




































AUSTRALIAN POPULATION STUDIES  2019 | Volume 3 | Issue 1 | pages 13-29 

 

 

© Temple, Dow and Baird 2019. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence 3.0 Australia  
(CC BY-NC 3.0 AU). Journal website: www.australianpopulationstudies.org 

 

Special working arrangements to allow 
for care responsibilities in Australia: 
availability, usage and barriers 

Jeromey Temple*  University of Melbourne; ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research 

Briony Dow  University of Melbourne; National Ageing Research Institute 

Marian Baird  University of Sydney; ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research 

* Corresponding author. Email: Jeromey.Temple@unimelb.edu.au. Address: Melbourne School of 

Population and Global Health, 207 Bouverie St, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010. 

Paper received 17 January 2019; accepted 10 May 2019; published 27 May 2019 

Abstract 

Background 

Population ageing is projected to reduce labour force growth and aggregate labour force 

participation, whilst increasing demand for informal carers. Increasing the labour force participation 

of Australians who face barriers to employment (including carers) is part of the solution to labour 

market pressures occurring due to demographic change and may improve the financial wellbeing of 

carers. 

Aims 

To examine the availability, usage and barriers to accessing Special Working Arrangements (SWA) to 

provide care while employed in Australia. 

Data and methods 

The 2015 ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers was used to measure the prevalence of the 

availability, usage and barriers to SWA to care stratified by carer status and gender. 

Results 

About 94% of workers reported access to at least one type of SWA (n=25,094). Of this group, about 

22% have used SWA to care in the last 6 months. The proportions using SWA to care were highest 

among primary carers (64%) followed by other carers (43%) and non-carers (19%). Of those who 

have used SWA, about 15% wanted to use additional SWA to care in the previous 6 months, but 

faced barriers in doing so, with higher proportions of primary carers (24.6%) and other carers (21.8%) 

reporting barriers. The main barriers faced by employed carers included insufficient paid leave 

and/or work commitments. 

Conclusions 

A range of paid and unpaid arrangements are necessary for carers to combine paid work with their 

caregiving responsibilities. Labour market legislation and workplace policies should be strengthened 

to reduce barriers to take up of SWA. 

Key words 

Informal care; caring; labour force participation; barriers to employment; special working 

arrangements  

http://www.australianpopulationstudies.org/
mailto:Jeromey.Temple@unimelb.edu.au


Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 14 

 

 

1. Introduction  

One aspect of population ageing that has garnered significant attention from policy makers is the 

implications for the Australian labour market. Both the Productivity Commission and Treasury have 

noted that population ageing reduces aggregate (i.e. population-level) labour force participation and 

slows labour force growth (Australian Treasury 2002, 2007, 2010, 2015; Productivity Commission 2005, 

2013). Indeed, the rate of growth in labour supply is projected to decline considerably in the next 15 

years, relative to the 15 years proceeding (Temple and McDonald 2017). In recent times, international 

migration has been key to maintaining labour force growth (McDonald 2017). However, a further 

source of increasing labour supply is to improve labour force attachment among Australians who face 

barriers to employment or who are under-employed (Temple and McDonald 2017). Increasing labour 

force attachment of these groups is one part of the solution to declining labour supply growth. 

One sizable population that faces significant barriers to labour force participation are Australian carers, 

numbering approximately 2.7 million people who contribute 60 billion dollars to the economy annually 

through unpaid work (ABS 2016b; Deloitte Access Economics 2015). With population ageing, the 

demand for informal care will increase considerably, at the same time that labour supply pressures are 

occurring in the formal labour market. Importantly, the caregiving role has been shown to effect labour 

force engagement, with Australian evidence showing that carers are more likely to reduce hours of 

work, exit the labour market and earn lower levels of income relative to non-carers (Bittman et al. 

2007). Many female carers in particular have difficulty in accessing flexible working hours, influencing 

their decision to leave paid work all together (Austen and Ong 2013). Consistent with this finding, Hill 

and colleagues find that with the onset of caring responsibilities, flexible working arrangements (such 

as part time work), significantly reduced the odds of leaving the paid workforce in Australia (Hill et al. 

2008). A systematic review of 30 years of international studies of caregiving and employment, 

specifically cites the importance of the further development of labour market legislation and workplace 

policies (in tandem with formal support services), to enable carers who wish to work, to be able to do 

so (Lilly et al. 2007). Australian evidence shows a sizeable proportion of carers wish to work – with 

about half of those not in paid employment with a preference to be employed (Gray et al. 2008). 

