Switched on for two years: An update on Australia's right to disconnect

Abstract

Australia's statutory right to disconnect has now operated for two years, and this article takes stock of how it has worked in practice. It first outlines how the right is set out in law and then highlights a striking feature of the right's early life: very few formal disputes concerning it have been brought. The article examines the small number of cases that have tested the right and considers what they suggest about how courts and tribunals will judge whether an employee's refusal to respond is reasonable. It also traces how scholars have responded to the right and how it has shaped debates in the United Kingdom and the European Union. The article addresses the right's ongoing limitations and considers survey data on how employers have received the right. Overall, it is argued that the right's early impact has been mainly cultural, rather than legal. Its most important effects have come through informal changes in workplace behaviour and through general protections claims, rather than through orders to stop after-hours contact.