Can My Employer Change Me From Permanent to Casual?

Not on its own. Your employment status is part of your contract, and changing it needs your genuine agreement. The Fair Work Act also has specific sham casual protections (ss 359B–359C). Under them it's unlawful for an employer to:

• dismiss, or threaten to dismiss, an employee in order to engage them as a casual to do the same, or substantially the same, work, or
• knowingly make a false statement to persuade a current or former full-time or part-time employee to take a casual contract for the same or substantially the same work.

Courts can impose civil penalties for both. Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Casual employees (Sham arrangements).

Since 26 August 2024, a casual employee is someone who, when they start, has no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work and is paid a casual loading or casual rate. The test looks at the real substance of the relationship, not just the contract's label. Factors include whether you can accept or reject shifts, whether there's a regular pattern of work, and whether permanent staff do the same job.

If you'd keep the same roster and do the same job, with the same expectation of ongoing work, calling it "casual" may not make it casual. That's exactly what the sham protections target.

Entitlement	Permanent	Casual
Paid annual leave	4 weeks a year (pro rata part-time)	None. 25% loading in most awards instead
Paid sick and carer's leave	10 days a year (pro rata)	None. 2 days' unpaid carer's leave per occasion
Paid family and domestic violence leave	10 days a year	10 days a year
Notice of termination	Yes (s 117)	No
Redundancy pay	Yes, after 1 year (s 119)	No
Paid public holidays not worked	Yes, if it's a normal work day	No
Guaranteed hours	Yes	No

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, What casual employees get. Compare the money with the casual vs part-time calculator. The 25% loading often doesn't make up for lost leave and security.

1. Don't sign anything on the spot. Ask for the proposal in writing, including the reason, your proposed hours and what happens to your accrued leave.
2. Keep any threat in writing. "Go casual or we'll let you go" is the conduct s 359B targets.
3. If your role is genuinely being cut, that's a redundancy question. You may be owed redundancy pay rather than a casual contract. Run the redundancy pay calculator.
4. If you're dismissed for refusing, the deadline for a general protections or unfair dismissal application is 21 days.
5. The Fair Work Ombudsman can help if you think you're in a sham casual arrangement.

For employers: you can offer a permanent employee a genuine choice to go casual, for example when they ask for flexibility. Put the offer in writing, describe the change accurately, give them time to consider and get advice, and never link it to a threat about their job.