You may have a legal right to request — not just permission to ask
The right to request flexible working arrangements sits in section 65 of the Fair Work Act 2009, as part of the National Employment Standards (NES). That matters for two reasons.
First, it applies regardless of whether your employer has a flexible work policy. If they don't have one, you still have the right. If their policy is more restrictive than the NES, the NES wins.
Second, amendments that took effect on 6 June 2023 significantly strengthened it. Employers now have to genuinely engage with a request, not just say no — and if they refuse, you can take it to the Fair Work Commission, which can make binding orders.
One important reality check before you start: this is a right to request, not a right to receive. Employers can still refuse on reasonable business grounds. But they have to work a lot harder to do it than they used to.
Who is eligible
To make a formal request under section 65, you generally need at least 12 months of continuous service with your employer (modified rules apply to eligible casuals — broadly, regular casuals employed for at least 12 months with a reasonable expectation of continuing work).
You also need to meet at least one of these circumstances:
You're pregnant
You're a parent, or have responsibility for the care of a child who is school age or younger
You're a carer within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2010
You have a disability
You're 55 or older
You're experiencing family or domestic violence, or you're caring for or supporting a member of your immediate family or household who is
The pregnancy and family-and-domestic-violence circumstances were added in the 2023 changes.
New starters under 12 months aren't covered by section 65 — but that doesn't mean you can't ask. Many employers will agree to flexible arrangements outside the formal process, and it's worth raising during hiring rather than after.
What counts as "flexible working arrangements"
The law doesn't prescribe a fixed list. In practice it covers changes to:
Hours — start and finish times, fewer hours, school-hours schedules
Patterns — part-time, job share, compressed weeks, specific days
Location — working from home, hybrid arrangements, a closer office
How to make the request
Put it in writing. This isn't optional — the Act requires a written request, and the 21-day clock only starts when your employer receives one.
There's no prescribed form, but your request should set out:
That you're making a request under section 65 of the Fair Work Act. Naming it signals you know the process and triggers your employer's formal obligations.
The change you're seeking — specifically. "More flexibility" is too vague to action. "Start at 9:30am and finish at 2:45pm, Monday to Thursday" is a request someone can actually say yes to.
The circumstance that makes you eligible. State which of the categories above applies. You don't need to over-share; "I am a parent of a school-age child" is enough.
Your proposed start date.
How it could work in practice. This is the optional part that does the most work — see below.
Send it to your manager or HR by email so there's a dated record.
The part most people skip
The strongest requests answer the question your employer is actually asking: how does the work still get done?
Address the obvious objections before they're raised. Who covers what during the hours you're not there. How you'll handle meetings, clients or handovers. Whether you'd trial it for three months and review. Employers refuse on business grounds, so the more your request pre-solves the business problem, the harder it is to refuse.
What your employer must do
Once they receive a valid written request, your employer must:
Discuss it with you. This became mandatory in 2023. They can't simply issue a decision — they have to talk to you and genuinely try to reach an agreement that accommodates your circumstances.
Respond in writing within 21 days. The clock starts on receipt, and it runs regardless of workload or how busy they are. The response must approve the request, refuse it, or set out alternative arrangements you've agreed.
Only refuse on reasonable business grounds — and only after following the required steps
If refusing, explain themselves properly. They must give the reasons, and set out any alternative arrangements they would be willing to offer that accommodate your circumstances at least partly. If no alternative is possible, the written response has to address that too.
Failing to respond within 21 days is a breach of the Fair Work Act — even if the request could lawfully have been refused.
When they can say no
"Reasonable business grounds" is the test. It typically covers things like the arrangement being too costly, other staff's work being unable to be reorganised around it, a genuine inability to recruit replacement cover, a significant loss of efficiency or productivity, or a significant negative impact on customer service.
What it doesn't cover: inconvenience, a preference for people being visible, or "we don't do that here."
Refusals also have to be evidence-based. Recent Fair Work Commission decisions have shown the Commission looks closely at how the request was framed and whether the employer did the work — and that mismatches between the circumstance you cited and the arrangement you asked for can sink an otherwise reasonable request. Make sure the two line up: if you're requesting school-hours because you're a parent of a school-age child, the arrangement should visibly address the school run.
If you're refused
There's a sequence, and skipping steps will slow you down.
1. Try to resolve it at the workplace level first. This is expected before the Commission will get involved. Ask for the reasons in writing if you don't have them, and put a counter-proposal on the table — a trial period, or a partial arrangement.
2. Apply to the Fair Work Commission. You can do this if your employer has refused the request, or if 21 days have passed with no written response.
3. What the Commission can do. It can deal with the dispute by mediation or conciliation, and in some circumstances by arbitration — where it can make binding orders about the request or refusal, including ordering the employer to make alternative arrangements.
Worth knowing what actually happens in practice: in the 2024–25 reporting period the Commission received close to 300 flexible-work applications, and only around 2% went to arbitration. The overwhelming majority resolve through conciliation or internally. A well-made request that's escalated properly usually gets sorted long before a hearing.
A quick checklist
12+ months continuous service (or eligible casual)
You meet at least one eligible circumstance
Request is in writing
States it's a request under section 65 of the Fair Work Act
Specifies the exact change (days, hours, location)
States which circumstance applies to you
Includes a proposed start date
Addresses how the work still gets done
Sent by email, with a dated record
Diarise 21 days from the send date
A better starting point: apply for roles that are already flexible
The hardest version of this conversation is asking an employer to change a role that was designed to be rigid. The easiest is taking a role that was flexible from the outset.
On Rebalance, every role lists its actual flexibility upfront — days in office, core hours, school-hours suitability, part-time and job-share options — so you know what you're applying for before you apply, rather than negotiating for it afterwards.