Severe weather and natural disasters across parts of Australia

Published 8 January 2026 | Updated 12 January 2026

Some individuals and workplaces may be affected by severe weather or natural disasters such as bushfires and cyclones.

Learn about your workplace rights and responsibilities if you’re affected.

On this page:

Help if you’re affected by severe weather or natural disasters

If you have an urgent enquiry about your workplace entitlements or obligations, you can call us.

Go to the Bureau of Meteorology website to check for any warnings and alerts. State authorities also have their own alerts and incidents pages.

Pay during severe or inclement weather

Inclement weather is when it’s unsafe or unreasonable for an employee to work because of severe weather conditions. For example, storms, heavy rain or extreme heat.

Some awards and enterprise agreements have rules on:

  • what’s considered inclement weather
  • what employers and employees need to do when there is inclement weather
  • if employees need to be paid when they can’t work.

For more information, go to Pay during inclement or severe weather and natural disasters.

Stand down

If a business needs to temporarily close, employers may be able to stand down an employee in some circumstances.

Employers should check any applicable enterprise agreement or employment contract to see if any stand down provisions apply. They may also include consultation obligations.

If there are no relevant rules in an agreement or employment contract on stand downs, then the Fair Work Act provisions usually apply.

A stand down under the Fair Work Act includes when an employee can't do useful work because of:

  • equipment break down, if the employer can't reasonably be held responsible for it, or
  • stoppage of work for which the employer can't reasonably be held responsible, which may include severe and inclement weather or natural disasters (such as bushfires or floods).

Tip: Before standing down employees use the employer checklist

Employers should consider all available options before making the decision to stand down their employees. This can include:

  • working from home arrangements
  • changes to duties, hours of work or rosters
  • accessing paid or unpaid leave.

The full checklist can be found at Before standing down employees: employer checklist.

During a stand down period, an employee:

  • doesn't need to be paid
  • accrues leave in the usual way
  • will be paid for any public holidays that fall during the period.

Example: Business forced to close due to bushfire danger

Joe runs a business surrounded by national parks.

There are limited roads in and out of the town, which increases the risks on high fire danger days.

Joe's local fire station tells him that there will be a mandatory evacuation order the following day.

As Joe's business has been directed to close due to a reasonable direction from emergency services, Joe will stand down his employees that day.

Joe finds that there are no rules about stand downs in either the enterprise agreement or anyone's employment contracts. Under the Fair Work Act, his employees aren't entitled to be paid for the stand down.

Joe speaks to his employees. Some of his employees ask to take annual leave instead of being stood down. Joe agrees to this.

To learn more about rules and responsibilities that apply to stand downs, go to Stand downs.

Taking paid or unpaid leave

There are paid and unpaid leave entitlements employees can access if they’re affected by severe weather and natural disasters. They can also take leave to assist with emergency management activities.

Leave options may include:

Minimum entitlements to leave come from the National Employment Standards (NES). Awards and enterprise agreements can’t offer less than the minimums in the NES but they can provide more.

For more information on leave entitlements, go to Leave.

Annual leave

Annual leave can be taken at any time an employer and employee agree. An employer can only refuse a request for annual leave if the refusal is reasonable.

In some cases, an employer may be able to direct an employee to take annual leave. These rules are set out in awards and registered agreements.

For more information about taking annual leave and directing an employee to take leave, visit:

Sick and carer’s leave

Employees (other than casual employees or employees who are stood down) can take paid sick leave when they can't work because of a personal illness or injury. For example, an employee injured during severe weather may be entitled to sick leave.

Example: Taking sick leave during severe weather

Penny is an architect who lives in a regional area.

When her town is experiencing heavy rain and high winds due to a cyclone, she injures her wrist while helping residents evacuate. She can’t work until her wrist heals.

Penny contacts her employer, George, and asks to take sick leave to cover this period.

When George asks for evidence, Penny provides him with a medical certificate from her doctor.

An employee can take paid carer’s leave to care for or support a member of their immediate family or household who is:

  • sick
  • injured, or
  • affected by an unexpected emergency.

For example, an employee may be able to take carer’s leave if their child’s school closes unexpectedly due to severe weather.

Full-time and part-time employees who have used all of their paid sick and carer’s leave are entitled to 2 days unpaid carer's leave per occasion to provide care and support to a family or household member for one of these reasons.

Casual employees can also take unpaid carer’s leave for one of these reasons.

An employee has to let their employer know that they are taking sick or carer’s leave. They may also need to provide evidence.

Find out more about:

Community service leave

Employees, including casual employees, can take community service leave for certain voluntary emergency management activities. This applies when what they are doing fits the definition of a voluntary emergency management activity. Learn more about this definition at Community service leave.

Community service leave is unpaid. It can be taken while the employee is engaged in the activity and for reasonable travel and rest time. 

There’s no limit on the amount of community service leave an employee can take.

Example: Taking community service leave to help with the heatwaves and bushfires

Asha is a registered volunteer for the local Country Fire Authority (CFA). She’s been told that she needs to help for one week in response to severe weather in her local area.

Asha is entitled to unpaid community service leave because:

  • the CFA is a recognised emergency management body
  • Asha is a volunteer engaged in an emergency management activity during a natural disaster or emergency.

Asha emails her employer, Kelly, telling her that she will be taking community service leave and expects to be back in 7 days.

After further discussion, Kelly asks Asha to provide her with a letter from the CFA for evidence of the reason for her absence. Asha does this and then takes leave to assist with the heatwave warnings and bushfires.

Find out more at Community service leave.

Defence Reservists

Defence Reservists may be called to help with natural disasters and severe weather conditions.

In addition to the NES and any entitlements under an award or agreement, Defence Reservists have rights and protections under the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001 when they are absent from work on defence service leave. This includes the right to:

  • be released from work while undertaking defence service
  • continue to be employed on their return.

For more information, read our Defence reservists – rights and responsibilities at work fact sheet.

Accessing flexible working arrangements

Some employers and employees might want to negotiate ways to make their workplace more flexible to help navigate the challenges of natural disasters such as a bushfire or a cyclone. For example, employers and employees can discuss changes to:

  • hours of work
  • patterns of work
  • location of work.

Find out about the formal ways employers and employees can make their workplace more flexible at Flexibility in the workplace.

Other services and useful contacts

Emergency

In case of an emergency, call 000.

Workplace health and safety

Some work sites may currently be unsafe due to the severe weather.

For information about health and safety in the workplace, please contact your state or territory workplace health and safety authority. Go to List of all state and territory WHS bodies.

State and territory emergency support

Financial assistance

If you have been affected by a natural disaster and need financial or welfare support or assistance, please visit:

Health and wellbeing support

Learn how support services are available at Health and wellbeing support.

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