2. Special Working Arrangements and caring in Australia 

Enshrined in the National Employment Standards of Australia’s Fair Work Act, carers, people with a 

disability, those aged 55 years or over and parents with the responsibility to care for a child have the 

legal right to request flexible working arrangements from their employer (FWO 2018). Although a 

broad term, flexible working arrangements refer to flexibility in hours of work (e.g. start and finish 

times), patterns of work (e.g. job sharing or part time work) and location of work (e.g. working from 

home) (FWO 2018). However, evidence suggests that less than half of all workers are aware of this 

right (Skinner and Pocock 2014). Moreover, there is no guarantee that the requests for flexible 

working arrangements are approved by employers or that they are rolled out consistently across 

Australian workplaces (O’Loughlin et al. 2017). This is important as the most commonly cited reason 

given by non-employed caregivers as to why they do not work is difficulty arranging flexible working 

hours (Gray et al. 2008). 



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 15 

 

 

Despite the considerable contribution of the above studies to our understanding of the integration of 

paid work and unpaid caring, there remains a gap in our understanding of the availability, usage and 

barriers to accessing flexible or special working arrangements (SWA) conducive to caring 

responsibilities. We adopt the terminology SWA, consistent with ABS data collections and to avoid 

confusion with one component of SWA, flexible working hours. Previous studies have focused on 

either parents with care giving responsibilities, or carers whose recipient has an underlying health 

condition requiring assistance. In this paper, we examine these aspects of usage of SWA by gender in 

three population groups:  

(1) primary carers, who provide the principal assistance for a person with a disability or long-term 

health condition, 

(2) other carers, who also care for a person with a disability or long-term health condition, but do not 

provide principal care, and 

(3) non-carers, who are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as all people who are not 

primary or other carers. Nonetheless, they may have care responsibilities and a need to access SWA, 

for example, parents and others (e.g. grandparents) with caring responsibilities for children.  

Our interest is in understanding the ways in which people who care have access to, utilise or report 

barriers to arrangements that enable them to fulfil both their unpaid care work and paid work 

responsibilities. Specifically, with the availability of unique nationally representative data, we seek to 

answer three questions: (1) What is the level of availability of SWAs? (2) What is the prevalence of 

usage of SWAs specifically to care?, and (3) What are the reported barriers to usage of SWAs to care? 

3. Data and Methods 

Data for this study were sourced from the 2015 ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) 

conducted between July and December 2015 (ABS 2016c). Three populations were sampled using 

multi-stage sampling techniques. These consisted of persons living in private dwellings, in self-care 

retirement villages and in care accommodation. The module on the availability of SWA was 

administered to persons living in households. Of 31,957 households originally contacted, 25,555 fully 

responded, yielding a response rate of 80%. 

3.1. Measurement of availability, usage and barriers 

Within the employment module of SDAC, a number of questions were asked regarding the 

availability, use and barriers to SWAs to support caring work. These questions were asked of people 

aged 15 years and over, living in households and employed, but excluding the self-employed.  

Firstly, respondents were asked “Does your employer provide you with any of the following special 

working arrangements, regardless of whether you have used them or not?” A prompt card was then 

shown to the respondent, consisting of the following list:  

 Paid leave (e.g. annual leave, maternity leave, sick leave) excluding carer’s leave. 

 Paid carer’s leave 

 ∙Unpaid leave (excluding unpaid carer’s leave) 



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 16 

 

 

 Unpaid carer’s leave 

 Flexible working hours 

 Rostered day off 

 Working from home 

 Shift work 

 Casual work 

 Part time work 

 Informal arrangement with employer 

 Other (specify) 

 No special working arrangements available 

 Don’t know. 

For those indicating the availability of SWA, a follow up question was asked: “Of those special 

working arrangements you have mentioned, have you used any to help look after someone in the 

last six months?” Respondents then indicated the SWA (from the list above) used to facilitate caring 

responsibilities and whether there was any unmet need for further access to SWA. For those who 

used SWA and indicated a barrier to further access, and those who could not access SWA for caring 

needs at all, a prompt card was used to illicit reasons for this barrier, including:  

 Applied or asked but was refused 

 Do not have adequate working arrangements 

 Didn’t apply as thought they would say no anyway 

 Nature of work makes using flexible working arrangements difficult 

 Work commitments 

 Not paid for time off (e.g., casual/shift worker) 

 Subtle or other pressure from bosses or other workers 

 Not enough paid leave left or available 

 Anything else (specify). 

3.2. Measurement of Carer Status 

Using these questions, we develop measures of the availability, usage and barriers to access SWA 

specifically for caring responsibilities. Using measures of carer status available in SDAC, we examine 

variations in availability, usage and barriers to SWA reported by (1) primary carers, (2) other carers 

and (3) persons not defined by the ABS as carers, but nonetheless have caregiving responsibilities. 

Specifically, a primary carer is defined by the ABS as “a person who provides the most informal 

assistance, in terms of help of supervision, to a person with one or more disabilities, with one or 

more of the core activities of mobility, self-care or communication” (ABS 2016a). Other carers are 



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 17 

 

 

defined as one who “provides informal assistance with one or more of the core activity tasks but has 

not been identified as the person that provides the most informal assistance” (ABS 2016a). Thus, 

both primary and other carers are defined with respect to the recipient of care having long term 

health conditions requiring assistance and care. 

