Currently in Australia, Roadside Assistance companies are not required to provide their contractors with a uniform or any other means of identifying themselves. This then requires customers to just trust that whoever has approached their door when they're broken down on the side of the road is who they say they are. This poses a particular danger in Australia, where there are so few roadside assistance companies available, making it easy for an opportunist to guess which company a stranded vulnerable person is waiting for and to pose as a contractor.  

Food delivery companies in Australia have better safety precautions to ensure that food gets to the right place than roadside assistance companies have for vulnerable people. If contractors and customers were given a unique code for each callout, the customer would be able to verify that the person is indeed there to help them. 

I have personally experienced the impact of this oversight. On the 10th of February 2026, having broken down at night in a rural setting, I was approached by an aggressive man claiming to be from my roadside assistance company. When I requested identification, he swore at me and left and I was left vulnerable on the side of the road, terrified because this man knew I was stuck and might come back. It took the company 22 minutes to verify he was a contractor. Had he been wearing a uniform or able to identify himself with a code, this would never have happened. As a standup comedian who has regularly travelled up to 10 000km a month for my gigs, this has directly impacted my work. Since this incident, I have not taken any rural or regional gigs because I don't feel safe should my car break down. 

I can't fix what happened to me, but I can fight to fix the broken policy that allowed it.