Westpac chief executive Anthony Miller defended the bank’s existing hybrid model after the Fair Work Commission ordered Westpac to grant one employee’s flexible-work request. In comments reported in November 2025, Miller said two to three office days a week was the “right balance” for relevant corporate employees. The ruling concerned one employee’s circumstances; it did not create a general right to work from home.
What Anthony Miller said about Westpac’s WFH policy
After Westpac’s full-year results presentation, Miller defended the bank’s general approach rather than announcing a new remote-work expansion or a stricter return-to-office rule. He described two to three days in the office each week as the right balance for relevant corporate employees and said the bank focused on employee outcomes. He also distinguished branch roles, which generally required staff to work on-site five days a week. PerthNow’s report of Miller’s comments was published on November 4, 2025.
Those comments described Westpac’s general policy at that time, not a schedule that necessarily applied identically to every employee or role. They also did not determine the outcome of an individual statutory request.
What happened in the Chandler case
In Karlene Chandler v Westpac Banking Corporation [2025] FWC 3115, the Fair Work Commission considered a request by a Westpac mortgage-operations employee who lived in Wilton, south of Sydney, and cared for two six-year-old children.
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Chandler made her request on January 17, 2025, seeking to work remotely to manage school drop-offs and pick-ups. Westpac refused on March 18 and required her to attend a corporate office. Chandler proposed a compromise: working from the Bowral branch two days a week rather than travelling to the Kogarah corporate office. Westpac rejected that alternative. The Commission issued its decision on October 20, 2025.
The Commission found Westpac had not established reasonable business grounds to refuse Chandler’s request and ordered the bank to grant it. The decision and its reasoning are set out in the Fair Work Commission decision; the formal remedy is in the Commission’s order.
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Why Westpac lost the dispute
The Commission did not simply decide that working from home was preferable. It examined the employee’s actual duties and record, Westpac’s evidence, the effects of refusing the request and how the bank handled it.
- The work had been done remotely. Chandler had worked remotely successfully for years, and the Commission found her duties could be performed completely remotely.
- Her record supported the arrangement. Her performance ratings were high, and her team worked across locations using online collaboration tools.
- Westpac did not establish measurable harm. The Commission found no sufficiently substantiated, quantifiable loss of productivity, efficiency, collaboration or customer service in Chandler’s circumstances. General concerns about office attendance were not enough on their own.
- The request process was deficient. The Commission identified failures to comply fully with requirements to discuss the request, genuinely try to reach agreement, consider the consequences for Chandler and respond within the statutory timeframe. The Commission’s October 2025 bulletin summary also outlines the case and its reasoning.
Chandler’s caring responsibilities were part of the context, alongside her work history, role, team arrangements, commute and Westpac’s evidence. The ruling should not be read as saying that childcare by itself entitles an employee to permanent remote work.
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What the ruling means—and what it does not
The Commission resolved Chandler’s specific dispute under the applicable flexible-work framework. It did not invalidate Westpac’s general hybrid policy or order the bank to let every employee work remotely.
| What the decision illustrates | What it does not establish |
|---|---|
| A general hybrid policy may not, by itself, justify refusing a particular statutory flexible-work request if the employer cannot establish reasonable business grounds in that case. | Every employee can demand full-time work from home. |
| The employer’s evidence, the employee’s circumstances and the handling of the request can all matter. | Employers must accept every request or abandon office-attendance requirements. |
| The Commission can order an arrangement in an appropriate dispute, as it did for Chandler. | One order automatically changes arrangements for other employees or roles. |
In practical terms, the decision makes the distinction between policy and request important. A company policy describes the usual operating model; a formal flexible-work request must still be considered under the relevant legal framework. A Commission order addresses the dispute before it, not every employee’s circumstances.
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How employees can make a stronger request
The Chandler outcome does not guarantee a similar result elsewhere. It does show why a clear proposal and evidence about how the work will be done matter. An employee considering a formal request can set out:
- The caring responsibilities or other basis for making the request.
- The proposed days, hours and work location.
- How core duties, availability, communication and collaboration will be maintained.
- Relevant performance history and evidence of successful remote work, if available.
- A trial period or review date, and practical alternatives if the preferred arrangement is not accepted.
Keep a copy of the request and the employer’s response. If the issue becomes a dispute, the specific facts and the applicable Fair Work Act process matter; this article is general information, not individual legal advice.
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What employers should take from the decision
For employers, the case is a reminder to assess a request individually rather than relying only on a blanket office policy. A refusal is more defensible when it connects the proposed arrangement to evidence about the role and actual operational effects.
- Follow the statutory consultation and response process, including its timing requirements.
- Consider the employee’s circumstances and genuinely explore whether agreement is possible.
- Assess the essential duties, team arrangements and any physical, customer-service, security or supervision needs relevant to the role.
- Support claims about productivity, efficiency, collaboration or service impacts with concrete evidence rather than general assertions.
- Consider whether an alternative arrangement could address the concern, and document the reasoning.
Branch work and other roles requiring physical presence may present different operational facts from Chandler’s mortgage-operations work. The Commission’s decision does not predetermine how a different request should be decided.
Why Miller’s comments and the ruling are not contradictory
Miller defended Westpac’s general two-to-three-day office model as he described it in November 2025. The Commission separately found that Westpac had not justified refusing Chandler’s individual request. A general hybrid policy can coexist with an order granting a particular request; one does not cancel the other.
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