However, it is not only those who care for people with disabilities or long term health conditions who  

utilise SWA with the specific intent of caring, albeit they are not carers as defined by the ABS. This 

group includes those who have care obligations to others not identified as primary or other carers 

such as parents with care responsibilities for temporarily sick children or other family members. Our 

analysis seeks to provide population level prevalence of the use of SWA to care, thus all three caring 

categories are included in the following stratified analysis.  

4. Results 

Figure 1 displays our framework for understanding the availability, usage and barriers to SWA for 

caring using the SDAC data. Of the full sample of employed people living in households (n=26,529), 

about 94% report access to at least one type of SWA (n=25,094). Of this group, about 22% have used 

SWA to care in the last 6 months (n=5,803). Of those who have used SWA, about 15% wanted to use 

additional SWA to care in the previous 6 months, but faced barriers to do so (n=891). Of the 19,291 

employed people who did not use SWA to care, a small minority wanted to use SWA to care but 

couldn’t (1.2% n=224).  

4.1. Availability of Special Working Arrangements 

Of the 94% reporting availability of SWA, there is considerable variation in the type of SWA provided 

(Table 1). Within the full working population, the most prevalent SWA is paid leave (76%), followed 

by paid carers leave (48%), unpaid leave (43%) and flexible working hours (39%). When classified by 

carer status, primary or other carers are more likely to report access to informal arrangements, part 

time work or unpaid carers leave relative to non-carers. About 5.6% of workers were not aware of 

the availability of any SWA (responding ‘no’ or ‘don’t know’). These data also show important gender 

differentials with respect to carer status and perceived availability of SWA. Whereas the gender split 

for non-carers and other carers are relatively equal, just under 70% of all primary carers are female 

(68.3%). Moreover, although the perceived availability by SWA is relatively consistent by gender, 

females (relative to males) are more likely to cite availability of casual work (32.2% versus 21.5%) or 

part time work (34.1% versus 14.7%). 

4.2. Usage of Special Working Arrangements 

The availability of SWA, although important, is distinctly different from usage. Results in Table 2 

classify SWA arrangements used in the previous 6 months specifically to care. There is a clear 

gradient in SWA usage to care by carer status. Approximately 64% of primary carers had used SWA in 

the previous 6 months, compared with 43% of other carers and about 19% of non-carers. Around 2% 

of primary and other carers wanted to use SWA to care but couldn’t. When usage, as opposed to 

availability of SWA is considered, about 55% of non-carers and other carers are female, as are 70% of 

primary carers.  



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 18 

 

 

 

Figure 1: Framework of the availability, usage and barriers to SWA for caring 

Source: designed by the authors; data from ABS 2016c 

Consistent with the data on availability (Table 1), the results in Table 2 show that paid leave (42%) 

and paid carers leave (47%) are the most commonly used SWA to care. About 10% of primary carers 

report unpaid leave, unpaid carers leave, casual work or part-time work SWA to care – which is 

higher than the rates of usage by non-carers. About one quarter of primary carers also cite use of 

flexible working hours to care (24%). 

Again, there is relative consistency in the likelihood of using different SWA to care by gender. For 

example, about 15.1% of males who have used SWA to care have used flexible work hours as have 

17% of females. However, although rates of usage are similar for males and females, the usage of 

specific SWA to care is heavily skewed towards female workers. For example, around 80% of those 

using part-time work to care are female, regardless of carer status. Among primary carers 

specifically, around 80% of those using part-time work, casual work, or unpaid carers leave to care 

are female, regardless of carer status. 

 



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 19 

 

 

Table 1: Availability of Special Working Arrangements (%) by carer status and sex, 2015 

  

Males Females Total % Female 

  

Carer Status Total Carer Status Total Carer Status 

 

Total Carer Status Total 

Access to SWA No Primary Other   No Primary Other   No- Primary   Other     No- Primary Other   

No 

 

4.2 2.9 3.9 4.1 3.6 3.0 4.4 3.7 3.9 2.9 

 

4.2 

 

3.9 45.6 68.5 53.6 46.8 

Don’t Know 2.0 1.0 2.8 2.0 1.5 0.3 0.8 1.4 1.7 0.5 ** 1.8 

 

1.7 42.7 40.8 22.5 40.9 

Yes 

 

93.9 96.1 93.2 93.9 94.8 96.7 94.8 94.9 94.3 96.5 ** 94.0 

 

94.4 49.2 68.4 50.9 49.9 

Total 

 

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0   100.0   100.0 48.9 68.3 50.5 49.7 

 

Type of SWA has access to: 

       

  

    

    

  

  

 

Paid leave 79.9 72.1 81.1 79.8 73.1 70.0 76.6 73.3 76.6 70.7 ** 78.8 * 76.6 47.0 67.7 49.5 47.8 

 

Paid carer's leave 47.7 43.5 50.4 47.8 48.2 48.8 54.8 48.8 47.9 47.1 

 

