He was the first of five riders across various companies to die while on the job nationally in the coming months, renewing scrutiny on the multi-million-dollar online food delivery industry, which relies heavily on low-paid workers from overseas.

Upon hearing her husband had died, the first thought of Mr Fredy's widow, Nyoman Sunarti, was how to explain it to their son, Azka: "How would I answer him?"

Speaking to 7.30 for the first time from her parents' village home in north-west Bali, Ms Sunarti revealed Uber had not contacted her in the five months since her husband's death.

"Uber has not contacted me at all. Only the insurance company to provide them with my husband's documents," she said through a translator.

Ms Sunarti first heard about her husband's collision in Marrickville on September 24 from a friend in Australia who messaged her.

"He was still alive but in a critical condition in the hospital's ICU," she said.

"While he was in ICU, I couldn't sleep. I kept praying for a miracle from God to grant him a speedy recovery. But God had another plan."

The doctors said her husband had suffered irreparable brain damage.

Ms Sunarti was unable to fly to Sydney, and watched Mr Fredy's life support being switched off from Bali.

"On the 27th of September, we had a video call to watch them turn off his respirator. All our family members were on the video call as well," she said.

"They took off his respirator at 6:00pm and my husband stopped breathing. I saw it happen. I really hoped that he could be breathing again, but the doctors said that there was no chance.

"I get sad when I think about how I used to tell my husband everything.

"Now, I have no-one to talk to."

Dede Fredy left Indonesia in 2019 with the hope of earning a better living in Australia, using the money from his delivery work to provide for his family.

Both parents worked in restaurants and hotels, but it was not enough for their dream to buy a home in Bali, so Mr Fredy went to Sydney to find work.

"It was for Azka's future," Ms Sunarti said.

"We made a difficult decision because we had been together for four years, but still we couldn't afford to pay for our son's future."

Last year, Ms Sunarti lost her job because of the pandemic and moved to live with her parents, who work in the verdant rice paddies.

In the meantime, Mr Fredy sent part of his Uber Eats earnings back — he set aside about $175 a week for his wife and son, while supporting himself in one of Australia's most expensive cities.

"My late husband was a kind man," Ms Sunarti said.

"He loved our son and was dedicated to his family. He was a good father.

"When I had to work and he was at home, he was the one taking care of Azka. He helped me with household chores as well.

"When he was with his friends, he was a humorous man. He was also kind to them. All his friends liked him. When they heard about this accident they were all shocked, they couldn't believe it."

The five deaths have heaped pressure on the food delivery companies, with the Federal and New South Wales governments expressing concern about workplace safety in the sector.

Delivery riders are independent contractors and have fewer rights compared to employees, such as a minimum wage, superannuation and paid leave.

The Commission said that Uber had set up its business to avoid responsibility, stating “labels cannot alter the substantive nature of the relationship”. In a case taken by the TWU and food delivery driver Amita Gupta who was sacked for being 10 minutes late with an order, the Commission said regardless of what Uber’s contracts with its workers stated, “Ms Gupta performed her delivery work for and was paid for it by [Uber].”

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said the judgment was an important step forward in establishing rights for Uber workers.

“This judgment goes further than we have ever seen in Australia in terms of tearing down Uber’s elaborate business model and exposing it as a sham. It states what is already clear to those who work in Uber and those who use its service: that Uber is a transport service that has responsibilities to its workers, restaurants and the public who use its app,” he said.

The Commission was constrained in its judgment and rejected Ms Gupta’s unfair sacking case. The TWU is considering appealing the ruling.

“The union will be looking to appeal this judgment since the Commission felt it was constrained by a previous High Court case in terms of finding in favour of Amita. We believe Uber unfairly sacked Amita and we believe Uber must be stopped from abusing and exploiting workers,” Kaine said.

The Commission case heard Adelaide-based driver Amita Gupta had to log on to work for UberEats for several hours to receive little pay. In one week alone she logged on for 96 hours but only receiving pay of $300.

The TWU called on the Government to urgently regulate the gig economy.

“Uber operates a model of use and abuse when it comes to its workers. It rips them off, refuses to pay them minimum rates, sick leave and sacks them without warning or the chance to appeal. Even in the middle of a pandemic Uber won’t protect its workers and is offering paltry amounts to workers needing to isolate. We need to regulate this sector urgently to stop this exploitation. The Federal Government must act on behalf of workers like Amita and thousands of people like her,” he added.

The Uber case is the latest case taken by the TWU against gig economy companies to establish rights for workers. The TWU is separately taking a case for gross underpayment against Deliveroo and won a case for unfair sacking against Foodora after the company sacked a rider for speaking out about pay and conditions. Foodora has since exited the Australian market.

A TWU survey of food delivery riders in Australia shows three out of every four are paid below minimum rates. Almost 50% of riders had either been injured on the job or knew someone who had. Four UberEats riders have been killed while working.

An investigation by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission forced UberEats to admit it is a transport operator, not a technology platform, in contracts with restaurants and to stop making restaurants pay for customer refunds.

