The Casual Employment Information Statement, and when to re-issue it
Most employers hand the CEIS over at onboarding and consider it done. It is not a one-off — it has to be given again on a schedule, and the schedule depends on whether you are a small business employer.
The rules on this page were read from the Fair Work Ombudsman on 25 August 2026. Verify against fairwork.gov.au. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
Quick summary
- Who gets it: every casual employee, with no exemption for hours worked or length of engagement.
- First issue: before, or as soon as possible after, they start.
- Small business employer (fewer than 15 employees): again after 12 months.
- Every other employer: again after 6 months, after 12 months, then after every 12 months.
- Version matters: you must give the version in force at the time you issue it.
- Source: Fair Work Act 2009 ss 125A–125B; Fair Work Regulations 2009 reg 2.02A.
What the CEIS actually is
The Casual Employment Information Statement is a document the Fair Work Ombudsman publishes and employers distribute. You do not write it, and you cannot substitute your own version — the obligation is to give employees the statement, as published.
It covers four things:
- the definition of a casual employee
- how casual employment can change to permanent, including when an employee can notify an intention to change
- the reasons an employer may decline such a notification
- the role of the Fair Work Commission in dealing with disputes about it
That third and fourth point are why the statement is re-issued rather than given once. The employee choice pathway is a live entitlement throughout a casual engagement, not a fact about its first day — see our casual employee entry for how the underlying status is defined.
When you have to give it
The first issue is the same for everyone: before, or as soon as possible after, the casual employee starts employment. After that the schedule splits by employer size.
| Employer | At start | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Small business employer (fewer than 15 employees) | Yes | After 12 months of employment |
| All other employers | Yes | After 6 months, after 12 months, then after every 12 months |
For a long-serving casual at a non-small business, that is an issue at start, at 6 months, at 12 months, at 24 months, at 36 months and so on. It is a recurring diary obligation, which is precisely why it gets missed — nothing prompts you.
Are you a small business employer?
This is the test that decides which schedule applies, and the counting rules are not obvious. A small business employer has fewer than 15 employees at the relevant time. When counting:
- employees of associated entities are included
- casual employees are included only where they are engaged on a regular and systematic basis
The trap: a business with 12 permanent staff and a large pool of irregular casuals may still be a small business employer, because irregular casuals are not counted. The same business becomes a non-small business the moment enough of those casuals become regular and systematic — and the CEIS schedule changes with it, retrospectively affecting what you should already have issued.
How you can give it
The Fair Work Ombudsman accepts any of the following:
- in person
- by mail
- by email
- by emailing a link to the Fair Work Ombudsman's CEIS page
- by emailing a link to a copy hosted on your intranet
- by fax
- by another method
You must give the version that is in force at the time you are required to issue it. That single requirement is a strong argument for emailing a link to the Fair Work page rather than attaching a stored PDF: a saved copy goes stale silently, and the failure only surfaces when someone checks.
Whichever method you choose, keep a record of what was sent and when. Our HR forms library covers the onboarding paperwork that sits alongside it.
CEIS vs the other statements
There are three separate statements and a casual employee can be entitled to all of them.
| Statement | Who gets it | Re-issued? |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Work Information Statement | Every new employee | No — start of employment only |
| Casual Employment Information Statement | Every casual employee | Yes — on the schedule above |
| Fixed Term Contract Information Statement | Employees entering a new fixed term contract, including casuals | On each new fixed term contract |
Common mistakes
- Treating it as onboarding-only. The re-issue schedule is where nearly all non-compliance sits, because nothing prompts it.
- Attaching a saved PDF. You must issue the current version; a stored file quietly stops being current.
- Assuming your headcount. The fewer-than-15 test includes associated entities and excludes irregular casuals — count it properly rather than eyeballing it.
- Confusing it with the Fair Work Information Statement. Casuals get both, and only one of them recurs.
- No record of issue. If you cannot show what was sent and when, you are relying on memory in exactly the situation where memory is not enough.
Know which casuals are approaching a re-issue date
The re-issue schedule runs off each casual's start date, so you need to know who started when — and which of them are working regularly enough to count toward your headcount test. RosterElf keeps that employment record alongside the roster.
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Casual Employment Information Statement FAQ
- The Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) is a document published by the Fair Work Ombudsman that employers must give to casual employees. It sets out the definition of a casual employee, how casual employment can change to permanent under the employee choice pathway, the reasons an employer may decline such a notification, and the role of the Fair Work Commission in resolving disputes about it.
- Every casual employee. There is no exemption based on how many hours they work, how long they have been engaged, or the size of the business — the size of the business changes how often you must re-issue it, not whether you issue it at all.
- Before, or as soon as possible after, a casual employee starts. You then have to give it again during employment: a small business employer re-issues after 12 months of employment; every other employer re-issues after 6 months, after 12 months, and then after every subsequent 12 months.