52.7 *** 48.3 49.5 70.8 53.0 50.4 

 

Unpaid leave 42.7 41.0 42.2 42.6 43.7 44.0 48.1 44.1 43.2 43.1 

 

45.2 ** 43.3 49.8 69.9 54.2 50.8 

 

Unpaid carer's 

leave 

29.2 30.0 32.4 29.5 30.3 34.5 37.0 31.1 29.8 33.1 * 34.8 ** 30.3 50.1 71.3 54.2 51.2 

 

Flexible working 

hours 

37.2 42.6 37.8 37.3 41.1 44.9 45.1 41.6 39.1 44.2 *** 41.5 *** 39.5 51.7 69.5 55.3 52.6 

 

Rostered day off 24.6 23.7 25.7 24.6 20.1 15.0 23.0 20.1 22.4 17.7 ** 24.3 * 22.4 44.2 57.7 48.1 44.9 

 

Working from 

home 

19.0 20.3 19.9 19.1 17.3 18.4 20.1 17.6 18.2 19.0 

 

20.0 ** 18.3 47.0 66.2 51.1 48.0 

 

Shift work 17.3 13.7 19.4 17.4 14.9 10.9 16.1 14.8 16.1 11.7 *** 17.7 

 

16.1 45.4 63.2 46.2 45.9 

 

Casual work 21.6 21.9 20.0 21.5 32.4 30.3 31.1 32.2 26.9 27.6 

 

25.7 

 

26.8 59.2 74.9 61.8 59.9 

 

Part time work 14.5 19.7 15.9 14.7 32.8 46.3 41.5 34.1 23.5 37.9 *** 29.0 *** 24.4 68.6 83.6 73.0 69.8 

 

Informal 

arrangement 

9.2 14.9 11.8 9.5 9.7 16.1 15.3 10.4 9.4 15.8 *** 13.5 *** 10.0 50.5 70.1 57.4 52.2 

 

Other 1.0 1.7 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.7 1.3 0.8 0.9 1.0 

 

1.1 

 

0.9 43.0 47.3 62.6 45.1 

n=   11974 263 1120 13357 11456 558 1158 13172 23430 821   2278   26529 NA NA NA NA 

% total (weighted) 89.9 1.9 8.2 100.0 87.4 4.1 8.5 100.0 88.7 3.0   8.4   100.0 48.9 68.3 50.5 49.7 

Source: ABS 2016c 

Notes: SWA Special Working Arrangements; No- base case for tests of proportions for the Total category; * p<0.05 **p<0.01 ***p<0.001; % Females percentage in each discrete category that are 

female; NA Not Applicable.  

  



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 20 

 

 

Table 2: Whether used Special Working Arrangements to care (%) by carer status and sex, 2015. 

  

Males 

 

Females 

 

Total % Female 

  

Carer Status Total 

 

Carer Status Total 

 

Carer Status 

 

Total Carer Status Total 

Used SWA to care? No Primary Other   n= No Primary Other   n= No- Primary   Other     No- Primary Other   

Wanted to, but couldn't 0.7 2.7 1.1 0.8 103 0.9 2.3 1.9 1.0 121 0.8 2.4 ** 1.5 ** 0.9 53.7 65.0 63.1 55.9 

No need 81.8 36.1 58.9 79.0 9838 77.1 31.9 49.9 72.9 9019 79.5 33.2 *** 54.3 *** 76.0 47.8 65.7 46.8 48.0 

Don't Know 0.8 0.8 1.4 0.8 110 0.7 0.2 0.8 0.7 100 0.8 0.4 ** 1.1 

 

0.8 47.0 35.6 38.1 45.7 

Yes, Used 16.7 60.5 38.5 19.3 2503 21.3 65.7 47.4 25.4 3300 19.0 64.0 *** 43.0 *** 22.3 55.3 70.2 56.1 56.8 

Total 

 

100 100 100 100 12554 100 100 100 100 12540 100 100   100   100   

  

  

 

Type of SWA used to care: 

        

  

     

  

  

  

 

Paid leave 42.2 42.4 42.0 42.2 1019 43.3 37.4 37.1 41.7 1326 42.8 38.9 

 

39.3 ** 41.9 56.0 67.5 53.1 56.5 

 

Paid carer's leave 48.5 40.4 49.6 48.2 1218 46.1 42.0 50.9 46.4 1566 47.2 41.5 * 50.3 

 

47.2 54.1 71.0 56.7 55.8 

 

Unpaid leave 4.3 9.7 6.6 5.0 123 7.8 9.6 7.7 8.0 246 6.2 9.6 * 7.3 

 

6.7 69.4 69.9 59.9 67.8 

 

Unpaid carer's 

leave 

1.9 7.0 5.7 2.8 65 3.4 10.4 6.7 4.7 146 2.7 9.4 *** 6.2 *** 3.9 68.5 77.8 60.0 68.3 

 

