Australia is at least a decade behind on planning for a changing global economy and needs a review of industrial relations law to catch up, according to the head of the Senate's inquiry into the future of work.

The Senate's report, published on Wednesday night after a year-long inquiry, recommends reviewing the definition of "casual" workers, broadening the definition of "employee" to include those in the gig economy, and creating a licensing scheme for labour hire businesses.

The head of the Senate committee, Murray Watt, says the most concerning thing to come from the inquiry is that "we don't have a plan" for tackling the changing nature of work in Australia. Credit:AAP

The select committee was established in October to investigate future job security issues as well as the effectiveness of Australia’s industrial relations laws to deal with new types of work, like the gig economy.

More than 160 submissions were made from participants in the union movement, labour market experts, academics, startups and technology giants.