Rushed drafting and poor consultation
Critics argued the measure was being pushed through without proper consultation on rules affecting the whole workforce, increasing the risk of avoidable drafting problems and confusion for employers.
Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect)
Current status
This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Policy area
Work & employment
What does this bill do?
Adds a new minimum workplace right for employees across Australia to disconnect from work outside their normal hours.
Why was it introduced?
Employees were being contacted outside work hours and left expected to monitor, read or answer work messages. The bill adds a National Employment Standard that stops most after-hours contact and lets workers ignore emails or calls unless it is an emergency, welfare issue, or paid availability period.
Broader context
As smartphones and constant digital contact blurred the line between work and home life, workers were increasingly expected to monitor emails, calls and messages after hours, prompting this March 2023 bill to propose a new Fair Work minimum standard letting employees disconnect outside ordinary working time. The proposal then fed into wider industrial relationsThe part of law and politics dealing with workplace rules, pay, hours, unions and employer bargaining. bargaining, drew organised business opposition as Labor and the Greens negotiated a national version, and was ultimately enacted through separate workplace laws that began for employers with 15 or more staff in August 2024.
Key criticism
The main criticism was that the right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies. was drafted and pushed through too quickly, leaving employers uncertain about what counts as unreasonable after-hours contact and how the rule would work in practice. Business groups, some workplace lawyers and parts of the Senate crossbenchThe MPs and senators who are not in the main governing party or the main opposition and can be decisive in passing laws. raised these concerns, while later amendments and technical fixes suggest the objections were mainly about consultation, clarity and implementation rather than the goal itself.
Who supported it?
Adam Bandt MP introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from Greens.
Introduced in House 20 Mar 2023
Failed in House 17 Oct 2023
Did not reach Senate —
Did not become law —
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
No final passage
The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.
Time before failure
211 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
What does this bill do?
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Adds a new minimum workplace right for employees across Australia to disconnect from work outside their normal hours.
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Stops employers from contacting employees after hours unless there is an emergency, a genuine welfare issue, or the employee is being paid to stay available.
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Says employees do not have to monitor, read or answer work emails, phone calls or other messages outside work hours unless they are being paid to remain available.
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Defines an availability allowanceExtra pay for a worker who is rostered or directed to stay ready to work during a set period. as extra pay for workers who are rostered or directed to stay ready to work during a set period.
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Would have started the new rules the day after royal assentThe final step that makes a bill into law after Parliament passes it and the Governor-General approves it., so the right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies. would begin as soon as the bill became law.
Show source excerpts
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Lists ‘the right to disconnect outside of working hours’ as a National Employment Standard. National Employment Standards are minimum standards that apply to the employment of employees.
Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) explanatory memorandum -
The effect of the new clause is to include the right to disconnect in the National Employment Standards. The new clause states that an employer must not contact an employee outside of the employee’s hours of work unless the reason for the contact is an emergency or genuine welfare matter; or the employee is in receipt of an availability allowance for the period during which the contact is made.
Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) explanatory memorandum -
The new clause lists activities that an employee is not required to do outside their hours of work, unless they are in receipt of an availability allowance for the relevant period. These activities are monitoring, reading or responding to emails, telephone calls or any other kind of communication from an employer.
Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) explanatory memorandum -
Availability allowance is explained as an allowance for being rostered, or otherwise directed by an employer, to remain available to perform work during the period.
Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) explanatory memorandum -
This clause provides for the whole of this Act to commence the day after it receives Royal Assent.
Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) explanatory memorandum
Context
Broader context for this bill
As smartphones and constant digital contact blurred the line between work and home life, workers were increasingly expected to monitor emails, calls and messages after hours, prompting this March 2023 bill to propose a new Fair Work minimum standard letting employees disconnect outside ordinary working time. The proposal then fed into wider industrial relationsThe part of law and politics dealing with workplace rules, pay, hours, unions and employer bargaining. bargaining, drew organised business opposition as Labor and the Greens negotiated a national version, and was ultimately enacted through separate workplace laws that began for employers with 15 or more staff in August 2024.
- 20 Mar 2023
Second reading speech names 'availability creepThe gradual expectation that workers stay reachable and responsive all the time, even when they are not rostered to work.' as the problem
The bill's second reading speech said smartphones and constant connectivity had normalised workers being effectively on call at all hours.