Flexible working 

hours 

14.5 25.8 16.4 15.5 375 15.1 24.6 20.7 17.0 553 14.8 25.0 *** 18.8 ** 16.3 56.4 69.2 61.7 59.1 

 

Rostered day off 4.7 13.0 10.8 6.2 134 2.7 3.9 6.1 3.4 98 3.6 6.6 * 8.1 *** 4.6 41.5 41.3 41.9 41.6 

 

Working from 

home 

9.7 13.3 8.7 9.7 224 7.8 7.5 7.2 7.6 241 8.6 9.2 

 

7.9 

 

8.5 49.9 56.8 51.3 50.7 

 

Shift work 1.4 2.0 1.3 1.4 33 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.1 35 1.2 1.4 

 

1.2 

 

1.2 48.3 58.3 53.5 50.2 

 

Casual work 4.1 7.1 4.7 4.4 101 6.3 12.7 6.0 6.9 212 5.3 11.0 *** 5.4 

 

5.8 65.4 80.7 61.9 67.4 

 

Part time work 1.3 5.5 1.6 1.6 45 6.2 11.6 4.8 6.6 219 4.0 9.8 *** 3.4 

 

4.4 85.3 83.3 78.9 84.2 

 

Informal 

arrangement 

3.5 7.2 5.4 4.0 90 3.0 6.9 3.2 3.4 106 3.2 7.0 * 4.2 

 

3.7 51.4 69.2 43.1 52.8 

 

Other 0.7 1.6 0.0 0.6 11 0.3 0.0 0.6 0.3 9 0.5 0.5   0.3   0.5 36.6 0.0 100.0 40.8 

Source: ABS 2016c 

Notes: SWA Special Working Arrangements; No- base case for tests of proportions for the Total category; * p<0.05 **p<0.01 ***p<0.001; % Females percentage in each discrete category that are 

female; n= unweighted sample count. 

 



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 21 

 

 

4.3. Barriers to Special Working Arrangements 

Referring back to Figure 1, of the 5,803 workers who indicated they had used SWA to care, about 

15.5% (n=891) reported they wanted to use more but were unable to. This group were asked what 

SWA they wanted to use but couldn’t (Table 3). Once more, paid leave and paid carers leave were 

the most likely SWA that workers wished to make more use of to care. Interestingly, there is little 

difference in the SWA type needed by carer status. However, primary carers (24.6%) and other carers 

(21.8%) were more likely to report a barrier to further use of SWA, relative to non-carers (13.1%). 

Types of SWA needed are relatively consistent by gender. However, male other carers are more likely 

to cite the need for rostered day off (11.8% versus 2.5%) whereas female other carers are more likely 

to cite the need for paid leave (34.7% versus 23.9%). Again, due simply to the overrepresentation of 

female primary carers, about 70% of primary carers with unmet demand for further access to SWA 

were female.  

Results in Table 4 report the reasons for barriers to using SWA to care, for two groups. The first 

‘additional use of SWA’ are the 15.5% (n=891) group who used SWA, but wanted to use more and 

couldn’t. Regardless of carer status, the main reasons for not using further SWA to care were ‘not 

enough paid leave left’ (29%), ‘work commitments (23.4%) and ‘nature of work makes using flexible 

working arrangements difficult’ (16%). Although in the minority, it is concerning to note that 8% cited 

‘subtle or other pressures from bosses or other workers’ or ‘didn’t apply as thought they would say 

no anyway’. Primary carers were slightly more likely to cite this later reason (12%) compared with 

non-carers.  

The second group in Table 4, titled ‘Any use of SWA’ are those who had SWA available to them, but 

could not use it to care at all. Referring back to Figure 1, this is the smaller group of 1.2% (n=224) of 

those who didn’t use SWA to care. As with the previous group, about 1 in 4 report ‘work 

commitments’ as the main reason for not using SWA to care (24.3%). Approximately 15% reported 

‘Didn’t apply as thought they would say no’, ‘nature of work makes using flexible working 

arrangements difficult’ or ‘subtle or other pressure from bosses or other workers’. Due to the small 

sample size of this population, there are few statistically significant differences in reasons given for 

barriers to any use of SWA by carer status. Moreover, there is insufficient sample size to disaggregate 

this table by gender. 

 



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 22 

 

 

Table 3: Unmet demand for further access to Special Working Arrangements to care (%) by carer status and sex, 2015. 

