I'm a public servant, can I refuse to take a call out of hours?

The Australian Public Service Commission has released its guidance on how the Right to Disconnect will be applied across the public sector.

While the guidance provides a broad interpretation of the new law, it will be up to agencies and individual managers to determine how the right is applied in their teams.

The key factor in determining whether a staffer can ignore a request for a briefing to be prepared overnight is whether that refusal is unreasonable.

This could hinge upon circumstances such as if a public servant receives an allowance for expected overtime work, their personal circumstances including caring responsibilities, and the nature of the request.

The guidance includes APS-specific examples of how this would work, such as if a senior employee asks a junior officer to find a document link for a non-urgent brief at 9pm on Sunday.

The guidance published by the APSC notes if the junior officer did not respond to this request this would be reasonable.

CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly welcomed the changes, which the union movement had fought hard for.

"The increase in digital communications and the ability to work from home has left many employees feeling constantly available and online," Ms Donnelly said.

"This important reform supports employees to switch off from work, to spend time with their families and look after their physical and mental health."

The guidance follows changes to the Fair Work Act in February, which created the right in law.

The legal change will flow through to modern awards from August 26, with enterprise agreements updated after that likely to include the clause or a version of it.

The draft of the new workplace right was published by the Fair Work Commission earlier in July which included examples of reasonable contact outside of hours, such as emergency roster changes or a recall to work.

The APSC guidance includes similar examples, such as if building work would prevent the employee from accessing their workplace.

In addition to the guidance from the APSC, the Fair Work Commission will publish its own guidelines of how the right will operate in workplaces.

Any disputes about the right to disconnect would first need to be dealt with in the workplace, before parties could attempt to take a dispute to the Fair Work Commission.

The greater clarity around the law could help prevent situations similar to where Kooyong MP Monique Ryan's staffer Sally Rugg took the independent MP to the Fair Work Commission for requiring her to work unreasonable hours.

The case was later settled for a reported $100,000 and no admission of fault from Ms Ryan or the federal government.

For the many political staffers receiving an out-of-hours allowance, they would be unlikely to be covered by the law.

However, the APSC guidance does note agencies should follow the government's commitment to be a "model employer" and "setting the high standard of employer behaviour it champions".