What is flexible work?

Flexible work arrangements in Australia are changes to an employee's standard working hours, location, or patterns of work, agreed between the employee and employer to balance work with personal responsibilities. The right to request flexible work is set out in section 65 of the Fair Work Act 2009 and forms part of the National Employment Standards.

An employee can request flexible work if they are pregnant, have a child of school age or younger, are a carer, have a disability, are 55 years or older, are experiencing family or domestic violence, or are caring for an immediate family or household member experiencing such violence. The eligibility criteria were expanded in June 2023 to cover these circumstances and to include casual employees who have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months on a regular and systematic basis.

Common flexible work arrangements include reduced hours, compressed working weeks (such as four longer days instead of five standard days), staggered start and finish times, working from home (in part or in full), job sharing, and working in different locations. Employers must respond to a written request within 21 days. They can refuse only on reasonable business grounds, must give reasons in writing if they refuse, and must consider alternative arrangements that might meet some of the employee's needs. Disputes about flexible work requests can now be resolved by the Fair Work Commission, a major reform from 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to hybrid working accelerated flexible work adoption. About 37 per cent of Australian employees worked from home at least some of the time in 2024 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, up from about 8 per cent in 2019. Many enterprise agreements now include explicit hybrid or remote work policies, and flexible work has become a standard part of discussions about parental leave returns, professional development, and managing health conditions including chronic illness and mental health concerns.