  

Males 

 

Females 

 

Total % Female 

  

Carer Status Total 

 

Carer Status Total 

 

Carer Status 

 

Total Carer Status Total 

More use of SWA? No Primary Other   n= No Primary Other   n= No- Primary   Other     No- Primary Other   

No 83.2 66.2 69.5 79.9 2010 84.6 69.6 75.9 81.6 2694 83.9 68.6 *** 73.1 ** 80.9 55.9 71.3 58.4 57.4 

Don’t Know 3.1 8.3 5.9 3.9 96 2.8 6.3 4.4 3.4 112 2.9 6.9 ** 5.1 ** 3.6 52.6 64.2 49.1 53.8 

Yes 13.7 25.5 24.5 16.2 397 12.6 24.1 19.7 15.0 494 13.1 24.5 *** 21.8 *** 15.5 53.5 69.1 50.7 55.0 

Total 

 

100 100 100 100 2503 100 100 100 100 3300 100 100   100   100   

  

  

 

Type of SWA needed 

       

  

     

  

   

  

 

Paid leave 36.6 36.1 23.9 33.4 131 35.0 32.5 34.7 34.5 163 35.7 33.6 

 

29.4 

 

34.0 52.4 66.8 60.0 55.8 

 

Paid carer's leave 42.6 37.4 39.8 41.4 170 42.6 44.8 44.1 43.3 221 42.6 42.5 

 

42.0 

 

42.4 53.5 72.8 53.3 56.1 

 

Unpaid leave 2.0 10.1 5.9 3.7 15 5.5 2.4 4.6 4.8 25 3.9 4.8 

 

5.3 

 

4.3 76.5 34.8 44.4 61.3 

 

Unpaid carer's 

leave 

1.8 8.1 1.4 2.3 9 3.9 10.1 3.9 5.0 19 2.9 9.5 

 

2.7 

 

3.8 71.3 73.6 74.5 72.6 

 

Flexible working 

hours 

10.4 4.0 8.5 9.3 43 7.2 13.5 8.2 8.5 48 8.7 10.6 

 

8.3 

 

8.9 44.4 88.2 49.9 52.7 

 

Rostered day off 1.0 6.4 11.8 4.2 13 1.0 2.1 2.5 1.5 8 1.0 3.4 

 

7.1 ** 2.7 52.7 42.1 18.0 30.3 

 

Working from 

home 

8.3 4.5 11.8 8.8 35 6.6 6.2 4.7 6.2 32 7.4 5.7 

 

8.2 

 

7.4 47.7 75.7 29.3 46.0 

 

Shift work 0.5 2.8 1.3 0.9 4 0.2 1.3 0.0 0.3 2 0.3 1.8 

 

0.7 

 

0.6 26.0 50.5 0.0 29.4 

 

Casual work 2.5 1.2 5.6 3.2 12 4.7 2.8 4.7 4.4 18 3.7 2.3 

 

5.1 

 

3.8 67.9 84.4 46.7 62.8 

 

Part time work 0.0 2.1 1.4 0.5 3 1.1 3.4 1.8 1.6 13 0.6 3.0 

 

1.6 

 

1.1 100.0 78.4 57.6 78.7 

 

Informal 

arrangement 

1.5 0.7 1.1 1.3 6 1.7 1.7 0.3 1.4 8 1.6 1.4 

 

0.7 

 

1.4 56.2 84.0 20.2 56.0 

  Other 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.1 1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 1 0.1 0.0   0.0   0.1 27.5 0.0 0.0 27.5 

Source: ABS 2016c 

Notes: SWA Special Working Arrangements; No- base case for tests of proportions for the Total category; * p<0.05 **p<0.01 ***p<0.001; % Female percentage in each discrete category that are 

female; n= unweighted sample count. 

  



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 23 

 

 

Table 4: Reasons for barrier to additional or any use of Special Working Arrangements (%) by carer status, 2015. 

 

Additional Use of SWA [1] 

 

Any Use of SWA [2] 

  Carer Status   All 

 

Carer Status   All 

Reason for Barrier No Primary   Other     

 

No Primary Other     

Applied or asked but was refused 5.4 8.1 

 

4.0 

 

5.4 

 

8.0 15.0 

 

8.6 

 

8.6 

Do not have adequate working arrangements 9.2 6.2 

 

10.1 

 

9.0 

 

5.9 6.6 

 

15.0 

 

7.2 

Didn't apply as thought they would say no anyway 6.7 11.9 * 9.0 

 

7.9 

 

15.0 23.9 

 

11.1 

 

15.1 

Concern that using arrangements would be viewed poorly 0.9 1.0 

 

0.0 * 0.7 

 

0.1 0.0 

 

3.7 

 

0.6 

Nature of work makes using flexible working arrangements 

difficult 

15.2 16.5 

 

16.9 

 

16.0 

 

14.7 15.2 

 

21.8 

 

15.5 

Work commitments 22.3 30.6 # 22.0 

 

23.4 

 

24.9 33.9 

 

15.0 

 

24.3 

Not paid for time off (e.g. casual/shift worker) 6.6 5.2 

 

8.2 

 

6.8 

 

8.8 9.9 

 

21.0 # 10.6 

Subtle or other pressure from bosses or other workers 7.0 12.1 

 

8.1 

 

8.0 

 

14.1 7.3 

 

9.9 

 

13.0 

Not enough paid leave left or available 31.0 26.2 

 

25.2 

 

29.0 

 

6.7 18.3 

 

