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Casual employment

Last updated February 2024

This chapter explains casual employment, and the legal entitlements and protections that apply to casual employees.

What is casual employment?

Casual employment is a series of individual engagements. A casual engagement might be:

  • week to week;
  • day to day;
  • shift to shift;
  • hour to hour; or
  • for any other agreed short period.
Important: Each engagement involves a separate contract of employment that starts at the beginning of the engagement and ends at the end of the engagement.

In 2022, 23.1% of Australians were employed as casuals. 24.2% of employed women were working as casuals compared with 20.9% of men.

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