Fuel Crisis: Your Work Rights Right Now

Petrol just cracked $2.50 a litre and you're watching your pay disappear into your fuel tank before you even get to the office. So can you just... work from home?

Yes — you have the right to request flexible work under the Fair Work Act. Section 65 gives eligible employees the right to request flexible working arrangements, including working from home. Your employer must respond in writing within 21 days and can only refuse on reasonable business grounds.

Who's eligible to make a formal s.65 request?

• Parents or carers of a child who is school age or younger
• Carers under the Carer Recognition Act 2010
• Workers with a disability
• Workers aged 55 or older
• Anyone experiencing family or domestic violence

But here's the thing everyone misses: even if you don't fit those categories, you can still ask informally. With fuel where it is, most sensible employers are already loosening the reins. If yours isn't, it's worth putting your request in writing anyway — create a paper trail.

And if your employer does refuse your formal request? They need to give you written reasons. If those reasons are rubbish, you can take it to the Fair Work Commission.

Check your right to disconnect obligations too — if you're working from home, the boundaries between work and personal time matter more than ever.

Short answer: generally, no. Your commute from home to your regular workplace is considered your own problem. It's been that way forever and the fuel crisis hasn't changed the law.

BUT — and this is a big but — some awards and enterprise agreements do include travel or vehicle allowances. If yours does, your employer must pay it. No arguments.

Awards with travel or vehicle allowances include:

• Building and Construction General On-site Award: Travel allowance of $21.43/day for employees who travel to construction sites
• Nurses Award 2020: Vehicle allowance for community-based nurses who use their own car
• Road Transport and Distribution Award: Various fuel and vehicle allowances depending on role
• Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award: Travel and fares allowance provisions

If you're not covered by one of these awards, there's still the ATO. The cents per kilometre rate for 2025-26 is 88 cents per km for the first 5,000 business kilometres. But that's a tax deduction, not money your employer hands you — and it only covers travel for work, not your regular commute.

Don't know what award you're on? Use our award finder to check.

Look, we get it. When filling your tank costs more than a decent steak dinner, the last thing you want to do is drive an hour each way to sit in an office. But here's the reality:

No, you can't just refuse to come in because fuel is expensive. Under Fair Work, your employer has the right to direct where you perform your work, and "fuel costs too much" is not a lawful reason to refuse a reasonable direction.

What you can do is request flexible working arrangements. There's a massive difference between refusing a direction and making a formal request. One can get you fired. The other is a legally protected right.

Here's how to handle it properly:

• Don't just stop showing up or announce you're working from home
• Put your request in writing — reference section 65 if you're in an eligible category
• Propose a specific arrangement (e.g., "WFH Tuesdays and Thursdays")
• Explain how you'll maintain productivity and communication
• Calculate your fuel savings and include them — makes the case tangible

If your boss says no to a formal request without reasonable business grounds, that's a breach of the Fair Work Act. You can take it further.

This is where things get interesting — and potentially scary. If the fuel crisis escalates and workers genuinely can't get to the workplace, your employer may be looking at stand-down provisions.

Under section 524 of the Fair Work Act, an employer can stand down employees (i.e., send them home without pay) if they can't be usefully employed because of a stoppage of work for which the employer is not responsible.

A severe fuel shortage — especially if we hit Stage 3 or 4 of the National Fuel Security Plan — could potentially qualify. If workers literally can't get fuel to travel to the workplace, and there's no useful work they can do, stand-down might be on the table.

But there are limits:

• Your employer can't stand you down if there's alternative work you could do (including WFH)
• Stand-down must be a last resort — employers should explore all other options first
• You still accrue leave entitlements during a stand-down period
• If you think the stand-down is unlawful, you can dispute it through the Fair Work Commission

We're not at that stage yet. But with things moving fast, it's worth knowing where you stand.

If you're one of the lucky ones whose award includes a travel or vehicle allowance, now is the time to make sure you're getting every cent. With fuel at these prices, the difference matters.

Here are the main awards with travel/vehicle provisions:

• Building and Construction General On-site Award: Daily travel allowance of $21.43 (indexed annually)
• Joinery and Building Trades Award: Travel and fares allowance for work at sites away from the employer's workshop
• Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award: Travel pattern allowance plus cents-per-km for own vehicle use
• Nurses Award 2020: Vehicle allowance for community nurses (currently tied to ATO rate of 88c/km)
• Road Transport and Distribution Award: Fuel and vehicle running cost allowances
• Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award: Travel and fares provisions for work away from base

Not sure if your award has a travel component? Use our award finder tool to look up your specific award and check the allowances section.

And remember: if your employer isn't paying a travel allowance that your award requires, that's wage theft. You can recover up to 6 years of unpaid allowances. Use our entitlements calculator to start working out what you might be owed.