Working from home could be a legal right for millions of Aussies under new plan
The premier behind the Australian-first push hails its as the next frontier in worker rights that would benefit working parents.
However a legal right to work from home would be divisive and likely send jobs elsewhere, business groups say.
The Victorian government has promised to introduce legislation in 2026 for the right to work from home on two days per week, in contrast to other states that want public servants to spend more time in the office.
The proposed law would apply to all public and private sector employees in Victoria who can reasonably do their job from home.
Details are yet to be worked through and Premier Jacinta Allan signalled the changes could come into effect under Victoria's Equal Opportunity Act, as private workplaces are regulated by federal laws.
Allan promoted the plan as beneficial to both the economy and families, likening it to other significant workplace changes in recent decades including more women entering the workforce.
'There's been many, many gains over many, many generations that have supported women's opportunity to increase their workforce participation, this is just another important, big step,' she told reporters.
Issues such as the definition of remote work, who can do it, how it would affect part-time workers and the types of businesses to which the law would apply, will be figured out through a consultation process.
Allan said the decision had gone through cabinet and brushed off suggestions it could trigger a court challenge.
The plan drew sharp criticism from business groups, with Australian Industry Group Victorian head Tim Piper describing it as serious government overreach that undermines business autonomy.
He described it as 'pure political theatre' designed to wedge the opposition while also running counter to both global trends and business best practice.
'These policies foster an 'us versus them' dynamic, privileging some white-collar workers while leaving blue-collar employees with no choice,' he said.
'It's divisive, disruptive, and dangerous.'
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra claimed businesses would move interstate and jobs would be lost if Victoria moved away from the legislated national system.
'(Work from home) certainly works well in some contexts, but that should be determined by the employer in consultation with the employee,' he said.
Allan promised to introduce the law in 2026 prior to the state election.
Polls indicate Labor is on track to win a fourth term but the November 2026 poll will be the first as premier for Allan, who lags opposition leader Brad Battin as preferred state leader.
Battin said working from home was a valuable option for many workers and families.
'We support measures that help Victorians enjoy a better work-life balance, and will review any legislation closely, to ensure it supports flexibility, productivity and personal choice,' he said.
The federal coalition's push to end to working-from-home for public servants was partly blamed for its unsuccessful result at the May federal election, despite abandoning the policy before polling day.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has described remote-work provisions as a thing of the past but stopped short of seeking an end to working from home, instead ordering public servants to work principally in offices.
More than one third of Australian employees usually work from home but that number swells to 60 per cent of managers and people in professional services, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The bureau says 43 per cent who work from home do overtime, compared to one quarter of those who do not.
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'Under this provision, though, this isn't a 'right': the employer is obliged to give proper consideration to a request, but is only entitled to decline on the basis of genuine business reasons,' he told 'So that's a fair bit narrower than 'reasonable', and there can be a lot of argument about what is and isn't reasonable. 'From Premier Allan's announcement it would seem that, at this point, all that exists is a proposal and that there is no draft legislation which would enable anything other than speculative commentary.' Mr Baldwin said any new legislation aimed at workers who are already covered by the FWA is at risk of being 'struck down' as it would presumably be inconsistent with existing Commonwealth laws. 'It's hard to see what (the) Victorian (Government) might do which would have any appreciable impact on the Victorian workforce as a whole.' Employment law expert Ian Neil SC slammed the proposal as a 'stunt'. 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'The obvious difficulties that stand in the way of a government telling employers and employees that where employees have a right to work, where an employer's business is to be conducted … have not been considered. 'I do not think it could sensibly be suggested that legislation of that kind would survive a constitutional challenge. 'I don't think anybody believes that it will ever be enacted.' However, not everyone is critical of the move, with head of industrial law at Gordon Legal, Marcus Clayton, branding the proposal a welcome one. Mr Clayton said the current provisions in place under the FWA place the onus on the employee to 'tick various boxes' when requesting to work remotely. 'The effect of the Victorian government proposal would be to reverse that onus so that the employee has a default right to work from home up to two days a week,' he said. 'I think from the point of view of employee rights, that's a good thing.' The legal expert noted that, while this area of working from home has been 'contested', a substantial number of employees already work remotely across certain industries. He told there is a distinction between how the proposed legislation would play out in the public sector versus the private. '(In instances) where the Victorian government or one of its agencies is the employer, the employer can implement any policies they like within the limits of discrimination law and various other things,' Mr Clayton said. 'But there's nothing to stop an employer making it a policy that employees, where it's reasonable and practicable, can work up to two days a week.' When it comes to the private sector, that is when things become more legally fraught. The government has referred to the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act as a potential vehicle to implement this change. 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The Premier said the change was about recognising modern work patterns and protecting employees from having flexible arrangements arbitrarily revoked. 'It's working now, but we know that we need to protect it,' Ms Allan told Today. 'We need to protect it for workers but also make it really clear for employers as well who are already doing this that working from home should be a right, not a request.'
