0
People walk along a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. / EPA Yonhap

Australia's labor commission has ruled in favor of a middle-aged worker struggling with commuting fatigue. The Australian business community was sent into an uproar as a landmark decision recognized commuting fatigue experienced by older workers aged 50 and over as a legitimate ground to permit remote work.

According to news.com.au on the 15th, Australia's Fair Work Commission (FWC) ordered a trial run of working from home once a week in connection with an application for relief regarding flexible work arrangements submitted to Victoria University by Michele Duffy (63), a student advisor at the school.

Duffy, who has worked full-time since 2011, applied to the university in July last year to work from home two days a week. As her reason for the request, she stated, "Now that I am over 55, commuting fatigue is so severe that my productivity and well-being have hit rock bottom."

The university rejected the request on grounds that in-person work was essential given the nature of the job, asking her to submit medical evidence if she wanted to work from home and offering an alternative of taking a day off once every two or four weeks. In response, Duffy sought arbitration on the matter from the FWC in November last year.

FWC Commissioner Oanh Thi Tran ruled in Duffy's favor while acknowledging that the university had some reasonable grounds for refusal. The commissioner determined that the university had missed the 21-day deadline for a formal written response stipulated in the Fair Work Act, and that the fatigue Duffy described was real.

In the decision, Commissioner Tran stated, "Based on multiple grounds including Ms. Duffy's oral evidence at the hearing, it is accepted that as a worker aged over 55, she experiences significant fatigue from commuting," adding, "I consider that the proposed arrangement can alleviate these issues."

Accordingly, the university must allow Duffy to work from home every Wednesday for at least six months starting on the 27th. This measure remains in place until the two sides reach a genuine agreement.

This ruling is seen as a precedent demonstrating that older age can serve as a legally valid right to request remote work.

The Victorian state government is pursuing the Equal Opportunity Amendment Bill 2026, which legally guarantees the right to work from home two days a week under certain conditions, and attention is focused on whether this case will influence legislative discussions.

That does not mean all workers can transition to remote work. For workers in retail, hospitality and service industries, and healthcare, in-person work remains essential. In addition, many workers' homes are reportedly not equipped with suitable space or digital setups for remote work.

                                                                                                             Lee Dae-won