking the law. And you will probably not be insured because you are providing a commercial service with your private vehicle, so you are at risk of not being covered if you injure someone in an accident.
How is that ‘not strictly illegal’?
Regardless of what Uber and their awesome PR and marketing teams say, driving for Uber is illegal, as the law stands today. So, regardless of the outcomes of the pending review on the industry, despite the fact that it is a popular way to illegally earn money, the law is the law.
Uber continue to operate in Queensland, despite being issued with a cease and desist order in mid 2014. They continue to advertise and recruit drivers, offering incentives just like the one in your story. They continue to pay the fines for the drivers. They mock our laws and the authorities.
Have a look at Uber and how they operate all around the world. They continually disobey the laws and regulations for their own gain. Ha! Ride-sharing! What part of it exactly, is sharing? Uber provide an app and take everyone’s details (They have no regulatory body, by the way. You should check the t’s&c’s on what you agreed to when you signed up). They use the driver’s car, fuel, wear and tear to provide a service that they currently take 20% for, all completely unlicenced and unregulated.
Uber have no regard for the laws of any country that they have entered. They show complete disregard for the authorities.
I believe that if someone reading your story was actually informed about the situation, that they would at least do some research before signing up for easy money with Uber. Especially the readers of this column who are all respectable, law abiding citizens.
Hi Rebecca. You are obviously passionate and knowledgeable about Uber and the taxi industry – perhaps you’d care to say how/why?
As for me and my research – you are right, I did very little on this topic, except after the fact when you and a couple of others (on Facebook) took me to task. That said, I am a former (NSW) Taxi driver myself – and a law-abiding citizen who takes responsibility for his own law abiding. As such I stand by everything I said earlier.
I’m pretty passionate too, about my right to run a news-based web site. And I have no desire to get into a war of words with you – so I won’t.
I hear what you are saying Brian.
Can I suggest to you and your editor, who wish to ‘cover your arses’, that you make Rebecca Rutherford, Jessica May and Michael von Berg aware of the legal situation here. Perhaps it will change their views on, and associations with, Uber. Other than in the ACT, where as you pointed out, it is legal. ?
I can not believe that this advertisement has been allowed to be published! Encouraging law abiding citizens and service people to break the law is just going to far, Brian Hartigan. Driving an Uber vehicle is illegal in Queensland and in NSW.
Hi Rebecca. This was not an advertisement (it was not paid for by anyone) – it is a news story – a legitimate reporting of the fact that Uber has done a deal with APOD etc to offer a service to a CONTACT-focused audience, who live all around Australia (not just Qld and NSW). There is nothing illegal or immoral or objectionable in the story itself as far as I am concerned.
Secondly, however, to say “Driving an Uber vehicle is illegal in Queensland and in NSW” is not strictly true. The actual law actually says that it is illegal to drive a passenger vehicle for reward without a proper licence, and that law was made before Uber was invented.
The ACT Government recently changed their laws to specifically make Uber legal, and I would hope the other states would eventually see sense and follow suit.
It is another fact that there have been more than 1,000,000 Uber rides undertaken in Sydney in the past 12 months. So, I think it’s pretty obvious that the law needs to catch up with the realities of modern technology.
I would also like to say that I curate a news blog and I report what I judge to be legitimate and relevant news items, such as that above. I am not a supporter of the ‘Nanny State’ and as such I believe it is every adult Australian’s own responsibility to know what they are getting into when they sign a contract with any company or entity in any state or territory in Australia. It is not up to me to check many and varied nuances of law pertaining to a news story before I publish it.
I am simply a ‘news’ reporter who reported a piece of news. I did not “encourage” anyone to break the law. If you want to be picky about such things, please be advised that you actually broke the law of defamation by publicly accusing me of something I plainly did not do.
But I won’t hold it against you 🙂
Does anyone else have anything to say on any aspect of this story, or Rebecca’s or my comments?