10.8 

 

8.2 

Own circumstances made use of arrangements unfeasible 1.3 0.0 ** 2.9 

 

1.5 

 

3.3 0.9 

 

0.0 * 2.7 

Anything else 3.9 3.4 

 

3.7 

 

3.8 

 

7.7 7.0 

 

8.2 

 

7.7 

Don't know 5.8 5.0   6.5   5.9 

 

8.9 4.9   0.8   7.5 

n 573 128   190   891   170 18   36   224 

Source: ABS 2016c 

Notes: SWA Special Working Arrangements; No- base case for tests of proportions; # p<0.10 * p<0.05 **p<0.01 ***p<0.001; n= unweighted sample count; [1] Population of those who had already 

used SWA, but have unmet demand for further use of SWA to care; [2] Population of those who have not used SWA and wanted to use them to care. 

 



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 24 

 

 

5. Discussion 

The clear majority of respondents reported the availability of SWA in their workplace (94%) and 

indeed, carers were slightly more likely to cite awareness of flexible working hours, unpaid carers 

leave, part time work and informal arrangements with their employer than non-carers. It may be that 

carers are more aware of certain SWA, because of their personal requirement to have them as a 

necessary condition of employment. That is, they self-select into positions with SWA that enable a 

continuation of unpaid caring responsibilities. A further explanation is that they are more aware of 

SWA regardless of occupation or industry, simply because they have a greater need for SWA than 

non-carers. 

SWA are taken up by a majority of primary carers (64%) and 43% of other carers (within the last six 

months) with paid leave and paid carers leave being the most used arrangements. However, these 

arrangements are not perceived as sufficient for 15.5% of the workforce surveyed, with primary 

carers (24.6%) and other carers (21.8%) more likely to report barriers to further use of SWA than 

non-carers (13.1%). The majority of unmet demand is by those who already use it, but need to make 

more use of it. 

Supporting previous research, our results underscore the gendered nature of care giving 

responsibilities in Australia and show the interaction with SWA usage. Almost 70% of employed 

primary carers using SWA to care were female, compared with 55% of other and non-carers. Around 

80% of those using part-time work to care were female, regardless of carer status. Among primary 

carers specifically, around 80% of those using part-time work, casual work, or unpaid carers leave to 

care are female, regardless of carer status. While there has been considerable attention on the needs 

of mothers for flexible work arrangements in Australia, our results also highlight the un-met needs of 

workers who provide care for those with a disability and long-term health problems. Women also 

overwhelming attend to these various care needs, altering their work schedules to do so and 

experiencing negative consequences in terms of career and financial penalties.  

These findings regarding carers are supported by a growing body of research and data points to both 

the gendered use of SWAs in the general population (i.e. not just carers), including part-time work, 

and the gap between availability of SWAs and their uptake. McDonald et al.(2005 p.41) argue that 

men, and women in managerial roles, are less likely to use SWAs due to lack of managerial support, 

perceptions of negative career consequences, lack of co-worker support and time pressures at work. 

In a study of a large telecommunications company, Cooper and Baird (2015) found that use of 

Australia’s legislative right to request ‘flexible work arrangements’ was heavily dominated by working 

mothers when they were supported by their line managers. In a comparative review, Thornthwaite 

(2004) shows that working mothers, more than fathers, in Australia prefer part-time work and access 

to flexible hours to accommodate the gendered division of labour in the home, school hours and lack 

of suitable child care.  

For both male and female carers, the main barrier that carers face is insufficient paid leave and/or 

work commitments (requiring them to put the demands of the workplace over their need for time off 

to care) but to a lesser extent they face subtle or real pressure from others not to apply for leave or 

other flexible work arrangements. Around 5% of those who wanted to access further SWA for care 

and 9% of those who wanted to access any SWA cited a rejection by the employer.  



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 25 

 

 

Under the National Employment Standards, employers can refuse a request on ‘reasonable business 

grounds’. These grounds are very broad and include: 

 Requested arrangements are too costly for the employer 

 There is no capacity to change the current working arrangements 

 Impractical to change extant working arrangements 

 The requested arrangement would result in a ‘significant loss of efficiency or productivity’ 

 The requested arrangement would be likely to have a significant negative impact on customer 

service. 

In the case of a refused request, the employee can seek assistance from the Fair Work Commission. 

However, the Fair Work Commission does not have the legislative power to direct an employer to 

agree to the employee’s request. Therefore, there is limited right to appeal the employers’ refusal. 

Moreover, there are numerous caveats to those eligible to access flexible arrangements under the 

Act. For example, workers must have been employed for at least 12 months before making a request 

for flexible working arrangements.  

Stronger legislative controls have recently come into force following a ruling from the full bench of 

the Fair Work Commission. From 1 December 2018, employers must provide a detailed written 

response outlining the reason for the refused request. In considering the request, employers must 

consider (1) the needs of the employee, (2) consequences for the employee is changes in working 

arrangements aren’t made, as well as (3) Reasonable business grounds for refusing the employees 

request (FWO 2019). 

