On 19 June 2026 the Expert Panel of the Fair Work Commission (the Expert Panel) confirmed that while the road transport contractual chain order – fuel cost recovery (RTCCO) lives on, organisations no longer need to comply with primary and secondary party obligations under the RTCCO going forward.
Revised draft RTCCO and a drop in the price of diesel
On 29 May 2026 the Expert Panel published a draft revised RTCCO, proposing to vary the current RTCCO in a number of ways [see our article for a summary of the terms of the revised RTCCO – Draft order released: some clarity, more confusion].
While the Expert Panel initially requested that parties make any submissions on the draft revised RTCCO by 4 June 2026, as a result of requests for various extensions by parties, written submissions were accepted by the Expert Panel up to 18 June 2026.
While awaiting those submissions and to complicate matters, the diesel price changed for the better. The weekly national average terminal gate price of diesel for the week ending 7 June 2026 was $1.89, representing the first occasion on which that weekly price for diesel fell below $2.00 per litre since the RTCCO was made. That was followed by the weekly price for diesel being $1.91 for the week ending 14 June 2026. The price has been below $2.00 for three weeks now, dropping to $1.71 for the week ending 19 June 2026.
Primary and secondary party obligations no longer apply going forward
For the Expert Panel, the result of that change in diesel price on the unrevised RTCCO was clear [Statement [2026] FWCFB 150]:
“The consequence of these developments is that the trigger in clause 5.3 of the order has been activated and the obligations set out in clause 4 have ceased to apply.”
This means that going forward, organisations no longer need to meet the various obligations contained in clause 4 of the RTCCO, including for primary parties to review and adjust rates to cover any increase in fuel costs, for those primary parties to take reasonable steps to ensure that second parties pass on those adjustments, or for secondary parties to also pass on those adjusted rates further down the contractual chain.
However, the Expert Panel did not specifically state when it says those clause 4 obligations ceased. Given the above diesel price changes, the only date that makes sense is 7 June 2026.
The RTCCO lives on
That is not the end of the story though. Section 536NT(7) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) provides that a road transport contractual chain order continues in operation until it is revoked and to date no such revocation order has been made by the Expert Panel (either on its own initiative or as a result of an application by any party). The Expert Panel has expressly acknowledged this to be the case.
The Expert Panel’s stated “provisional” view is that this means the RTCCO continues to be “in operation”, notwithstanding the fact that the obligations on primary and secondary parties under clause 4 of the RTCCO have ceased to apply by operation of clause 5.3 of the RTCCO.
Despite these events, the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) contends that the Expert Panel can and should vary the RTCCO in the manner previously proposed, to change clause 5.3 so that the obligations in clause 4 of the RTCCO only cease to apply if the weekly national average terminal gate price for diesel remains below $2.00 for more than four consecutive weeks. Not surprisingly, various parties have opposed that position.
On that point, the Expert Panel’s “provisional” view that there is no utility in determining at this time whether to vary the RTCCO in the manner previously proposed, and it is more appropriate to seek more submissions from interested parties on what it should do. It has given parties until 3 July 2026 to file those submissions.
Next steps
For now, it seems that organisations can stand down from complying with the primary and secondary party obligations in the RTCCO for the period after 7 June 2026. Importantly this does not obviate the need for compliance prior to that date.
Whether the RTCCO comes alive again, in the same or a similar form, remains to be determined by the Expert Panel sometime in July 2026.
In the meantime, if you have any interpretation or implementation issues with the RTCCO, please reach out to one of your key contacts.
