Australia Right To Disconnect Legislation
Reading the Australia right to disconnect legislation on its own will give you an incomplete answer, because a second layer sits underneath it.
The Fair Work Commission added a right to disconnect term to all modern awards on 26 August 2024. Every award now contains one, and in some situations an award term may require an employee to monitor, read or respond to contact outside their working hours.
Enterprise agreements and other registered agreements can also include their own provisions.
The practical consequence is that two organisations can reach different answers about the same phone call, because different awards apply. Anyone writing a policy on this needs to read the awards that cover their workforce rather than working from the general position alone.
The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes the award position. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.
See Sentrient’s right to disconnect webinar and HR policy templates.
Australia’s Right to Disconnect: Understanding the ‘Reasonable’ Standard (It’s Not a Total Ban)
Quick Answer: The right to disconnect gives Australian employees the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to work contact outside their working hours, unless that refusal is unreasonable. It applies to contact from the employer and from third parties such as clients. It began for larger businesses on 26 August 2024 and for […]
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