Rather than being considered as part of labour market policy alone, access to flexible working 

arrangements for carers should be seen as an integral part of the health system supporting 

Australia’s ageing population and those with underlying health conditions (Yeandle and Cass 2013; 

Vecchio 2015). Indeed, in Vecchio’s (2015) important study of the labour force behaviour of those 

residing with a person with a disability, they argue “Policy makers need to aggressively challenge 

current workforce programs to encourage employers to provide more flexible work arrangements. 

Workforce programs that allow family members opportunities to provide adequate caregiving and 

financial support to ill relatives are fundamental to the sustainability of health care programs” (p. 9). 

There is currently no overarching policy framework in Australia that addresses this issue. There was a 

National Carer Strategy in Australia (2011) but this was not adopted by the current government.  The 

previous Labor Federal government commenced the implementation of a National Carer Action Plan 

2011-2014, which had a range of strategies for improving the economic security of carers, including 

strategies for enabling workforce participation. However, the current Coalition government has 

restricted its focus to carers to carer support services accessible through the Carer Gateway 

(Department of Social Services 2017). With the role out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme 

(NDIS), early evidence suggests that carers employment prospects have not improved (Hamilton 

2018). One possibility is to allow carers access to NDIS to support employment needs. As argued by 

Hamilton (2018) “This would be an important start in developing services that actually support carers 

to work – not just hoping that carers gain time for paid work by altering disability services”.  



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 26 

 

 

In interpreting the results from this study, it is important to note the limitations. First, data from the 

SDAC are cross-sectional and the measures are collected only for the employed. We cannot, for 

example, determine whether carers have ceased employment due to a lack of flexible working 

arrangements, although evidence suggests this may be the case (Austen et al. 2013). Secondly, our 

measure of the usage of SWA is retrospective, over a six month period only. Third, the analyses we 

present herein are descriptive. Further multivariable analysis is required, particularly of the industry, 

workplace and characteristics of carers reporting a barrier to accessing SWA to care. 

6. Conclusions 

With the ageing of the Australian population, there is a need for more family carers at the same time 

as for greater workforce participation, especially amongst women. This study suggests that to enable 

people to deliver their caregiving responsibilities and participate in the workforce, more paid leave is 

required as well as other SWA strategies that encourage employers to recognize and support carers 

in the workplace. 

The business case for offering SWA is growing, with a number of large employers now offering ‘flex 

for all’. McDonald et al. (2005 p. 38), citing a number of studies, outline the benefits for business as 

‘improving the retention or recruitment of skilled women, reducing absenteeism, increasing 

productivity and reducing hiring and retraining costs’. There are also numerous coted benefits to 

employees of being able to access SWAs. These include reduction in personal stressors and 

improvements in the mental and physical health of workers (McDonald et al. 2005 p. 39). Given that 

financial considerations are among the strongest unmet needs reported by Australian carers, 

improving the fit between paid and unpaid work is one strategy by which improvements in economic 

wellbeing can be achieved (Temple and Dow 2018).  

More generally, greater awareness of the societal and economic benefits of caring are needed so 

that workplace arrangements are not just seen as an individual benefit and carers can feel 

legitimized in accessing SWA. Stronger legislative arrangements are also required to enforce 

employers to grant carers flexible working arrangements. Recent strengthening of legislative controls 

have recently come into force following a ruling from the full bench of the Fair Work Commission and 

will require evaluation with further data collections. Another possible solution would be government 

subsidies to enable carers to take more leave. Whatever policy and practice levers are put in place, 

thorough evaluation is required to improve knowledge of which SWA are effective in enabling carer 

workforce participation. 

Key messages 

 Population ageing and demographic change are increasing the number of unpaid informal carers 

who face barriers to labour market attachment at the same time that the Australian labour 

market is projected to experience lower growth and reduced participation. 

 Many Australian carers face barriers to employment, as well as barriers to underemployment by 

those already employed. Although the vast majority of workers are aware of SWA and about 1 in 

5 have used SWA to care, almost 1 in 4 primary carers and 1 in 5 other carers faced barriers to 

using SWA to care. 



Australian Population Studies 3 (1) 2019 Temple et al. 27 

 

 

 The main barriers faced by employed carers included insufficient paid leave and/or work 

commitments (requiring them to put the demands of the workforce over their need for time off 

to care). 

 The results also underscore the gendered nature of care responsibilities in Australia. Almost 70% 

of employed primary carers using SWA to care were female, compared with 55% of other and 

non-carers. Among primary carers specifically, around 80% of those using part-time work, casual 

work, or unpaid carers leave to care were female. 

 Stronger legislative arrangements are required to assist carers to access SWA. 

Acknowledgements 

Data for this study were made available to the authors by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

Jeromey Temple is funded by the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Population 

Ageing Research (CE1101029). The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone. 

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