Hansard ↗ - 20 Mar 2023
Bandt introduces a federal right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies. bill
Adam Bandt introduced a bill to add a right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies. to the National Employment StandardsThe set of minimum workplace rights that apply to employees, which this bill would add the right to disconnect into. so employees could ignore most after-hours work contact.
Parliamentary timeline ↗ - Jul 2023
Union campaign highlights regular unpaid work outside agreed hours
An Australian Services Union campaign cited survey results showing seven in 10 clerical and administrative workers were regularly working beyond agreed hours.
Australian Financial Review ↗ - Sep 2023
Greens push to fold the right into Labor's industrial relationsThe part of law and politics dealing with workplace rules, pay, hours, unions and employer bargaining. package
The Financial Review reported the Greens were pressing Labor to include a right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies. in broader workplace law negotiations where crossbenchThe MPs and senators who are not in the main governing party or the main opposition and can be decisive in passing laws. Senate votes were crucial.
Australian Financial Review ↗ - Dec 2023
Business groups fight the proposed national right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies.
Employer groups warned the Labor-Greens plan could reduce workplace flexibility as the government moved toward legislating a national after-hours contact rule.
Australian Financial Review ↗ - Feb 2024
Parliament passes workplace laws including a right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies.
Labor secured support from the Greens and key crossbenchThe MPs and senators who are not in the main governing party or the main opposition and can be decisive in passing laws. senators for workplace changes that gave employees a right to reasonably ignore after-hours calls, emails and messages.
Australian Financial Review ↗ - 26 Aug 2024
The new right starts for employers with 15 or more staff
The Financial Review reported the right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies. came into effect on the Monday for larger businesses, making clear it was not a blanket ban on all employer contact.
Australian Financial Review ↗
Legislative route
How did it move through Parliament?
House Senate
Introduced 20 Mar 2023
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
Second reading opened 20 Mar 2023
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Removed from the Notice Paper in accordance with (SO 42) 17 Oct 2023
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Key criticism
The main case against this bill
The main criticism was that the right to disconnectThe proposed rule letting employees ignore most work contact outside their ordinary hours unless an exception applies. was drafted and pushed through too quickly, leaving employers uncertain about what counts as unreasonable after-hours contact and how the rule would work in practice. Business groups, some workplace lawyers and parts of the Senate crossbenchThe MPs and senators who are not in the main governing party or the main opposition and can be decisive in passing laws. raised these concerns, while later amendments and technical fixes suggest the objections were mainly about consultation, clarity and implementation rather than the goal itself.
Criticism focused on clarity, consultation and flexibility risks, not a broad public case against workers getting time off duty.
Unclear legal boundaries
A key reservation was that the law left too much uncertainty about when refusing after-hours contact would be reasonable or unreasonable, making compliance harder and inviting disputes.
Risk to flexible work arrangements
Employer groups warned the change could make workplaces more rigid by discouraging informal after-hours contact that helps some staff manage flexible schedules and working-from-home arrangements.
Need for technical fixes after passage
The government's later move to consult on removing criminal offences and other fixes was used as evidence that the scheme had unresolved design issues when first enacted.
Votes
Recorded votes
No recorded votes were found before this bill stopped proceeding.
Parliamentary debate
Who spoke, and what they said
Start here — lead voices
Sponsor speech Supports
Adam Bandt
Bandt supports the bill and urges the government to back it, saying workers should have the right to switch off after hours and not be contacted unless they are being paid or it is an emergency.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
Greens
1 speaker · 1 support
Greens
1 speaker · 1 support
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Adam Bandt ★ Bandt supports the bill and urges the government to back it, saying workers should have the right to switch off after hours and not be contacted unless they are being paid or it is an emergency.
“I urge the government to support this bill. The right to disconnect is about giving workers the freedom to switch off and focus on their personal lives outside of work. It is about recognising that work should not consume every aspect of our lives and working people should have the ability to recharge and reconnect with their families, friends and communities.”
Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
Full record
- Status
- Not Proceeding -- Collected from the APH bill page.
- Originating house
- House of Representatives
- 20 Mar 2023
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
- 20 Mar 2023
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
- 17 Oct 2023
House · Removed from the Notice Paper in accordance with (SO 42)
Removed from the Notice Paper in accordance with (SO 42)
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.