Much of what’s written about aged care is aimed at the older person receiving care. But behind most older Australians living at home is someone else: an adult son or daughter juggling medical appointments, phone calls to providers and assessment visits around a full-time job. If that’s you, you have workplace rights designed for exactly this situation, and most carers never use them. Here’s the plain-language guide.
Your Rights at a Glance
These come from the National Employment Standards in the Fair Work Act, which set the minimum for most employees. Your award, enterprise agreement or employment contract may give you more.
Paid and Unpaid Carer’s Leave
Full-time employees get 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave a year, with part-time employees accruing it pro rata. It’s the same leave balance as sick leave, and you can use it to care for or support an immediate family or household member who is ill, injured or has an unexpected emergency. Immediate family includes your parents and your partner’s parents.
If you’ve run out of paid leave, or you’re a casual, you’re entitled to two days of unpaid carer’s leave for each occasion.
One honest limitation: carer’s leave is designed for illness, injury and emergencies. Routine appointments and ongoing care coordination don’t always fit neatly inside it, which is where flexible work comes in.
The Right to Ask for Flexible Work
If you’ve worked for your employer for at least 12 months and you’re a carer, you can make a written request for flexible working arrangements. That can mean changed hours, a different pattern of days, or working from home some of the time. Casuals can ask too if they’ve worked regularly and systematically for 12 months and expect that to continue.
Your employer must respond in writing within 21 days. They can only refuse on reasonable business grounds, and only after genuinely discussing the request with you and trying to reach an agreement. Since 2023, the Fair Work Commission has been able to deal with disputes about these requests, and it has ordered employers to grant requests where they didn’t follow the process.
How to Make a Request That Works
Put it in writing and say clearly that you’re a carer and what change you’re asking for. Explain how the work will still get done, since a request that anticipates your employer’s concerns is much easier to say yes to. Suggest a trial period if the change is significant. And be flexible yourself: an arrangement slightly different from what you asked for may still solve most of the problem. The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes free template letters.
Reducing the Load Itself
Rights help you make time. It’s also worth reducing how much time the caring takes. A few things genuinely help. Register as your parent’s supporter with My Aged Care, so providers and the department can talk to you directly. Book a free appointment with an Aged Care Specialist Officer at Services Australia to get the system explained once, properly. Ask about respite, which exists for carers as much as for the person being cared for. And if your parent needs in-home help, our free provider directory shows which Support at Home providers operate in each NSW region.
The Carer Gateway, on 1800 422 737, offers free support, counselling and practical help specifically for carers. Your rights at work are set out on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s flexible working page.
The Bottom Line
If you’re caring for an ageing parent while working, you’re entitled to paid carer’s leave, unpaid carer’s leave when that runs out, and the right to request flexible work, with a written answer within 21 days and refusal only on reasonable business grounds. Most carers never ask. Put your request in writing, show how the work still gets done, and use the free supports that reduce the caring load itself. This is general information, not legal or employment advice.
Epik Wire covers aged care in plain language for older Australians, their families and carers. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed.
