The $939,000 RTO Mistake: What the Right to Disconnect Means for RTO Owners

by Travis Latter 7th of October, 2025

The $939,000 RTO Mistake: What the Right to Disconnect Means for RTO Owners

Once upon a time, the only thing that rang after hours was the landline. Today, RTO owners are pinged with compliance queries at 6am, CRICOS student WhatsApps at 10pm, and trainer uploads at midnight.

From 26 August 2025, all Australian employers, large and small, will face a new workplace reality: the right to disconnect. Employees will have the legal right to refuse unreasonable work contact outside their ordinary hours, and the penalties are no small change:

- Up to $18,780 for individuals
- Up to $93,900 for companies
- Up to $939,000 for serious contraventions

For RTOs, this law hits harder than most industries. Trainers, compliance staff and managers are often online after hours. What once looked like “dedication” may now count as “contravention.”

Why it matters

Real-world scenarios: Trainers answering CRICOS students late at night, compliance officers chasing audit evidence at 10pm, CEOs texting staff on Saturday mornings. These are exactly the kinds of contact that will now be tested.

The positives: Healthier staff, clearer boundaries, stronger culture, and better buyer confidence.

The challenges: Clashes with time zones, blurred “reasonable” definitions, and extra HR work updating contracts and policies.

Contractors aren’t covered by this law, but heavy reliance on them risks drawing attention to sham contracting. Emergencies, genuine flexible work arrangements, and social chats don’t count as breaches.

The bottom line

This is another curveball for employers, especially RTOs already juggling ASQA compliance, CRICOS obligations, reporting, and student satisfaction. It’s untested, it clashes with flexible and work-from-home arrangements, and it will create disputes before it creates clarity.

But it’s not a reason to panic. It’s a reason to get organised. The RTOs that lead now - by updating contracts, training managers, and respecting staff downtime, won’t just avoid fines. They’ll build a healthier workplace and a stronger story for buyers.

At Infinity, we see compliance laws like this for what they are: hard work upfront, but an opportunity to separate the professionals from the rest.

We’ve prepared a full breakdown — including penalties, SME vs large employer differences, and a practical checklist with flowchart — in our detailed article.

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