Published 12 April 2024 | Updated 12 November 2024

There have been multiple changes to casual employment laws.

These include to:

• how casual work is defined
• the pathway to full-time or part-time employment
• employee and employer responsibilities.

On this page:

• New casual employee definition
• Changing from casual to full-time or part-time employment (casual conversion)
• Awards and casual changes
• Casual Employment Information Statement
• Sham arrangements
• Tools and resources
• Related information

New casual employee definition

A new definition of ‘casual employee’ will be introduced to the Fair Work Act. Under this definition, a person is a casual employee if, when they start employment:

• the employment relationship has no firm advance commitment to ongoing work, taking into account a number of factors, and
• they’re entitled to a casual loading or specific casual pay rate under an award, registered agreement, or employment contract.

Employees who start as a casual, will stay casual until their employment status changes either through:

• a conversion process or Fair Work Commission order, or
• accepting an alternative employment offer and starting work on that basis.

Firm advance commitment

Whether there is a firm advance commitment needs to be assessed on:

• the real substance, practical reality and true nature of the employment relationship
• several other factors.

The other factors that must be considered include whether:

• the employer can offer or not offer work to the employee (and whether this is happening)
• the employee can accept or reject work (and whether this is happening)
• it's reasonably likely there will be future work available of the kind the employee usually performs in the employer’s business, based on the nature of the business
• there are full-time or part-time employees performing the same kind of work in the employer’s business as the work the employee usually performs
• the employee has a regular pattern of work even if it changes over time due to, for example, reasonable absences because of illness, injury or other leave.

The above isn't a full list and other factors may apply.

For this assessment, not all factors need to be satisfied and a single factor won’t determine whether a person can be considered a casual or not.

For example, a regular pattern of work on its own doesn’t indicate that an employee has a firm advance commitment to ongoing work. An employee who has a regular pattern of work may still be a casual employee if there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work.

When assessing whether there is a firm advance commitment, you can look at:

• the contract of employment, or
• the contract as well as any mutual understanding or expectation between the employer and employee that isn’t part of the contract.

The mutual understanding or expectation can be worked out from how the contract is performed, or what the employer and employee do after entering into the contract.

Fixed term contracts

Casual employees can generally be hired on fixed term contracts.

However, an employee can’t be engaged as a casual on a fixed term contract if all of the following apply to them:

• they’re a member of the academic or higher education teaching staff of a higher education institution
• they’re not a state public sector employee
• they’re covered by the:
  • Higher Education Academic Staff Award, or
  • Higher Education General Staff Award.

The exception won’t apply to casual employees employed on a fixed term contract before 26 August 2024.

We’ve updated our Casual employees page to reflect these changes.

Changing from casual to full-time or part-time employment (casual conversion)

A new pathway will be introduced for eligible employees to change to full-time or part-time (permanent) employment if they want to. This will replace the current rules for changing to permanent employment.

Find out more about these changes at Changing from casual to full-time or part-time employment (casual conversion).

We’ve updated our Becoming a permanent employee page to reflect these changes.

Awards and casual changes

The Fair Work Commission has updated awards as a result of the Closing Loopholes casual employment changes. Learn more at Variation on the Commission’s own initiative – Casual employment terms.

Casual Employment Information Statement

The Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) is a document with information about employment conditions that an employer must provide to all casual employees.

A CEIS must be provided to new casual employees before, or as soon as possible after, they have started employment.

It must also now be provided to casual employees at the following times during the employment relationship:

• for small business employers – after 12 months of employment
• for other employers – after 6 and 12 months of employment, and then after every 12 months of employment.

The CEIS will now have information about:

• the definition of a casual employee
• how casual employment can be changed, including when an employee can notify their employer of their intention to change to permanent employment
• the reasons why an employer may not accept an employee’s notice
• the role of the Fair Work Commission to deal with disputes.

Employers need to give casual employees the version of the CEIS that is in place at the time they have to issue the CEIS.

Go to our Casual Employment Information Statement page for the most up-to-date version. Employers should check back to this page regularly, including on and after 26 August 2024 to make sure they give the correct version.

The CEIS can continue to be given to casuals in the usual way.

We’ve updated our Casual Employment Information Statement page to reflect these changes.

Sham arrangements

Sham arrangements are sometimes used by employers to avoid paying certain entitlements to employees. There will now be new protections in place for employees who are engaged as casual employees under a sham arrangement.

It will now be illegal for an employer to:

• knowingly say something false to convince a current or former full-time or part-time employee to enter into a contract for casual employment to do the same work (or mostly the same work), or
• dismiss or threaten to dismiss an employee to engage them as a casual employee to do the same work (or mostly the same work).

Courts will now be able to impose penalties against businesses or individuals for sham arrangements. The maximum penalties for each contravention will now be:

• $93,900 for individuals
• $469,500 for businesses.

We’ve updated our Casual employees page to reflect these changes.

Tools and resources

• Closing Loopholes – what's changing
• Department of Employment and Workplace Relations – Closing Loopholes fact sheets

Related information

• Closing Loopholes: Changing from casual to full-time or part-time employment (casual conversion)
• Types of employees
• Casual employees
• Becoming a permanent employee