Who Pays for Pell’s Day in Court? Also: Cracks Form in the Gig Economy.<br />This follows some discouraging news about the realities of a "gig economy" — the new labor category made up of independent contractors who work<br />for ride-share companies like Uber, odd-job markets like the Australian online platform Airtasker and delivery services like Deliveroo.<br />According to reports by Australia’s Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, church orders in Australia like the Marist Brothers<br />and Christian Brothers have paid tens of millions in legal fees and settlements on behalf of their priests.<br />Other churches have also paid for legal defenses: The West Australian recently reported<br />that the Anglican Church covered Archbishop Roger Herft’s legal fees when he was called to testify to the commission about child sexual abuse.<br />But there’s not a basis for heightened concern, compared to 15 years ago." The Roman Catholic Church won’t be footing the bill for<br />Cardinal George Pell’s defense against sex offenses, Sydney’s archbishop, Anthony Fisher, confirmed in a statement last week.<br />Dr. Sarah Kaine, the head of the future of work research at the University of Technology Sydney, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation<br />that the gig economy could create new social classes of workers: those who enjoy established working entitlements and conditions, and those who are forced to forgo them.<br />John Roskam, the executive director of the Institute of Public Affairs, a conservative think tank, told News Corporation<br />of the fund’s existence, which the think tank confirmed to The New York Times in an interview Monday morning.<br />Last week, we covered the push from Australian Uber drivers to be classified as casual workers, rather than "subcontractors."<br />A driver we spoke with flagged issues like superannuation, sick leave and holiday time as important issues.