A week after Facebook agreed to pay news publishers in Australia under threat of regulation, Uber became the latest tech titan to adjust its practices in the face of pressure from Australian courts, unions and parliaments over the consequences of its business model.

From Tuesday, it will roll out a new object recognition feature in its app to detect whether its riders are wearing a helmet, require them to complete a checklist of their bike’s roadworthiness, and later this month, start distributing lights, reflective vests, bells and phone holders (though not helmets).

But the more resources a company provides to its workers, the more likely they are to be classified as employees than independent contractors and therefore entitled to the minimum wage, workers’ compensation and unfair dismissal protections.

Using contractors is key to Uber’s business model because it lowers costs and allows its workers more flexibility in their days, accepting orders from multiple platforms and to log on and off at will.

Uber Eats Australian general manager Matthew Denman said the legalities did not factor into its decision to deploy the new safety features, which follow the deaths of two Uber Eats riders in three days amid a spate of five deaths across the industry last year.

“What we said was: ‘how do we operationalise this and let’s get on and do it because it is the right thing to do so’,” Mr Denman said.

...

Mr Denman [explained] that Uber’s riders enjoyed their flexibility and were well paid, pointing to a study released last year from a Victorian government inquiry that found the average hourly rate for delivery riders on apps was about $22.

“Without getting into specifics, it reflects what we see,” he said. The company was open to discussions about paying a minimum wage while riders were on trips, Mr Denman said, though he did not countenance an overall hourly wage that would include waiting time.

Of the new measures, the helmet detection software and checklist are being rolled out in Australia before anywhere else. Other companies, including Deliveroo, already provide their riders with some safety items such as jackets. Riders will also receive more safety training.

The measures come as Uber faces widespread pressure. It settled a court case from the union late last year after Federal Court judges picked apart its argument that its Uber Eats workers were not employees and subsequently changed its contracts. The United Kingdom’s top court found a group of its workers were not self-employed this month and at a state level, the Victorian government has indicated it will regulate the sector while the NSW government is reviewing safety guidelines.

Federally, Labor and the union want an independent tribunal to give riders employee-like rights such as a minimum wage.

But Labor and Greens MPs say the taskforce has come too late, and the government should make an “emergency regulation” to take action right now.

On average, one food delivery rider has died in Australia every 11 days since 27 September.

On Tuesday afternoon, the minister for transport, Andrew Constance, and the minister for better regulation, Kevin Anderson, announced that a new taskforce would investigate the deaths in Sydney.

The taskforce will have the power to investigate the food delivery companies and “make findings for any immediate improvements or compliance activity”.

But NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge said the taskforce would only discover what people already knew.

“Gig economy workers need training, safety equipment and workers compensation and to be paid the minimum wage,” he said. “It’s good the government recognises there is a problem here, but this isn’t a solution – it’s a delaying tactic at best.”

An ongoing NSW inquiry into the gig economy, chaired by Labor MP Daniel Mookhey, had also heard evidence from multiple food riders about their conditions.

Mookhey told Guardian Australia the government should have implemented “emergency regulations” instead.

“SafeWork NSW doesn’t need a taskforce to investigate, it is their job. Safework NSW should be explaining why they haven’t issued any prohibition orders to any of these platforms where riders have died.

“Instead of announcing a meeting, the minister should be announcing a new emergency regulation to deliver better standards right now,” Mookhey said. “The government should also be backing Labor’s bill to provide minimum safety standards and equipment for riders.”

A survey conducted by the Transport Workers’ Union in September found that food deliverers earned an average of just $10.42 an hour after costs – 73% said they were worried about being “seriously hurt or killed” at work.

On Saturday, Paul, a 27-year-old man from Bangladesh, was hit by a car in the suburb of Rockdale while on a delivery for Uber Eats.

Chow Khai Shien, a 36-year-old from Malaysia who worked for DoorDash, died in central Melbourne on 24 October. Xiaojun Chen, who worked for the app Hungry Panda, and Dede Fredy, another Uber Eats rider, died in Sydney on 27 and 29 September respectively.

Federal Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said that many food delivery riders had turned to the job because they were not covered by government support such as jobkeeper and jobseeker during the pandemic.

“When jobs evaporated earlier this year, many visa-holders turned to precarious and dangerous work in the exploitative gig economy,” she said. “Without access to income support, they had no other choice.

“Migrants’ exclusion from the Covid safety net has been a disgrace.”

Delivery company Deliveroo told a NSW inquiry into the gig economy that it received “a surge in applications” of “hundreds of riders” during the pandemic.

Under Australian labour laws, workers for food delivery apps are classified as independent contractors rather than employees. This means they are not entitled to minimum wage, sick leave, annual leave and other entitlements.

In NSW, some workers are entitled to compensation for their families if they die in the workplace or as a result of a work-related injury. Employees are largely covered by these laws but for independent contractors it can vary.

The families of Chen and Chow told Guardian Australia previously that they still did not know how much compensation they would receive for their relatives’ deaths.