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An employee had "understandable" reasons for wanting a flexible work arrangement that would allow her to move interstate, but her request wasn't causally connected to her parenting status, the Fair Work Commission has found.

In circumstances where there was no certainty as to what the employee's move might entail, or what childcare arrangements might be required, she hadn't engaged the right to request flexible work under section 65 of the Fair Work Act, Commissioner Sarah McKinnon said.

The University of New South Wales employee made a flexible work request in September 2025. After discussions at the workplace level didn't resolve the issue, she referred the dispute to the Commission under section 65B(3) of the Act.

Commissioner McKinnon heard the employee currently lives in Sydney and has an approved flexible work arrangement, which allows her to work part-time, two days from home and one day on site.

The employee's request sought to change those arrangements indefinitely, allowing her to work exclusively from home so that she and her partner could move interstate...